Before becoming an attorney in Southeastern Wisconsin, Jamie McClendon was born to interracial parents in Frankfurt, Germany while her mother and father served in the United States Army. Eventually, Jamie’s mother wanted to put down more permanent roots than the military life could offer; so, she packed up her two girls and two suitcases, boarded a Greyhound Bus, and moved from Florida to Madison. Because of the loving support of her mother, who worked at a factory for 30 years in Madison and was a union member, Jamie became the first in her family to go to college. Jamie’s mother instilled the values in her of working hard and sticking up for what is right.
After completing her undergraduate degree from University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse, Jamie attended law school at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. While in law school, Jamie worked for the City of Phoenix Public Defender’s Office, and the Maricopa County Public Defender’s Office. Seeing the opportunity to return home, she took a job as an Equal Rights Officer for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Although she enjoyed her time at the Department of Transportation, Jamie wanted to continue standing up for others and took a position as an attorney with the State of Wisconsin Public Defender’s Office in Racine. As a public defender, Jamie put her values to work, taking on the hard cases other attorneys did not want to take and representing defendants who did not have the means to pay for a lawyer. Jamie has particularly devoted her attention to the juvenile court and criminal defense.
While still taking cases from the public defender's office, Jamie opened a private criminal defense practice in 2017. That same year Jamie lost her mother to a degenerative brain disease. Jamie volunteers with various organizations in Racine County. She is the president of the board for the Hospitality Center. She coordinates the local high school mock trial competition. In 2021, Mayor Mason also appointed Jamie to the City of Racine Board of Ethics in which she is currently the president of the committee.
Jamie McClendon is running for Racine Circuit Court Judge, Branch 7. Her experience makes her the best candidate to know what the people of Racine County need on the bench.