James Joseph McConn was mayor of Houston, Texas from 1978 to 1982.

McConn was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma

Tulsa, Oklahoma

Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...

. He moved with his family to Houston in 1939, where he met Marjorie Gougenheim, whom he married in 1947. He attended the University of Notre Dame

University of Notre Dame

The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...

 and then returned to Houston, where he became a businessman, first in the building-materials

Building material

Building material is any material which is used for a construction purpose. Many naturally occurring substances, such as clay, sand, wood and rocks, even twigs and leaves have been used to construct buildings. Apart from naturally occurring materials, many man-made products are in use, some more...

 business and then in home construction

Home construction

Home construction is the process of constructing a home. Beginning with simple pre-historic shelters, home construction techniques have evolved to produce the vast multitude of living accommodations available today. Different levels of wealth and power have warranted various sizes, luxuries, and...

.

He became president of the Greater Houston Homebuilders Association in 1969, and from there became known in local politics, being appointed to a vacant seat on the Houston City Council

Houston City Council

The Houston City Council is a city council for the city of Houston in the U.S. state of Texas.Currently, there are fourteen members, nine elected from council districts and five at-large. The members of the Council are elected every two years, in odd-numbered years...

 by Mayor Louie Welch

Louie Welch

Louie Welch Louie Welch Louie Welch (December 9, 1918Louie Welch (December 9, 1918Louie Welch (December 9, 1918"," Houston Public Library – January 27, 2008,) was an American politician who served as the mayor of Houston, Texas, from 1964 to 1973. -Early life:...

 in 1971. He was reelected to the council in 1973, but did not run in 1975. In 1977, he ran for mayor. In the first round, he lost by a large margin to conservative former district attorney Frank Briscoe, but he won the runoff election due in large part to support from minority

Minority group

A minority is a sociological group within a demographic. The demographic could be based on many factors from ethnicity, gender, wealth, power, etc. The term extends to numerous situations, and civilizations within history, despite the misnomer of minorities associated with a numerical statistic...

 voters and endorsements from other first-round candidates. He won reelection in 1979 against councilwoman Louis Macey, but lost to Kathy Whitmire in 1981.

After leaving office, McConn served as vice president of the Houston Sports Association, which at the time owned the Houston Astros

Houston Astros

The Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team located in Houston, Texas. They are a member of the National League Central division. The Astros are expected to join the American League West division in 2013. Since , they have played their home games at Minute Maid Park, known as Enron Field...

 baseball team (1981–1989), and as director of the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau (1989–1997). He died of cancer at the age of 68.