Tommy Gollott

Tommy Gollott
1968
President pro tempore of the Mississippi State Senate
In office
January 2, 1996  January 2000
Preceded byPud Graham
Succeeded byTravis Little
Member of the Mississippi State Senate
from the 50th district
In office
January 1980  January 2020
Succeeded byScott DeLano
Member of the Mississippi House of Representatives
In office
January 1968  January 1980
Personal details
Born
Thomas Arlin Gollott

(1935-09-29) September 29, 1935
Biloxi, Mississippi, U.S.
Political partyRepublican (2007–present)
Democratic (1967–2007)
SpouseZelma Jackson
Residence(s)Biloxi, Mississippi, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Southern Mississippi
OccupationBusinessman, transfer & storage company

Thomas Arlin Gollott (born September 29, 1935) is a businessman and former state legislator in Mississippi. A Democrat, he served as a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives and Mississippi Senate before becoming a Republican in 2007. He represented the 50th District from 1980 to 2020. He had served continuously in the Mississippi Legislature from 1968, when he sat as a state representative, which he served until his election as state senator in 1979. He had been a Democrat until 2007, when he switched his affiliation to Republican. In September 2017, he became the longest-serving member of the Mississippi Legislature in history. He retired from the Senate in 2020, after deciding not to run for another term.

In 1996, Gollott was elected the president pro tempore of the Mississippi State Senate for the 1996-2000 term. He was the first president pro tempore from the Gulf Coast region since Merle F. Palmer in 1968.