James Randolph Evans is currently the United States Ambassador to Luxembourg. He presented credentials June 19, 2018. He is an American lawyer and Republican Party activist from Georgia who specializes in professional, legal, and government ethics. Evans remains a partner and serves on the U.S. board of directors at Dentons, the largest law firm in the world. He was selected by President Donald Trump to become the next United States Ambassador to Luxembourg. This nomination was submitted to the Senate on September 28, 2017 and was confirmed on May 24, 2018.
Early life and education
Randy Evans was born in Dublin, Georgia, on September 24, 1958. He grew up in Warner Robins, Georgia, where he graduated from Northside High School in 1976. He was awarded a debate scholarship to West Georgia College in Carrollton, Georgia. Evans was elected in 1979 as President of the West Georgia College Student Government Association. Evans graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree, summa cum laude, in 1980. While a student at West Georgia, Evans volunteered for Newt Gingrich's 1976 losing and 1978 winning campaigns. In 1979, Evans lived in the basement of Gingrich's Virginia home while he interned for the freshman congressman. Evans graduated with a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1983, magna cum laude.
Legal career
Evans began his legal career at Bondurant, Miller, Hishon & Stephenson, a law firm in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1985, Evans joined Arnall, Golden and Gregory, where he worked for 18 years. In 2003, Evans started working at McKenna Long & Aldridge. On July 1, 2015, McKenna, Long & Aldridge merged with Dentons, where Evans was a partner until resigning in April 2018 as the U.S. Senate considered his nomination for ambassador to Luxembourg.
National political career
Evans chaired Newt Gingrich's campaign organization in Gingrich's successful reelection contests in 1988 and 1990. In 1995, Gingrich retained Evans as his general counsel to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. After Gingrich stepped down as Speaker at the end of 1998, Evans negotiated a variety of business ventures for Gingrich, including a television contract with FOX News and book contracts for several books, including various New York Times bestsellers. Evans chaired Gingrich's companies from their inception in 1999 until Gingrich's 2011 announcement that he would run for president. Upon his election as Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1999, Dennis Hastert retained Evans as his general counsel to the Speaker. Evans represented Hastert throughout his tenure as the longest serving Republican Speaker of the House in history including the Bush vs. Gore election in 2000 and the attacks on September 11, 2001. Beginning in 2002, Evans represented Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue, who was the first Republican governor in Georgia since Reconstruction. Later, Perdue nominated Harold Melton to the Georgia Supreme Court. Melton was appointed as the first Republican African-American justice to Georgia's Supreme Court. Evans went on to represent Perdue's successor, Governor Nathan Deal. Evans has represented former House Republican Conference Chairman J. C. Watts since his last term in Congress. He later served as the chair of the board of some of Watt's companies. In conjunction with Susan Hirschman and Bill Paxon, Evans designed and formed the first political organization after the effective date of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act in order to receive non-federal money. After challenges by Common Cause, the Federal Election Commission found that the entity – as structured – could accept non-federal money. In 2005–2006, Evans participated in the United States Supreme Court litigation known as the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act as counsel to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Evans served as a senior advisor to Newt Gingrich's 2012 campaign for the Republican nomination for president until Gingrich's suspended his campaign in late April 2012.
Georgia political career
Evans was elected chairman of the Douglas County Republican Party in 1985, and chairman of the Sixth Congressional District in 1987 and 1989. Evans served as general counsel to the Georgia Republican Party for eight years, beginning with his appointment by then Republican Chairman Ralph Reed in 2001. He was reappointed by Georgia Republican Party Chairman Alec Poitevint in 2003 and 2005, and by Georgia Republican Party Chairman Sue Everhart in 2007 and 2009. From 2009–2011, Evans served as finance chair to the Georgia Republican Party. In 2004, 2005, 2008, 2012, and 2016 Evans was selected as a delegate to the Republican National Convention. Evans was appointed and served as the Republican National Committeeman from Georgia for the 2004 Republican National Convention. Evans served as an elector for the State of Georgia in the 2008, 2012, and 2016 presidential elections. Evans served on the state committee and state executive committee of the Georgia Republican Party for years. From 2003–2016, Evans served as the chairman of the Georgia Republican Convention. He served as the co-chair of the Georgia Judicial Nominating Commission and as the Republican National Committeeman from Georgia. He previously served as a member of the five-person Georgia State Election Board for ten years.
