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Born in Marksville in Avoyelles Parish, he was a son of Alfred Martin Gremillion (1941-1925) and the former Hermentine Bonnette (1846-1930).Educated privately in elementary school, he graduated from Marksville High School and [[Tulane University]] in [[New Orleans]], from which he received his law degree in 1905.  He was a law clerk for Olivier Otis Provosty (1854-1924), a Louisiana Supreme Court justice from 1920 to 1922. In 1906, Gremillion settled in Crowley in Acadia Parish near [[Lafayette]]. He was the 15th Judicial District Attorney from 1924 to 1936 and the Louisiana Secretary of State from 1940 to 1944.<ref name=wikitree>{{cite web|url=https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Gremillion-131|title=James Albert Gremillion|publisher=Wikitree.com|accessdate=September 8, 2019}}</ref>

Born in Marksville in Avoyelles Parish, he was a son of Alfred Martin Gremillion (1941-1925) and the former Hermentine Bonnette (1846-1930).Educated privately in elementary school, he graduated from Marksville High School and [[Tulane University]] in [[New Orleans]], from which he received his law degree in 1905.  He was a law clerk for Olivier Otis Provosty (1854-1924), a Louisiana Supreme Court justice from 1920 to 1922. In 1906, Gremillion settled in Crowley in Acadia Parish near [[Lafayette]]. He was the 15th Judicial District Attorney from 1924 to 1936 and the Louisiana Secretary of State from 1940 to 1944.<ref name=wikitree>{{cite web|url=https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Gremillion-131|title=James Albert Gremillion|publisher=Wikitree.com|accessdate=September 8, 2019}}</ref>

In 1944, Gremillion faced a looming runoff contest with Wade Omer Martin, Jr. (1911-1990), of St. Martin Parish, who had led for the secretary of state's office in the first [[primary]]. The senior Martin, a public service commissioner, and Martin, Jr., coaxed Gremillion to withdraw from the race and instead work as an attorney in the office. Gremillion's exit from the campaign hence made Martin, Jr., the official Democratic nominee, equivalent at the time to election in overwhelmingly Democratic Louisiana. Gremillion was an attorney in the secretary of state's office after he withdrew from the runoff election. [[Bill Dodd|William J. "Bill" Dodd]], a state legislator from Sabine Parish in western Louisiana at the time of the 1944 election wrote: "That a deal was made seemed evident -- when Gremillion wound up with a big job in Wade, Jr.'s office."<ref name=billdoddmemoir>[[Bill Dodd]], ''Peapatch Politics: The Earl Long Era in Louisiana Politics'' (Baton Rouge: Claitor's Publishing, 1990).</ref>

In 1944, Gremillion faced a looming runoff contest with [[Wade O. Martin, Jr.]], of St. Martin Parish, who had led for the secretary of state's office in the first [[primary]]. The senior Martin, a public service commissioner, and Martin, Jr., coaxed Gremillion to withdraw from the race and instead work as an attorney in the office. Gremillion's exit from the campaign hence made Martin, Jr., the official Democratic nominee, equivalent at the time to election in overwhelmingly Democratic Louisiana. Gremillion was an attorney in the secretary of state's office after he withdrew from the runoff election. [[Bill Dodd|William J. "Bill" Dodd]], a state legislator from Sabine Parish in western Louisiana at the time of the 1944 election wrote: "That a deal was made seemed evident -- when Gremillion wound up with a big job in Wade, Jr.'s office."<ref name=billdoddmemoir>[[Bill Dodd]], ''Peapatch Politics: The Earl Long Era in Louisiana Politics'' (Baton Rouge: Claitor's Publishing, 1990).</ref>

The possibility had existed that there would have been no runoffs at all in 1944 if the [[Earl Long|Long]]-backed gubernatorial candidate, Lewis Lovering Morgan (1876-1950), an  attorney from Covington in St. Tammany Parish, had decided not to pursue a second primary against [[Jimmie Davis]]. Morgan, however, remained in the race, but Davis won the first of his two nonconsecutive terms as governor. At the time Louisiana law then allowed runoffs for the lower-level constitutional office only if there was also a runoff for governor. Somehow, the Martins convinced Gremillion that he would lose a runoff, should bow out and continue to work as an attorney in the secretary of state's office under the junior Martin. With runoffs completed, Earl Long lost his bid for lieutenant governor to [[J. Emile Verret]], a school board member from Iberia Parish.<ref name=billdoddmemoir/>

The possibility had existed that there would have been no runoffs at all in 1944 if the [[Earl Long|Long]]-backed gubernatorial candidate, Lewis Lovering Morgan (1876-1950), an  attorney from Covington in St. Tammany Parish, had decided not to pursue a second primary against [[Jimmie Davis]]. Morgan, however, remained in the race, but Davis won the first of his two nonconsecutive terms as governor. At the time Louisiana law then allowed runoffs for the lower-level constitutional office only if there was also a runoff for governor. Somehow, the Martins convinced Gremillion that he would lose a runoff, should bow out and continue to work as an attorney in the secretary of state's office under the junior Martin. With runoffs completed, Earl Long lost his bid for lieutenant governor to [[J. Emile Verret]], a school board member from Iberia Parish.<ref name=billdoddmemoir/>