Randy Weber
Randall Keith Weber (born July 2, 1953)[1] is an American businessman and a politician. He is a member of the United States House of Representatives. He has represented Texas' 14th congressional district since 2013, succeeding Ron Paul. He defeated former Congressman Nick Lampson on November 6, 2012, by a 53% to 45% margin. He was a member of the Texas House of Representatives, representing the 29th district. He is a member of the Republican Party.[2]
Randy Weber | |
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Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 14th district | |
Assumed office January 3, 2013 | |
Preceded by | Ron Paul |
Member of the Texas House of Representatives from the 29th district | |
In office January 3, 2009 – January 3, 2013 | |
Preceded by | Mike O'Day |
Succeeded by | Ed Thompson |
Personal details | |
Born | Randall Keith Weber July 2, 1953 Pearland, Texas, U.S. |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse(s) | Brenda |
Children | 3 |
Education | Alvin Community College University of Houston–Clear Lake (BS) |
Website | House website |
Early life, education, and business career
He graduated from Alvin Community College and in 1977 earned a BS in public affairs from the University of Houston–Clear Lake. In 1981, he founded Weber's Air & Heat Air-Conditioning Company.[3]
Early political career
He was a city councilman of Pearland, Texas, for six years. In addition he served as Brazoria County Grand Jury Commissioner, Brazoria County Redistricting Committee, Texas Republican Party Convention delegate, president of Brazoria County Cities Association, member of the Brazoria County Republican Party, and chairman of the Pearland Area Republican Party Headquarters.[4]
Texas House of Representatives
Elections
After State Representative Glenda Dawson died on September 12, 2006,[5] a special election was held on December 19. Businessman Mike P. O'Day earned 48% of the vote, falling just short of the 50% threshold. Weber earned 28% of the vote, qualifying for the run-off.[6] In the January run-off, O'Day defeated him 57%–43%.[7]
O'Day decided to retire. Weber ran for the March 2008 primary and won with 59% of the vote.[8] He won the general election with 60% of the vote.[9] He won re-election to a second term in 2010 with 85% of the vote.[10]
Tenure
Committee assignments
- Border & Intergovernmental Affairs Committee (Vice Chairman)
- Public Education Committee[11]
- Republican Study Committee[12]
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
- 2012
After Republican U.S. Representative Ron Paul of Texas' 14th congressional district decided to retire, nine Republicans decided to run in the newly redrawn district. Weber received endorsements from Governor Rick Perry and Ron Paul. He ranked first with 28% of the vote, but failed to reach the 50% threshold. In the run-off, he defeated Pearland City Councilwoman Felicia Harris 62%–37%.[13] He faced former Congressman Nick Lampson in the general election; Lampson jumped into the race after the 14th had been redrawn to include much of the territory he had represented in Congress from 1997 to 2005. In the general election held on November 6, 2012, Weber defeated Lampson by a 53% to 45% margin.[2] Based upon Weber's vote total in 2012, Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball named Weber one of their "Underachievers" because he received only 54% of the vote in his Congressional district while Mitt Romney received 59%.[14]
- 2016
Weber was reelected on November 8, 2016. He polled 160,631 votes (61.9 percent) to 99,054 (38.1 percent) for the Democrat Michael Cole.[15]
Committee assignments
- Committee on Foreign Affairs
- Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations
- Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa
- Committee on Science, Space and Technology
Caucus memberships
Tenure
In January 2014, during President Obama's State of the Union address, Weber in a tweet referred to the President as "Kommandant-In-Chef" [sic] and "the Socialist dictator." After the White House apologized for failing to send a more high profile leader to a demonstration in Paris following the January 2015 terrorist attacks in that city, Weber tweeted, "Even Adolph [sic] Hitler thought it more important than Obama to get to Paris."[19] Weber then wrote that he needed to "apologize to all those offended by my tweet". He did not choose to withdraw his earlier tweet made during the State of the Union address.[19]
In April 2015, Weber met with Aleksandr Torshin, the alleged handler for Russian spy Maria Butina,[20] according to internal documents from Center for the National Interest.[21]
The American Conservative Union gave him a 92% evaluation, Americans for Prosperity gave him a 94% evaluation, Campaign for Working Families, Concerned Women for America, and Faith and Freedom Coalition each gave him 100% evaluations, Conservative Review gave him a 73% evaluation, Eagle Forum gave him an 80% evaluation, National Journal gave him an 89% evaluation, and the John Birch Society gave him a 67% evaluation.
Personal life
He has been married to Brenda Weber, a Pearland schoolteacher, for over 30 years. They have three children and eight grandchildren.[3] He lives in Alvin, Texas.[22]
References
- Randy Weber – Texas – Bio, News, Photos – Washington Times Archived 2013-01-10 at the Wayback Machine
- Pinkerton, James. GOP's Weber beats Lampson in race to succeed Ron Paul, Houston Chronicle, November 7, 2012.
- "Meet Randy – Randy Weber". randyweber.org. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
- "The Voter's Self Defense System". Vote Smart. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
- Hanson, Eric; Chronicle, Copyright 2006 Houston (2006-09-12). "State Rep. Glenda Dawson, of Pearland, dies". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
- "Our Campaigns - TX State House 029 - Special Election Race - Dec 19, 2006". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
- "Our Campaigns - TX State House 029 - Special Election Runoff Race - Jan 16, 2007". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
- "Our Campaigns - TX State House 029 - R Primary Race - Mar 04, 2008". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
- "Our Campaigns - TX State House 029 Race - Nov 04, 2008". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
- "Our Campaigns - TX State House 029 Race - Nov 02, 2010". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
- Texas House of Representatives : Representative Thompson, Ed
- "Member List". Republican Study Committee. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
- "Our Campaigns - TX District 14 - R Runoff Race - Jul 31, 2012". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
- Kondik, Kyle. Sanford Joins “the Underachievers”, Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball, May 9, 2013.
- "General Election Results". Texas Secretary of State. November 8, 2016. Retrieved December 16, 2016.
- "What is the House Freedom Caucus, and who's in it?". Pew research center. 20 October 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
- "Members". House Baltic Caucus. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
- "Members". U.S. - Japan Caucus. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
- Ohlheiser, Abby (13 January 2015). "Texas Rep. Randy Weber said Obama is basically worse than Hitler. He has since apologized". www.washingtonpost.com. The Washington Post. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
- Helson, Kevin. "Butina Affidavit". U.S. Department of Justice. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
- Lynch, Sarah (June 22, 2018). "Exclusive: Alleged Russian agent Butina met with U.S. Treasury, Fed officials". Reuters. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
- McCutcheon, Michael; Barone, Chuck (2013). 2014 Almanac of American Politics. The University of Chicago Press.
External links
- Congressman Randy Weber official US House website
- Randy Weber for Congress
- Randy Weber at Curlie
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Profile at Vote Smart
- Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
- Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
- Profile at the Texas Tribune
- Profile at Vote TX
Texas House of Representatives | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by Mike O'Day |
Member of the Texas House of Representatives from the 29th district 2009–2013 |
Succeeded by Ed Thompson |
U.S. House of Representatives | ||
Preceded by Ron Paul |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 14th congressional district 2013–present |
Incumbent |
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
Preceded by Jackie Walorski |
United States Representatives by seniority 232nd |
Succeeded by Brad Wenstrup |