James Arnold Bradford (October 18, 1933 – November 16, 2020)[1][2] was a rancher, teacher, politician and Democratic member of the South Dakota Senate, representing the 27th district between 2009 and 2017.
Bradford had a career as a public school teacher before deciding to run for office.
Bradford was first elected to office as a Democratic member of the state House of Representatives.
No Republican opposed him, and he narrowly won the election over Two Bulls by 277 votes.
A year after winning re-election to the state senate, Bradford switched back to the Democratic Party.