Beth Van Duyne

Beth Van Duyne (born November 16, 1970[2]) is an American politician from the state of Texas. She served as mayor of Irving, Texas, from 2011 through 2017. She is a member of the Republican Party.

Beth Van Duyne
Mayor of Irving
In office
July 7, 2011 – May 16, 2017
Preceded byHerbert Gears
Succeeded byRick Stopfer
Personal details
Born
Elizabeth Ann Van Duyne

1970/1971 (age 49–50)
Ithaca, New York, U.S.[1]
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Casey Wallach (divorced 2012)
Children2
EducationCornell University (BA)

Early life and education

Van Duyne was born in Upstate New York. In 1986, her family moved to Irving, Texas. She graduated from Greenhill School in Addison, Texas, and Cornell University.[3]

Career

Van Duyne became dissatisfied with Herbert Gears, the Irving City Councilman representing her, over how he handled a zoning case in her neighborhood.[4] She ran against Gears in the 2004 election, and won. Gears was elected mayor in 2005. Van Duyne stepped down from the council in 2010, and successfully ran for mayor against Gears in the 2011 election.[3] She defeated Gears in a rematch in the 2014 election.[5]

In 2015, following an article by Breitbart News that made a false allegation that a court in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex followed sharia law, Van Duyne pushed for a vote on a resolution in the Irving City Council that expressed support of a bill in the Texas Legislature seeking to ban sharia law.[6][7] Also in 2015, when Ahmed Mohamed, a 14-year-old Muslim boy, was arrested for bringing a homemade clock, which teachers thought was a bomb, to school, Van Duyne defended the school and the Irving Police Department for their actions.[8][9] She was named as a co-defendant in a defamation lawsuit initiated by Mohamed's father.[10] Van Duyne was dismissed from the suit,[11] and the entire suit was eventually dismissed.[12]

In February 2017, Van Duyne announced she would not seek a third term as mayor.[5] In May 2017, President Donald Trump appointed Van Duyne as a regional administrator for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), overseeing Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Louisiana, and Arkansas.[13][14]

Following Kenny Marchant's August 2019 announcement that he would not run for reelection to the United States House of Representatives, Van Duyne announced her resignation from HUD so that she could run in the 2020 elections to succeed Marchant in representing Texas's 24th congressional district.[15]

Personal life

Van Duyne met her former husband, Chris "Casey" Wallach, while they were attending Cornell University.[3] They had two children prior to their 2012 divorce.[16]

2020 U.S. House of Representatives race
Republican primary results[17]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Beth Van Duyne 32,067 64.3
Republican David Fegan 10,295 20.7
Republican Desi Maes 2,867 5.7
Republican Sunny Chaparala 2,808 5.6
Republican Jeron Liverman 1,809 3.6
Total votes 49,846 100.0

References
  1. {{https://archives.hud.gov/local/tx/news/pr2017-05-08.cfm}}
  2. {{https://www.facebook.com/BethVanDuyneTX}}
  3. Formby, David (June 25, 2011). "Friends, family say Irving's new mayor full of energy and dedication". Dallas News. Archived from the original on August 6, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  4. Formby, Brandon (June 11, 2011). "Irving mayor runoff battle part of long war for Gears, Van Duyne". Dallas News. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  5. "Irving Mayor Beth Van Duyne will not seek third term | Irving". Dallas News. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  6. "Shariah flap pushes Irving mayor into national spotlight | Irving". Dallas News. July 28, 2015. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  7. Izadi, Elahe (September 16, 2015). "The history of anti-Islam controversy in Ahmed Mohamed's Texas city". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  8. Ferner, Matt. "Irving Mayor Defends School And Cops, Doesn't Apologize For Arrest Of Muslim Teen Over Clock". HuffPost. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  9. Hooks, Christopher (June 13, 2016). "Irving, Texas: An Unlikely Home for Islamophobia". Texas Observer. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  10. Jagannathan, Meera (May 9, 2017). "Texas mayor and Sharia law crusader Beth Van Duyne starts regional HUD job in Trump administration". New York Daily News. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
  11. Cardona, Claire (January 31, 2017). "Irving mayor dismissed from 'clock boy' defamation suit". Dallas News. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
  12. Becket, Stefan (May 19, 2017). "Ahmed Mohamed, "Clock Boy," loses federal discrimination lawsuit". CBS News. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
  13. Brandon Formby (May 8, 2017). "Trump names Irving Mayor Beth Van Duyne regional HUD administrator". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  14. Simek, Peter (August 29, 2017). "Former Irving Mayor Faces Tough Road Leading HUD Through Houston Catastrophe". D Magazine. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  15. Heinz, Frank (August 5, 2019). "Beth Van Duyne Leaving HUD, Running for Kenny Marchant's District 24 Seat". NBCDFW. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  16. "Dispute over Islam lands Irving Mayor Beth Van Duyne on national stage | News". Dallas News. March 24, 2015. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  17. "Texas' 24th Congressional District election, 2020".
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