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Pima County Democrats today mourn the loss of former U.S. Rep. Jim McNulty, a lifelong public servant and fighter for Arizona families.
Mr. McNulty passed away Tuesday from complications due to Parkinson's Disease. He was 83.
From 1969 to 1973, McNulty served as an Arizona State Senator representing rural counties in southern and eastern Arizona. In 1982, McNulty defeated then-state Sen. Jim Kolbe to win a seat in Congress, representing southeastern Arizona. He served one term before being defeated by Kolbe in a year when Ronald Reagan won 49 states.
He graduated from the University of Arizona with a law degree in 1952 and moved to Bisbee where he worked as a lawyer. In the late 1960s, Mr. McNulty was elected Cochise County Democratic Party Chairman and helped secure John F. Kennedy's presidential nomination.
Pima County Democratic Party Chair Jeff Rogers remembers McNulty from a summer job, while in Law School at Snell & Wilmer. “I loved to talk politics over morning coffee with Jim. He is one of the grand gentlemen of Arizona politics.”
Martin Bacal, Democratic National Committeeman from Arizona for 20 years, remembers McNulty as a man whose virtue transcended partisanship.
"Jim was a person with such integrity that he was loved and admired by all involved in the political process regardless of party," Bacal said.
There will be a public viewing Thursday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Carrillo's Mortuary, 204 S. Stone Ave. In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to the University of Arizona Foundation.
Jim McNulty, congressman who made his home in political arena, dies at 83
By Jamar Younger
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 07.01.2009
Jim McNulty, a former state legislator who was elected to one term in Congress and spent most of his life serving Arizona, died Tuesday from Parkinson's disease complications.
He was 83.
In Arizona, McNulty held appointments on state boards, including the Arizona Board of Regents, which oversees the state universities, and the Arizona State Hospital.
He also served on the state Board of Education.
He represented the rural counties of Graham, Greenlee and Cochise — where he lived and practiced law — in the state Senate and in 1982 he was elected from Arizona's 5th Congressional District to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served one term.
He was defeated in 1984 by Jim Kolbe.
"It was," McNulty wrote in his autobiography, "Running Uphill," "the most exciting job I ever had. I loved it." For the rest of the Arizona Daily Star obituary click here.
