James P. Gray II (born August 18, 1953) is an American politician who is the Kentucky Secretary of Transportation in the administration of Governor Andy Beshear.

Gray won the May 17 Democratic primary with nearly 60% of the vote, becoming the first openly gay man to win the U.S. Senate nomination of a major political party.

He started his college career at Emory University in Atlanta but returned home to help out with the family business when his father died in 1972.

[6] The Loeb Fellowship program was created for accomplished practitioners "to pause, study, and reflect at a great University [to] enable those who designed and built our cities to return with renewed insight and energy.

[8] Gray, Inc., specializes in the construction, engineering, automation, and development of large-scale buildings such as data and distribution centers, EV Battery, solar and renewable energy, manufacturing, and food and beverage facilities in the U.S. and abroad.

[9] Gray's next foray into politics came two decades later when Kentucky Governor Brereton Jones asked him to chair his Committee on Quality and Efficiency.

[12][13] During his term as vice mayor, Gray expressed opposition to proposals for CentrePoint, a planned hotel, residential and retail complex that was to be built downtown at an estimated cost of $250 million.

The fight over CentrePoint lasted years and the development went through financing issues and multiple redesigns, eventually becoming City Center, which opened in 2020.

[14] During the campaign, Gray developed the "Fresh Start Plan," containing a pledge to run the government like a good business, with increased transparency and efficiency and with reduced spending and debt.

[17] Gray has publicly stated that his administration would focus on three areas: creating jobs, making government more efficient, and building Lexington into a great American city.

[4] With Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, Gray launched a joint Lexington-Louisville economic-development initiative in conjunction with the Brookings Institution.

[2][26] On December 5, 2017, Gray announced that he would run for the United States House of Representatives, entering the Democratic primary for Kentucky's 6th congressional district.