Rob Wittman

Robert Joseph Wittman[1] (born February 3, 1959) is an American politician serving as the U.S. Representative for Virginia's 1st congressional district, serving since a special election in 2007. The district stretches from the fringes of the Washington suburbs to the Hampton Roads area. He is a member of the Republican Party.[2]

Rob Wittman
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Virginia's 1st district
Assumed office
December 11, 2007
Preceded byJo Ann Davis
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates
from the 99th district
In office
January 13, 2006 – December 11, 2007
Preceded byAlbert C. Pollard
Succeeded byAlbert C. Pollard
Personal details
Born
Robert Joseph Wittman

(1959-02-03) February 3, 1959
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Kathryn Sisson
Children2
EducationVirginia Tech (BS)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (MPH)
Virginia Commonwealth University (PhD)

Early life, education and career

Wittman was born in Washington, D.C., the son of adoptive parents Regina C. (née Wood) and Frank Joseph Wittman. His father was of German descent and his mother's ancestors included immigrants from Ireland and Canada.[3] He grew up in Henrico County, Virginia. He attended Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University as a member of the Corps of Cadets and Army ROTC and studied biology. While at Virginia Tech, he spent the summers working at a tomato cannery and on a fishing vessel. Also while he was in college, Wittman was a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. He later earned a master's degree in public health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1990 and a Ph. D. from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2002.[4] Wittman worked for 20 years with the Virginia Department of Health. He served as an environmental health specialist and later was field director for the Division of Shellfish Sanitation.[5]

Wittman served on the Montross Town Council from 1986 to 1996 and as Mayor of the Town of Montross from 1992 to 1996. Two of his major accomplishments in this office were the overhaul of the sewage system and the development of a computerized system for tax billing. From 1996 to 2005, Wittman served on the Westmoreland County Board of Supervisors, the last two years as chairman. He helped with the creation of new libraries and pushed for raises in teacher salaries.

Virginia House of Delegates

In 2005, Wittman was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, representing the 99th district. He served on the Agricultural; Chesapeake and Natural Resources; and Police and Public Safety Committees while in the state House.

U.S. House of Representatives

Committee assignments

Caucus memberships

Political positions

In 2010, Wittman stated platforms include support for corporate tax cuts, expanding broadband, and cutting spending.[12] Wittman is the cosponsor of legislation that would place a 2-year moratorium on capital gains and dividends taxes, cut the payroll tax rate and the self-employed tax rate in half for two years, and reduce the lowest income brackets by 5% each. He also favors deregulation.[12]

He co-sponsored a personhood bill in Congress that defined life as beginning at conception.[13]

In 2012 Wittman said he would consider cutting pay and benefits for service members who join the military in the future in order to avoid closing bases or cutting the number of miliary personnel.[14]

Wittman authored the Chesapeake Bay Accountability and Recovery Act, designed "to enhance coordination, flexibility and efficiency of restoration efforts," according to Wittman.[15] Following the sponsoring by several senators of a bill to reauthorize the North American Wetlands Conservation Act, Wittman introduced a version of the same bill for House members to consider.[16] He proposed the Advancing Offshore Wind Production Act (H.R. 1398), which he said was designed to simplify the process companies must go through in order to test and develop offshore wind power.[17]

Immigration

Wittman stated that the "immigration system is broken. To keep America strong and prosperous, we need an immigration system that works for the American people."[18] Wittman supports ending chain migration, implementing e-verify, eliminating the visa-lottery system, funding a southern border wall, increased border security and immigration enforcement, and revision of legal immigration.[19] During the 115th Congress, Wittman voted to provide $1.6 billion for border security measures necessary for enforcing existing immigration laws, and The Project Safe Neighborhoods Grant Program Authorization Act.[20]

In November 2018, Wittman said that "85 percent (of immigrants) don’t show up for a scheduled court hearing or call to schedule a court hearing." PolitiFact found that his claim was false. Wittman said that he got the information from his fellow member of Congress Bob Goodlatte, who in turn said he got it from the conservative website Newsmax, who attributed the claim to an anonymous "senior Los Angeles County Sheriff’s detective."[21]

Health Care

Wittman opposes the Affordable Care Act and has voted to repeal it.[22] He said that Congress should not merely be "anti-Obamacare" and that Republicans in Congress are ready to provide alternatives if it is deemed unconstitutional.[23] In 2017, he voted for the Republican Party's American Health Care Act, which would have repealed and replaced the Affordable Care Act.[23]

Political campaigns

2005

Wittman was first elected to the Virginia House of Delegates over Democrat Linda M. Crandell.

2007

Wittman was re-elected to the Virginia House of Delegates unopposed.

See also: 2007 Virginia's 1st congressional district special election

On December 11, 2007, Wittman was first elected to the United States Congress to succeed the late Congresswoman Jo Ann Davis, who died in October 2007. He was heavily favored in the special election due to the 1st's heavy Republican bent; it has been in Republican hands since 1977.[24] The Independent candidate was Lucky Narain.

2008
See also: 2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Virginia § District 1

Wittman was elected to his first full term on November 4, 2008 by defeating Democrat Bill Day and Libertarian Nathan Larson.[25]

2010
See also: 2010 United States House of Representatives elections in Virginia § District 1

Wittman won reelection in 2010, defeating Democrat Krystal Ball and Independent Green candidate Gail Parker.

2012
See also: 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Virginia § District 1

Rob Wittman won reelection in 2012, defeating Democrat Adam Cook and Independent Green candidate Gail Parker.[23]

2014
See also: 2014 United States House of Representatives elections in Virginia § District 1

Rob Wittman faced Norm Mosher (Democratic), Xavian Draper (Libertarian) and Gail Parker (Independent Green) in the 2014 midterm election.[26]

2016
See also: 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Virginia § District 1

Rob Wittman defeated Matt Rowe (Democratic) and Gail Parker (Independent Green) in the 2016 election.[27]

2018
See also: 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Virginia § District 1

Rob Wittman defeated Vangie Williams (Democratic) in the 2018 midterm election.[28]

Electoral history
Virginia's 1st congressional district: Results 2007–2012[29][30]
Year Republican Votes Pct Democrat Votes Pct 3rd Party Party Votes Pct
2007 Rob Wittman 42,772 61% Philip Forgit 26,282 37% Lucky Narain Independent 1,253 2%
2008 Rob Wittman 203,839 57% Bill Day 150,432 42% Nathan Larson Libertarian 5,265 1%
2010 Rob Wittman 135,564 64% Krystal Ball 73,824 35% Gail Parker Independent Green 2,544 1%
2012 Rob Wittman 200,845 56% Adam M. Cook 147,036 41% Gail Parker Independent Green 8,308 2% [31]
2014 Rob Wittman 131,861 62.9% Norm Mosher 72,059 34.4% Gail Parker Independent Green 5,097 2.4% [32]
2016 Rob Wittman 230,213 59.8% Matt Rowe 140,785 36.6% Gail Parker Independent Green 12,866 3.3% [33]
2018 Rob Wittman 183,250 55.2% Vangie A. Williams 148,464 44.7% [34]

Personal life

Wittman is a member of St. James Episcopal Church in Montross.[4]

References
  1. "Representative Robert Joseph Wittman (Rob) (R-Virginia, 1st) - Biography from LegiStorm". Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  2. "America's First District - U.S. House of Representatives". wittman.house.gov. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  3. "Rob Wittman ancestry". Retrieved January 5, 2016.
  4. "Rob Wittman". dela.state.va.us. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
  5. "About Rob". Rob Wittman. Archived from the original on June 14, 2014. Retrieved June 14, 2014.
  6. "Member List". Republican Study Committee. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  7. "Members". House Baltic Caucus. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  8. "Members". Congressional Constitution Caucus. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  9. "Our Members". U.S. House of Representatives International Conservation Caucus. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  10. https://wittman.house.gov/congressional-shipbuilding-caucus/
  11. http://coausphs.org/awards/congressional-public-health-leadership/
  12. http://www.robwittmanforcongress.com/on-the-issues.htm
  13. Davis, Chelyen (October 9, 2012). "Federal debt a focus of 1st District debate". fredericksburg.com. Archived from the original on June 15, 2014. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
  14. "GOP chairman on cutting future troops' benefits: 'I think that is a place we can go'". Military Times. Archived from the original on 22 November 2013. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  15. "WITTMAN CHESAPEAKE BAY LEGISLATION PASSES THE HOUSE". wittman.house.gov. February 6, 2014. Archived from the original on June 13, 2014. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
  16. "Senate Bill Pushes for Wetlands Conservation Act Reauthorization". floridasportsman.com. April 2, 2012. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
  17. Wittman, Rob (March 26, 2013). "Wittman Introduces Renewable Energy Legislation". votesmart.org. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
  18. https://robwittman.com/immigration/
  19. https://wittman.house.gov/issues/issue/?IssueID=128022
  20. https://wittman.house.gov/issues/issue/?IssueID=128022
  21. "Rep. Rob Wittman says 85 percent of immigrants skip their court hearings". @politifact. Retrieved 2019-06-09.
  22. Writer, By James Ivancic Times Staff. "Rep. Rob Wittman holds town hall in Nokesville". Prince William Times. Retrieved 2019-06-09.
  23. "Hope for Congress?". Fredericksburg. May 4, 2012. Retrieved May 27, 2012.
  24. Giroux, Greg (December 11, 2007). "Republican Wittman Wins Virginia House Seat in Special Election". CQ Politics. Archived from the original on November 29, 2008. Retrieved March 7, 2010.
  25. "District Detail: VA-01". Congressional Quarterly. Retrieved March 7, 2010.
  26. "US Rep. Rob Wittman wins GOP primary in Virginia". WTOP. 10 June 2014. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
  27. "Rep. Rob Wittman wins re-election in 1st District". Richmond Times-Dispatch. 8 November 2016. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  28. https://ballotpedia.org/Virginia%27s_1st_Congressional_District_election,_2018
  29. "Election Statistics". Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives. Archived from the original on 2007-07-25. Retrieved 2010-12-23.
  30. "Election results". Virginia State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on 2010-06-17. Retrieved 2010-12-23.
  31. Virginia State Board of Elections. "Election Results: Member of House of Representatives (01)". November 2012 General Election Official Results. Virginia.gov. Archived from the original on 12 May 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  32. Virginia State Board of Elections. "Election Results: Member of House of Representatives (01)". November 2014 General Election Official Results. Virginia.gov. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
  33. Virginia State Board of Elections. "Election Results: Member of House of Representatives (01)". November 2016 General Election Official Results. Virginia.gov. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
  34. Virginia State Board of Elections. "Election Results: Member of House of Representatives". Virginia.gov.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
Jo Ann Davis		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Virginia's 1st congressional district
2007–present		 Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by
Bob Latta		 United States Representatives by seniority
122nd		 Succeeded by
André Carson
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