James Perkins Jr. was elected mayor of Selma, Alabama first in 2000 and served through 2008. He is the first African-American to be elected mayor of historic Selma. In 2020, the citizens of Selma re-elected Perkins to serve as mayor.

Perkins is a native of Selma and product of the Selma City School System. He earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mathematics from Alabama A & M University and completed numerous graduate courses in the Master of Business Administration program at Auburn University at Montgomery. Perkins is a graduate of Leadership Birmingham, Leadership Selma, and Leadership Alabama.