Dee Margo

Dee Margo
Texas State House, District 78
Former Officeholder
In office
2011 - 2013
Party	Republican
Elections and appointments
Last election	November 6, 2012
First elected	2010
Term limits	N/A

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Donald R. "Dee" Margo (born February 3, 1952 in El Paso, Texas) is a former Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives, representing the 78th District from 2011 to 2013.

Biography

Education

• B.A., History and Economics, Vanderbilt University.

Professional experience

• Chairman and CEO, John D. William Company, joined in 1977.
• President, John D. William Company.
• Vice president, John D. William Company.
• Agent, John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company.

Political experience

Margo was the 2008 Republican candidate for Texas House of Representatives, District 78. He was the 2006 Republican candidate for Texas State Senate, District 29.

He was the first fundraiser in El Paso to earn the title of Republican Eagle.

Issues

Taxes

• Supports low taxes and spending.
• Opposes any tax increases.
• Supports use of surplus funds for any, "additional state spending deemed necessary."

Property taxes

• Supports across-the-board property tax cuts.
• Supports a lower cap on annual increases in property tax appraisals.
• Supports elected property value appraisers.

Sate income tax

• Opposes a state income tax.

Sales tax

• Supports the sales tax.
• Supports a sales tax exemption on food and medicine.
• Opposes any effort to expand sales taxes to include food and medicine.

Health care

• Supports legislation against frivolous lawsuits.
• Supports annual evaluations of medical malpractice liability insurance costs.
• Supports streamlining physician and health care licensing.
• Supports funding expansion of Dental school at the four-year Texas Medical School.
• Supports continued investment in the Medical Center of the Americas.
• Supports centers of excellence at the four-year Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine
• Supports MCA focus on Hispanic health issues
• Supports MCA-community partners
• Supports reducing barriers to Children's Health Insurance Program and Medicaid.
• Supports expanding waivers for insurance carriers to develop flexible health plans for affordable health insurance for businesses.
• Supports continuing to amend the Texas Health Insurance Pool to provide health insurance pools.
• Supports financial aid incentives for students enrolled in health care programs at Texas institutions of higher education.
• Supports creating a recruitment and retention program to reduce interest rates for student loans for health care professional who relocate, providing economic incentives for the health care industry.

State spending

• Supports clear priorities in spending decisions.
• Supports state expenditure limits.
• Supports online transparency in state expenditures.
• Supports voter ballots for any spending above appropriation limits linked to population growth and inflation.

Education

• Supports holding schools accountable.
• Supports raising standards.
• Supports performance-based teacher compensation.

Environment

• Supports renewable electricity.
• Supports, "local incentives for pollution reduction and clean energy."

Illegal immigration

• Supports full local cooperation with the federal government in enforcing immigration laws.
• Supports, "immigration policies that give equal treatment to visitors from Mexico and Canada."

Law enforcement and border control

• Supports continued pressure on federal government for assistance.
• Supports maintaining troops at Fort Bliss.

Committee assignments

2011-2012

Dee Margo served on the following Texas House of Representatives committees:

• Appropriations Committee
• Land & Resource Management Committee
• Appropriations - S/C on Articles I, IV, & V, Select Committee

Elections

2012

See also: Texas House of Representatives elections, 2012

Margo ran for re-election in the 2012 election for Texas House of Representatives, District 78. Margo ran unopposed in the May 29 primary election and was defeated by Joe Moody (D) in the general election which took place on November 6, 2012.

Texas House of Representatives, District 78, General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Joe Moody	53.8%	22,650
	Republican	Dee Margo Incumbent	46.2%	19,430
Total Votes				42,080

2010

See also: Texas House of Representatives elections, 2010

Margo won election to Texas House of Representatives District 78 in 2010. He defeated Jay Kleberg and L. Rene Diaz in the March 2 Republican primary. He then defeated incumbent Democratic candidate Joseph Moody in the November 2 general election.

Texas House of Representatives, District 78 2010 General election results
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Dee Margo (R)		15,337	52.40%
Joseph Moody (D)		13,927	47.59%

2008

On November 4, 2008, Margo lost election to the Texas House of Representatives from Texas's 78th District, to opponent Joseph Moody. Moody received 26,176 votes in the election while Margo received 22,918 votes, and Collins (L) received 1,706 votes. Moody raised $708,548 for his campaign; Margo raised $1,073,457.

Texas House of Representatives, District 78
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Joseph Moody (D)		26,176	51.52%
Dee Margo (R)		22,918	45.11%
Bill Collins (L)		1,706	3.35%

2006

On Nov. 7, 2006, Margo lost election to the 29th District Seat in the Texas State Senate, to incumbent Eliot Shapleigh (d).

Shapleigh raised $844,589 for his campaign while Margo raised $1,008,811.

Texas State Senate, District 29 (2006)
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Eliot Shapleigh (D)		51,531	58.78%
Donald Margo (R)		36,127	41.21%

Campaign donors

2010

Margo raised a total of $948,400 in 2010. Below are Margo's top 5 campaign contributors in the 2010 election:

Contributor	2010 total
Texans for Lawsuit Reform	$177,854
Associated Republicans of Texas	$122,800
Hunt, Woody L.	$75,000
Foster, Paul L.	$70,000
Conservative Republicans of Texas	$36,972

2008

In his failed 2008 election bid, Margo raised a total of $1,073,457.

His five largest contributors in 2008 were:

Donor	Amount
Stars Over Texas Pac	$138,500
Hunt, Woody L	$100,250
Perry, Bob J	$85,000
Foster, Paul L	$78,238
Time Warner	$21,500

Controversies

Margo has been accused of carpet-bagging by Haggerty. In one televised attack advertisement, Haggerty's mother describes Margo as, "recruited by [Republican Texas House Representative] Tom Craddick... I have a carton of milk that's been in the district longer than he has."

In a televised debate, Margo denied having any conversation with Craddick and said, "I am running as an El Pasoan."

Nevertheless, Haggerty mailed a campaign flier in January accusing Margo, who had only recently rented an apartment in District 78, of being a carpetbagger. Haggerty even ran a campaign ad in which his mother described Margo as someone “recruited by Tom Craddick … I have a carton of milk that’s been in the district longer than he has.

Community service and involvement

• Co-founder, Border Fund.
• Partner, Operation Noel.
• Chairman, El Paso Chamber of Commerce.
• Board of directors member, Business institute for Political Analysis.
• Advisory board member, Texas Defense Economic Adjustment.
• Board member, Texas Lyceum Board.
• Board member, El Paso Regional Economic Development Corporation.
• Member, Paso Del Norte Group.
• Member, World Presidents Organization.
• Chairman, El Paso Empowerment Zone Corporation, 2001.
• Member, Sunturians.
• Member, City/County Board of Health.
• Member, Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
• Member, Junior Achievement Board
• Member, Private industry Council.
• Member, UTEP Business School Advisory Council.
• Member, Leadership in El Paso.
• Past board member, Rotary Club of El Paso.
• Past board member, United Way of El Paso.

Awards and recognitions

• Republican Eagle fundraiser.
• Outstanding Civilian Service Medal, Department of the Army.
• Star Award, El Paso Chamber of Commerce.
• BRAVO award, League of Women Voters.
• Inductee, El Paso Business Hall of Fame.

Scorecards

Empower Texans Fiscal Responsibility Index

Empower Texans produces the Fiscal Responsibility Index as "a measurement of how lawmakers perform on size and role of government issues." The index uses "exemplar votes on core budget and free enterprise issues that demonstrate legislators' governing philosophy." Legislators are graded along a standard grading scale, receiving grades A through F based on their performance during the legislative session.

2011

Dee Margo received a grade of F on the 2011 Fiscal Responsibility Index.

Personal

• Margo and his wife, Adair, have two sons, Wake and Don, and a daughter-in-law, Elizabeth.

Contact Information

Campaign Address:
P.O. Box 981021
El Paso, Texas 79998

Phone: (915) 313-7060

E-mail: dmargo@deemargo.org

External links

Suggest a link

• Dee Margo House member page
• Official Campaign website
• Official Facebook Page
• Candidate Twitter Page
• Texas House GOP YouTube Channel
• Official Campaign Contributions
• Contributions, Follow the Money
• Biography from Project Vote Smart
• Texas Tribune Profile
• Imagine Election Profile

References

Political offices
Preceded by Joseph Moody (D)	Texas House of Representatives District 78 2011-2013	Succeeded by Joe Moody (D)