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Editor’s Note: This feature originally ran on February 22, 2025 in the 2025 Progress edition (Troup County Is…). The Progress edition is a publication produced annually by the LaGrange Daily News. If you would like to pick up a copy of the 2025 Progress edition, please visit our office at 115 Broad Ste 101.

Though he is not quite the prominent member of LaGrange as he once was as mayor, Jim Thornton continues to advocate and work for the city he still calls home.

Born and raised in LaGrange, Thornton’s grandparents moved to the city in 1948. His grandfather worked for the telephone company, which brought him here and his grandmother was born in LaGrange.

“She is actually still living in the house that my grandparents bought when they moved to town in 1948,” Thornton said.

In 2022, then-Mayor Thornton resigned from the city to take a job with the Georgia Municipal Association (GMA). Now he spends much of his time in the gold-domed capitol and the bigger one in D.C. but he and his wife Corinne still live in LaGrange.

Corinne was born in Birmingham, England, and moved to Atlanta when she was in the third grade because her father worked as an Aerospace Engineer for a company that worked with Delta and Eastern Airlines. She grew up in Cobb County and became a US citizen in 2001.

Corrine got a job with the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, which moved her to LaGrange, where she and Jim met.

After law school, Jim began practicing law in LaGrange in 1997. As a LaGrange attorney, he became very involved in the community with the LaGrange-Troup Chamber of Commerce and other organizations.

When Tom Gore announced in 2009 that he was not going to seek reelection for city council, Thornton decided to run for his seat.

“When I announced, honestly, it was because I was concerned that LaGrange needed to have both stable leadership and also to be focused on economic development,” Thornton said. “A lot of that came from my experience with working with the Chamber of Commerce and seeing how important the City Council is in decision-making as to economic development projects.”

Thornton served on the city council from 2010 to 2014, when then-Mayor Jeff Lukken announced that he was not seeking reelection.

“I ran for mayor for the same reasons, to continue the stable leadership of the city and as well as to support economic development and growth for the community,” he said.

Thornton was elected mayor in a three-way race in 2014 and reelected in 2017 and 2021. His third term was cut short when he resigned to work for the GMA as Director of Governmental Relations. 

Now with the GMA, Thornton continues to advocate for LaGrange, he just does so for 500-plus other cities as well.

“I am the voice of all 537 Georgia cities at both the state and federal level. So I’m the principal advocate for Georgia cities both at the Gold Dome in Atlanta and on Capitol Hill in D.C.” Thornton said. “My days are spent advocating on behalf of LaGrange, but also Atlanta, Savannah, Valdosta and all the cities across the state.”

Thornton said about 80% of his time is spent on state-level issues at the state legislature, governor’s office and state agencies, and about 20% of my time is spent on federal issues with Congress and federal agencies.

“It’s a great role. GMA is an incredibly well-respected organization because we represent every city in the state, because we’re non-partisan, because our focus is on issues that allow cities to function well and do their job well in support of their residents,” Thornton said. “Our opinion is valued by state and federal officials. They want to know what we think about issues and I get to manage that process.”

“It’s a perfect job for me because for 25 years, I was an advocate for my clients with my law practice. I advocated in negotiations and in proceedings and other things, so I understand what effective is.” Thornton said.

Thornton said his time as a council member and as mayor also gave him substantive knowledge of what works at the city level.

“Over the course of 12 years, I saw what worked well and what didn’t work well, and where the state and the federal government were able to help and where the state and the federal government got in the way,” he said.

In the last two years, there have been a half-dozen different bills introduced at the Georgia General Assembly that aimed to limit the zoning authority of the local city councils. 

“For city councils, the most contentious issues are zoning decisions. They have to hear from the landowner, they have to hear from the neighbors, and they also have to hear from the general community, and they have to balance a lot of competing interests and make a decision that is in the best interest of the people,” Thornton said.

There were several well-funded efforts at the state level over the last two years to limit some of the authority of cities to make zoning decisions and to apply a statewide standard, as opposed to allowing each city to decide what is in their own best interest, he said.

“I had to testify. I had to work the halls of the gold dome. I had to meet with individual members, along with other members of my team to explain why the people who know what’s in the best interests of the residents of LaGrange are the seven elected officials who are elected by the citizens of LaGrange, the mayor and the council members,” Thornton said. “I’m pleased to say that we were able to stop all of those bills from moving forward.”

His role with the GMA keeps him away a lot now but LaGrange is still home for Thornton.

“I still live in LaGrange. I have an apartment in Atlanta, and I split my time between Atlanta and LaGrange, but I always consider LaGrange my home. I intend it to be my final resting place,” he said.

Thornton is still back regularly, still a member of First United Methodist Church of LaGrange, and still involved socially. He said he tries to stay away from local politics though.

“I have taken the position with both Dr. Edmondson and with now Mayor Arrington that I will never call them, but I will always answer their telephone call,” Thornton said.

Since taking the job with GMA, Thornton has stepped away from his law firm. Heather Graham, his law partner of 20 years, took over his clients. 

“I miss seeing the people of LaGrange on a daily basis, but I have enjoyed making friends and acquaintances across the state,” Thornton said. “I have learned that Georgia is a very big and diverse state and I’ve made some great friends in the process.”