Randy McNally

James Rand McNally (born January 30, 1944) is an American politician and a Republican member of the Tennessee Senate. He is the 50th and current Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee since January 2017, due to his position as the 87th Speaker of the state Senate. He represents the 5th Senate District, which encompasses Anderson County, Loudon County, Monroe County, and part of Knox County. He is a resident of Oak Ridge.

McNally has served in the Tennessee General Assembly since 1979. He was elected to the 91st through 94th General Assemblies as a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives. He was a key figure in the Operation Rocky Top investigation in the late 1980s, when he worked undercover to help the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation obtain evidence on political corruption in the Tennessee state government.

He moved to the state senate for the 95th General Assembly in 1987, and has served there continuously since then. He is the former Chair of the Senate Finances, Ways, and Means committee, former Vice-Chair of the Senate Rules Committee, and a former member of the Senate General Welfare Committee and the Joint Fiscal Review Contract Services Subcommittee.

McNally was a candidate for Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the Senate in 2007, but fellow Republican Ron Ramsey was elected to that position. On January 10, 2017, he was elected Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the Senate by the Tennessee State Senate.

McNally graduated from Oak Ridge High School in 1962, obtained a B.S. from Memphis State University in 1967, and graduated from University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy in 1969. Beginning in the late 1960s, he worked as a pharmacist in chain drug stores. Starting in 1978 he was employed as a hospital pharmacist at Methodist Medical Center in Oak Ridge.