James "Jimmy" Cotton (born July 1 1935, Tunica, Mississippi), is an American blues harmonica player, singer, and songwriter who is the bandleader for the James Cotton Blues Band. He also writes songs alone, and his solo career continues to this day. His work includes the following genres: Blues, Delta Blues, Harmonica Blues, Electric Harmonica Blues.

James Wesley Cotton (born December 14 1975 in Los Angeles, California, USA) is an American professional basketball player who had a brief career in the NBA.

Cotton, a 6' 5" shooting guard, left Long Beach State early and was selected with the fourth pick of the 2nd round (32nd overall) in the 1997 NBA Draft by the Denver Nuggets. His rights were then traded to the Seattle SuperSonics in a swap for the draft rights to Bobby Jackson. He was used sparingly by the Sonics over two seasons until he and Hersey Hawkins were involved in a player trade to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for Brent Barry on August 12, 1999. Cotton was waived by the Bulls prior to the commencement of the 1999-2000 NBA season. He has also played with the West Sydney Razorbacks in the Australian National Basketball League.

James Cotton is a political figure in Manitoba, Canada. He was became leader of the Freedom Party of Manitoba in 2007, and intended to lead the party into the 2007 provincial election. He was unable to do so, as the party failed to register any candidates with Elections Manitoba.

Cotton was 29 years old at the time of the election, and lived in Matlock, near Winnipeg Beach. He was previously a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba, but left because he believed it was too liberal and did not pay attention to the concerns of grassroots members.

He became politically active through talks with Chris Buors, who was leader of the small Manitoba Marijuana Party from 2005 to 2007. Buors offered the party leadership to Cotton, who accepted it on condition that the name be changed to the "Freedom Party". While his political views are largely similar to Buors's, Cotton has said that he is "not a marijuana guy".

He planned to run against Justice Minister Dave Chomiak in the division of Kildonan, but was unable to do so when the party could not field the minimum five candidates required for official ballot status. Buors surmised that some people who had promised to run as candidates backed out at the last minute. Cotton himself was not available for comment.

Elections Manitoba continues to list Cotton as the leader of the Freedom Party as of February 2008, although the party's current status is unclear.