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David Dewhurst
| David Dewhurst | ||
 | ||
| Lieutenant Governor of Texas | ||
| Incumbent | ||
| In office | ||
| January 21, 2003 - Present | ||
| Years in position | 10 | |
| Party | Republican | |
| Predecessor | Bill Ratliff (R) | |
| Compensation | ||
| Base salary | $7,200 | |
| Elections and appointments | ||
| Last election | November 2, 2010 | |
| First elected | November 5, 2002 | |
| Next election | November 4, 2014 | |
| Campaign $ | $65,694,639 | |
| Term limits | N/A | |
| Prior offices | ||
| Texas Land Commissioner | ||
| January 17, 1999 – January 21, 2003 | ||
| Education | ||
| Bachelor's | University of Arizona | |
| Military service | ||
| Service/branch | U.S. Airforce | |
| Personal | ||
| Birthday | August 18, 1945 | |
| Place of birth | Houston, TX | |
| Profession | Rancher | |
| Religion | Presbyterian | |
| Websites | ||
| Office website | ||
Contents |
Nearly one month after losing his bid for U.S. Senate, Dewhurst announced at the Republican National Convention on August 28, 2012 that he planned to run for a fourth term as lieutenant governor in 2014.[1]
Biography
Dewhurst earned his bachelor's degree and played basketball at the University of Arizona in Tucson.
He was previously an officer in the U.S. Air Force, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the U.S. State Department. In 1981, Dewhurst founded Falcon Seaboard, a Texas-based diversified energy and investments company. He breeds registered Black Angus cattle, is an active team roper, and rides cutting horses in American Quarter Horse Association and National Quarter Horse Association competitions.
Education
- University of Arizona, B.A.
Political career
Lieutenant Governor (2003-Present)
Dewhurst was elected Lieutenant Governor in November 2002, when he defeated former Democratic Comptroller John Sharp of Victoria. He succeeded Bill Ratliff. (Ratliff did not contest the lieutenant governor's position in the primary, opting instead for re-election to his state senate seat.) Dewhurst polled 2,341,875 votes (51.77 percent) to Sharp's 2,082,281 (46.03 percent). (Two minor candidates polled the remaining 2.19 percent.) In that campaign, Dewhurst stressed his interest in public education and opposition to school vouchers.
Dewhurst was easily renominated for Lieutenant Governor of Texas in the Republican primary held on March 7, 2006. He defeated Tom Kelly, the same unknown candidate whom he bested for the nomination in 2002. Dewhurst then overwhelmed Democrat Maria Luisa Alvarado, a veterans issues research analyst and the winner of her April 11 runoff primary, in the November 7 general election. He received 2,512,197 votes (58.2 percent) to Alvarado's 1,616,945 (37.4 percent). Libertarian Judy A. Baker polled another 188,956 votes (4.4 percent).
Texas Children First initiative
Dewhurst is known for his "Texas Children First" initiative which is part of cracking down on child sexual predators in Texas and throughout the United States. The initiative includes extending the statute of limitations on child sex crimes and leading the passage of Jessica's Law to help keep Texas children safe. Dewhurst is also attempting to pass legislation that would allow for the death penalty to be imposed on 2nd time violent child predators. This bill has received some controversy as it has been recognized that the death penalty for anything other than murder is unconstitutional. Nobody has been executed in the US for a crime other than murder since 1964.[2]
Weapons training for teachers
On January 11, 2013, Dewhurst called for state-funded firearms training for teachers and administrators. Per his proposal, school districts would nominate who would carry weapons on campus and training would be more extensive than what is required for a concealed handgun license.[3]
2003 Redistricting
In 2003, Dewhurst assisted the Republican leadership, including then U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick, and Governor Rick Perry, in passing a sweeping congressional redistricting bill that increased the number of Republican U.S. House seats in Texas from 15 to 21 in the 2004 elections. Minority Democrats were left with 11 seats. In his capacity as the presiding officer of the Texas Senate, Dewhurst, in the third consecutive special session called by the governor, allowed the suspension of the custom that 2/3 of the body must vote to consider a bill.
Dewhurst's leadership on redistricting brought him into legal conflict with his former land commissioner opponent, Richard Raymond. Raymond was the only elected official to be a plaintiff in the 2006 U.S. Supreme Court review of the constitutionality of the DeLay-Perry-Craddick-Dewhurst redistricting plan. Dewhurst and Raymond have also sparred over education policy.
Texas Land Commissioner (1998-2003)
Dewhurst was elected Texas Land Commissioner in 1998. A self-described "George Bush Republican," he defeated Democratic State Representative Richard Raymond of Benavides for the position. Dewhurst accused Raymond of being a "career politician." Dewhurst received 2,072,604 votes (57.42 percent) to Raymond's 1,438,378 ballots (39.85 percent). A Libertarian polled the remaining 2.72 percent.
Elections
2014
Dewhurst intends to run for re-election in 2014.[4]
2012
Dewhurst announced on July 19, 2011 that he would be running for the US Senate in 2012, aiming to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of Kay Bailey Hutchison. He said his campaign would be "straightforward, unapologetically conservative and as serious as the problems we face."[5]
Dewhurst and Ted Cruz defeated Joe Agris, Curt Cleaver, Glenn Addison, Ben Gambini, Craig James, Tom Leppert, and Lela Pittenger in the Republican primary on May 29, 2012. He was then defeated in the July 31st primary runoff election by Cruz.[6][7]
- Primary
- Cruz won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in the primary runoff election on July 31, 2012.[8]
| U.S. Senate Runoff Election, Texas Republican Primary, 2012 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Ted Cruz |
56.8% | 631,812 |
| David Dewhurst | 43.2% | 480,126 |
| Total Votes | 1,111,938 | |
2010
Dewhurst defeated Linda Chavez-Thompson (D), Herb Gonzales, Jr. (G) and Scott Jameson (L) in the general election on November 2, 2010.[9]
| Lieutenant Governor of Texas | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| David Dewhurst(R)
|
3,044,770 | 61.79% | ||
| Linda Chavez-Thompson (D) | 1,715,735 | 34.82% | ||
| Scott Jameson (L) | 121,914 | 2.47% | ||
| Herb Gonzales, Jr. (G) | 44,806 | 0.90% | ||
2006
Dewhurst was easily renominated for Lieutenant Governor of Texas in the Republican primary held on March 7, 2006. He defeated Tom Kelly, the same unknown candidate whom he bested for the nomination in 2002. Dewhurst then overwhelmed Democrat Maria Luisa Alvarado, a veterans issues research analyst and the winner of her April 11 runoff primary, in the November 7 general election. He received 2,512,197 votes (58.2 percent) to Alvarado's 1,616,945 (37.4 percent). Libertarian Judy A. Baker polled another 188,956 votes (4.4 percent).
2002
Dewhurst was elected Lieutenant Governor in November 2002, when he defeated former Democratic Comptroller John Sharp of Victoria. He succeeded Bill Ratliff. (Ratliff did not contest the lieutenant governor's position in the primary, opting instead for re-election to his state senate seat.) Dewhurst polled 2,341,875 votes (51.77 percent) to Sharp's 2,082,281 (46.03 percent). (Two minor candidates polled the remaining 2.19 percent.) In that campaign, Dewhurst stressed his interest in public education and opposition to school vouchers.
1998
Dewhurst was elected Texas Land Commissioner in 1998. A self-described "George Bush Republican," he defeated Democratic State Representative Richard Raymond of Benavides for the position. Dewhurst accused Raymond of being a "career politician." Dewhurst received 2,072,604 votes (57.42 percent) to Raymond's 1,438,378 ballots (39.85 percent). A Libertarian polled the remaining 2.72 percent.
Campaign donors
Comprehensive donor information for Dewhurst is available dating back to 1998. Based on available campaign finance records, Dewhurst raised a total of $65,694,639 during that time period. This information was last updated on May 9, 2013.[10]
| David Dewhurst's Campaign Contribution History | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Office | Result | Contributions | |
| 2012 | TX Lieutenant Governor |  |
$3,347,683 | |
| 2010 | TX Lieutenant Governor |  |
$9,240,480 | |
| 2008 | TX Lieutenant Governor | |
$4,634,620 | |
| 2006 | TX Lieutenant Governor | |
$10,204,273 | |
| 2004 | TX Lieutenant Governor | |
$4,136,939 | |
| 2002 | TX Lieutenant Governor | |
$29,335,793 | |
| 1998 | TX Commissioner of Public Lands | |
$4,794,851 | |
| Grand Total Raised | $65,694,639 | |||
1998-2010
Ballotpedia collects information on campaign donors for each year in which a candidate or incumbent is running for election. The following table offers a breakdown of David Dewhurst's donors each year.[11] Click [show] for more information.
| David Dewhurst's Campaign Contributions | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 Lt. Governor of Texas | 2006 Lt. Governor of Texas | 2002 Lt. Governor of Texas | 1998 Commissioner of Public Lands | ||||||||||||||||
| Total Raised | $9,240,480 | $10,204,273 | $29,335,793 | $4,794,851 | |||||||||||||||
| Total Raised by General Election Opponent | $958,040 | $50,991 (Democrat) $1,480 (Libertarian) | $8,729,122 | $660,622 | |||||||||||||||
| Top 5 contributors | James Pitcock | $200,000 | David Dewhurst | $586,839 | David Dewhurst | $24,271,183 | Mr. and Mrs. David Dewhurst | $3,116,033 | |||||||||||
| Bob Perry | $175,000 | Bob Perry | $285,000 | Bob Perry | $115,000 | James Leininger | $75,000 | ||||||||||||
| Mickey Long | $159,500 | David Alamee | $250,000 | Albert Huddleston | $100,000 | Henry & Jane Smith | $51,000 | ||||||||||||
| Health Border | $150,000 | Harold Simmon | $125,000 | Kenny Troutt | $100,000 | Gene Dewhurst | $50,000 | ||||||||||||
| Curtis Mewbourne | $125,000 | AT&T | $110,304 | Lonnie Pilgrim | $80,220 | Mr. & Mrs. Alfredo Brener | $34,500 | ||||||||||||
| Individuals | $7,093,922 | $7,073,719 | $3,478,655 | $1,316,939 | |||||||||||||||
| Institutions | $3,459,341 | $3,548,949 | $1,485,002 | $290,282 | |||||||||||||||
| In-state donations | $8,839,574 | $9,722,678 | $23,500,690 | $4,737,142 | |||||||||||||||
| Out-of-state donations | $400,341 | $481,237 | $5,586,113 | $57,459 | |||||||||||||||
Personal
Dewhurst lives in Houston with his wife, Tricia, and their young daughter Carolyn.
Recent news
This section displays the most recent stories in a Google news search for the term "David + Dewhurst + Texas + Lieutenant + Governor"
- All stories may not be relevant to this page due to the nature of the search engine.
David Dewhurst News Feed
- Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst issues call to action for conservatives - Houston Chronicle (blog)
- What makes Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst blush? - Houston Chronicle (blog)
- Texas Lt. Gov. Demands Probe of Abortion Doc Who Twisted Off Babies Heads - LifeNews.com
- David Dewhurst says Texas Senate will push for more business tax cuts - Dallas Morning News
- Texas Lawmakers Approve Bill To Train Teachers To Be Armed Marshals - CBS Local
- Democrats Say They'll Counter Texas Budget Offer - CBS Local
- Tax tussle riling Legislature in final week - Fort Worth Star Telegram
- Every Anti-Abortion Bill in the Texas Legislature This Session Has Failed - Dallas Observer (blog)
- Abortion Clinic Employees Reveal Alleged Texas 'House of Horrors' in Douglas ... - Christian Post
- Governor Playing Role in Testing Bill Talks - Texas Tribune
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See also
External links
- Official Website of the Lieutenant Governor of Texas
- David Dewhurst campaign website
- Dewhurst Committee Webpage
- David Dewhurst on Facebook
- David Dewhurst on YouTube
- David Dewhurst on Flickr
- David Dewhurst on Twitter
- Campaign contributions: 2012, 2010, 2008, 2006, 2004, 2002, 1998
References
- ↑ Texas Tribune, "Dewhurst Plans to Run for Re-election," August 28, 2012
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ KSLA, "Texas Lt. Gov.: Fund weapons training for teachers," January 11, 2013
- ↑ The Texas Tribune, "Dewhurst plans to run for re-election," August 28, 2012
- ↑ Austin American-Statesman, "Dewhurst announces Senate bid", July 19, 2011
- ↑ Texas GOP - candidate list
- ↑ Associated Press Election results
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "Race Summary Report-2012 Republican Party Primary Runoff," accessed August 30, 2012
- ↑ Texas Gubernatorial Election Results
- ↑ Follow the Money, " Career fundraising for David Dewhurst," accessed May 9, 2013
- ↑ Follow the Money.org
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Bill Ratliff (R) |
Lieutenant Governor of Texas 2003 - present |
Succeeded by NA |
| |||||||||||||
| |||||
- President of the Senate
- Texas
- Republican Party
- Lieutenant Governor
- Republican candidates for Lieutenant Governor, 2010
- Candidates for statewide constitutional offices, Texas, 2010
- Current Republican lieutenant governor
- Current Texas lieutenant governor
- Current lieutenant governors
- 2012 challenger
- U.S. Senate candidate, 2012
- 2012 primary (defeated)
- 2012 open seat
- SEO running for U.S. Senate, 2012
- State executive candidate, 2014
- Lieutenant Governor candidate, 2014
- 2014 potential candidate
