Lance Gooden

Lance Carter Gooden[1] (born December 1, 1982) is the U.S. Representative for Texas's 5th congressional district, having won the general election held on November 6, 2018.[2] Gooden previously served in the Texas House of Representatives for District 4 (Henderson and Kaufman counties). He served two terms in the state House from 2011 to 2015 before he lost his re-election bid in the 2014 Republican primary election. He was returned to office in 2016 for this third nonconsecutive term in the legislature.

Lance Gooden
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 5th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2019
Preceded by	Jeb Hensarling
Member of the Texas House of Representatives from the 4th district
In office January 10, 2017 – January 3, 2019
Preceded by	Stuart Spitzer
Succeeded by	Keith Bell
In office January 11, 2011 – January 13, 2015
Preceded by	Betty Brown
Succeeded by	Stuart Spitzer
Personal details
Born	Lance Carter Gooden (1982-12-01) December 1, 1982 Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Alexa Calligas ( m. 2016)
Children	1
Education	University of Texas at Austin (BA, BBA)
Website	House website

Early life and education

A native of Terrell in Kaufman County, a city east of Dallas, Texas, Gooden graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, from which he received a Bachelor of Arts in government.

Texas House of Representatives

In the 2010 primary election, Gooden won 50.5 percent of the vote, upsetting six-term incumbent Republican Representative Betty Brown.[3] Gooden had formerly been Brown's legislative assistant.

Upon taking office early in 2011, Gooden worked on the state budget in an attempt to eliminate wasteful spending. He served on these House committees: Appropriations, County Affairs, and House Administration, the latter of which handles employment by the House. In 2010, Gooden had no Democratic opponent in his heavily Republican district.[4][5] In 2011, Gooden assisted hotel mogul Monty Bennett in his fight against the Tarrant Regional Water District, pushing legislation to designate Bennett's 1,000-acre ranch as a municipal utility district and granting immunity from a proposed water pipeline through the property.[6]

Gooden won renomination to a second term in the Republican primary held on May 29, 2012. He polled 6,385 votes (53.5 percent) to 5,545 (46.5 percent) for his opponent, Stuart Spitzer.[7][8] Gooden was then unopposed for his second term in the general election held on November 6, 2012.

However, on March 4, 2014, Spitzer, in a second bid for the office, unseated Gooden in the Republican primary. Spitzer polled 8,421 votes (51 percent) to Gooden's 8,079 (49 percent).[9] Speaker Joe Straus, of San Antonio, made a campaign stop for Gooden's behalf in Forney in Kaufman County, a month before the primary election. Accompanying Straus to Forney was State Senator Bob Deuell,[10] who lost his own seat in the subsequent May 27 runoff election to the Tea Party movement choice, Bob Hall.

In 2016, however, Gooden staged a successful comeback and unseated Spitzer in the March 1 Republican primary, 14,500 votes (51.8 percent) to 13,502 (48.2 percent). He returned to the state House in January 2017.[11]

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2018 general election

In 2018, he won the Republican nomination for the 5th congressional district and was elected to that office on November 6, 2018, upon receiving 62.7 percent of the votes.[2]

Tenure

Committee assignments

• Committee on Financial Services
  • Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development and Insurance(Vice Ranking Member)

Caucus memberships

Electoral history

Republican primary results[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Lance Gooden	17,501	29.9
	Republican	Bunni Pounds	12,895	22.0
	Republican	Sam Deen	10,102	17.2
	Republican	Kenneth Sheets	7,011	12.0
	Republican	Jason Wright	6,675	11.4
	Republican	Danny Campbell	1,767	3.0
	Republican	David Williams	1,603	2.7
	Republican	Charles Lingerfelt	1,023	1.8
Total votes			58,777	100.0

Republican primary runoff results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Lance Gooden	18,364	54.0
	Republican	Bunni Pounds	15,634	46.0
Total votes			33,998	100.0

Texas's 5th congressional district, 2018[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Lance Gooden	130,617	62.3
	Democratic	Dan Wood	78,666	37.6
	Independent	Phil Gray (write-in)	224	0.1
Total votes			209,507	100.0
	Republican hold

Personal life

On October 1, 2016, Gooden married Alexa Calligas, whose family is from Shreveport, Louisiana.[14] They had a son on February 1, 2018.[15]

Gooden grew up attending the Rockwall and Brin Church of Christ in Terrell, Texas, and remains a member of that congregation.[16]

References

1. Gooden v. Weaver et al.
2. "Lance Gooden wins bid for Texas' 5th Congressional District, a position not held by a Kaufman County resident in nearly a century". inForney.com. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
3. ""Gooden upsets Brown"". Athens Review. March 3, 2010. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
4. Dallas News
5. Kaufmann Herald
6. Root, Jay; Svitek, Patrick (May 16, 2018). "Lance Gooden's biggest donor in the Texas Legislature is now spending big to get him into Congress. The two go way back". The Texas Tribune.
7. "Republican primary election returns, May 29, 2012". enr.sos.state.tx.us. Archived from the original on June 10, 2012. Retrieved May 30, 2012.
8. "About Stuart Spitzer". stuartspitzer.com. Archived from the original on April 4, 2015. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
9. "Republican primary election returns, March 4, 2014". enr.sos.state.tx.us. Archived from the original on March 5, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
10. "Denise Bell, "Texas Speaker of the House Straus Visits Forney to Endorse Rep. Gooden," February 4, 2014". The Forney Post. Archived from the original on March 6, 2014. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
11. "Republican primary returns". Texas Secretary of State. March 1, 2016. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
12. "2018 Primary Election Official Results". Texas Secretary of State. Archived from the original on March 7, 2018. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
13. "Texas Election Results". Texas Secretary of State. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
14. "Off to Rio". The Shreveport Times. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
15. "Meet Lance". Retrieved December 12, 2018.
16. Ross, Bobby, Jr. (January 18, 2019). "Three members of Churches of Christ elected to U.S. House". The Christian Chronicle. Retrieved April 13, 2019.

External links

• Congressman Lance Gooden official U.S. House website
• Lance Gooden Election website
• Lance Gooden at the Texas Tribune
• 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

Texas House of Representatives
Preceded by Betty Brown	Member of the Texas House of Representatives from the 4th district 2011–2015	Succeeded by Stuart Spitzer
Preceded by Stuart Spitzer	Member of the Texas House of Representatives from the 4th district 2017–2019	Succeeded by Keith Bell
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Jeb Hensarling	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 5th congressional district 2019–present	Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by Anthony Gonzalez	United States Representatives by seniority 366th	Succeeded by Mark Green