Dennis Bonnen
Dennis Bonnen (Republican Party) was a member of the Texas House of Representatives, representing District 25. He assumed office in 1997. He left office on January 11, 2021.
Bonnen (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Texas House of Representatives to represent District 25. He won in the general election on November 6, 2018.
On October 22, 2019, Bonnen announced that he would not seek re-election in 2020.[1]
Bonnen was elected speaker of the House in January 2019. He began serving as speaker pro tempore in 2013.[2]
Bonnen ran in one of 48 contested Texas state legislative Republican primaries in 2018. To read more about the conflict between Republican factions in the primaries, including who the factions were, which races were competitive and who key influencers lined up behind, click here.
Biography
Bonnen is a graduate of Saint Edwards University, where he earned a bachelor's degree. Bonnen's professional experience includes working as a general manager for Master Data Systems, as a legislative analyst for CAN Manufacturers Institute, and as a small business owner.
He is a member of a number of organizations, including the Alvin Chamber of Commerce, Angleton Chamber of Commerce, Angleton Exchange Club, BACH, Boy & Girl Scouts of America, Brazoria Heritage Foundation, Brazosport Chamber of Commerce, Junior Achievement Board of Directors, Pearland Chamber of Commerce, Pearland Exchange Club, SFA 500, and Varner-Hogg Guardians Board.[3]
Bonnen's previous political experience includes working as an advance team member on the Dole for President Campaign in 1995, and as Sergeant-at-Arms for the Texas State House of Representatives in 1993.
Committee assignments
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Texas committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Culture, Recreation, & Tourism |
| • Ways & Means, Chair |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Bonnen served on the following committees:
| Texas committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Insurance |
| • Natural Resources |
| • Ways & Means, Chair |
2013-2014
In the 2013-2014 legislative session, Bonnen served on the following committees:
| Texas committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • Natural Resources |
| • Special Purpose Districts, Chair |
| • Joint Committee on Oversight of Higher Ed Governance, Excellence & Transparency, Vice Chair |
2011-2012
During the 2012 legislative session, Bonnen served on the following Texas House of Representatives committees:
| Texas committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Calendars, Vice chair |
| • Higher Education |
| • Transportation |
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2020
Dennis Bonnen did not file to run for re-election.
2018
General election
General election for Texas House of Representatives District 25
Incumbent Dennis Bonnen won election in the general election for Texas House of Representatives District 25 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Dennis Bonnen (R) | 100.0 | 40,902 |
| Total votes: 40,902 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 25
Incumbent Dennis Bonnen defeated Damon Rambo in the Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 25 on March 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Dennis Bonnen | 76.8 | 12,092 |
| Damon Rambo | 23.2 | 3,652 | ||
| Total votes: 15,744 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Overview of 2018 Republican primaries
The 2018 Texas state legislative Republican primaries featured conflict between two factions. One group was opposed to House Speaker Joe Straus (R) and his preferred policies on issues like education financing and property taxes. The anti-Straus wing included members of the Texas Freedom Caucus and organizations such as Empower Texans and Texas Right to Life. The other group was supportive of Straus and his policy priorities. The pro-Straus wing included incumbent legislators allied with Straus and organizations such as the Associated Republicans of Texas and the Texas Association of Business. To learn more about these factions and the conflict between them, visit our page on factional conflict among Texas Republicans.
The primaries occurred on March 6, 2018, with runoffs on May 22, 2018. There were 48 contested state legislative Republican primaries, outnumbering contested primaries in 2016 (43) and 2014 (44). To see our full coverage of the state legislative Republican primaries, including who key influencers were backing and what the primaries meant for the 2019 House speaker's race, visit our primary coverage page.
The charts below outline the March 6 primary races for the state Senate and the state House. They show how the factions performed on election night.
| Texas Senate Republicans | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Before March 6 primaries | After March 6 primaries | |
| Pro-Straus | 2 | 1 | |
| Anti-Straus | 1 | 3 | |
| Unknown | 3 | 3 | |
| Open seats | 1 | - | |
| Runoffs | - | - | |
| Too close to call | - | - | |
| Total | 7 | 7 | |
| Texas House Republicans | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Before March 6 primaries | After March 6 primaries | |
| Pro-Straus | 20 | 20 | |
| Anti-Straus | 4 | 9 | |
| Unknown | 2 | 5 | |
| Open seats | 15 | - | |
| Runoffs | - | 7 | |
| Too close to call | - | - | |
| Total | 41 | 41 | |
Primary we watched
This primary was one of 48 we tracked for the March 6 elections.
Did the incumbent file to run for re-election?
| Yes. |
What made this a race to watch?
| Damon Rambo challenged state Rep. Dennis Bonnen in his primary with the assistance of conservative groups. Gov. Greg Abbott (R) held a fundraiser for Bonnen. As of January 31, 2018, only Rambo had signed the form committing to vote for the Republican caucus' choice for speaker on the House floor. Endorsements for Rambo
Endorsements for Bonnen
|
Campaign finance
2016
Elections for the Texas House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election was held on March 1, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was December 14, 2015.[5]
Incumbent Dennis Bonnen ran unopposed in the Texas House of Representatives District 25 general election.[6]
| Texas House of Representatives, District 25 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Dennis Bonnen Incumbent (unopposed) |
100.00% | 44,280 | |
| Total Votes | 44,280 | |||
| Source: Texas Secretary of State | ||||
Incumbent Dennis Bonnen ran unopposed in the Texas House of Representatives District 25 Republican Primary.[7][8]
| Texas House of Representatives, District 25 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican | Dennis Bonnen Incumbent (unopposed) | |
2014
Elections for all 150 seats in the Texas House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election took place on March 4, 2014. Those candidates who did not receive 50 percent or more of the vote in their party primary on March 4 faced an additional May 27 primary runoff. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in these elections was December 9, 2013. Incumbent Dennis Bonnen was unopposed in the Republican primary and was unchallenged in the general election. Libertarian Randall Lee Goodson withdrew from the race in January 2014.[9][10][11][12]
2012
Bonnen ran in the 2012 election for Texas House of Representatives, District 25. Bonnen ran unopposed in the May 29 primary election. He was unchallenged in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[13]
2010
Bonnen won re-election unopposed to the 25th District seat in 2010. He had no opposition in the March 2nd primary, and he had no opponent in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[13]
| Texas House of Representatives, District 25 2010 General election results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| Dennis Bonnen (R)
|
25,368 | 100% | ||
2008
On November 4, 2008, Bonnen won election to the Texas House of Representatives from Texas' 25th District, defeating Richard Cole (L). Bonnen received 33,404 votes in the election while Cole received 5,454 votes.[13] Bonnen raised $245,999 for his campaign.[14]
| Texas House of Representatives, District 25 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| Dennis Bonnen (R)
|
33,404 | 85.96% | ||
| Richard Cole (L) | 5,454 | 14.03% | ||
Noteworthy events
On December 27, 2020, Bonnen announced that he had tested positive for coronavirus.[15]
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| Coronavirus pandemic |
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Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Texas scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2020
In 2020, the Texas State Legislature was not in session.
2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Texas State Legislature was in its 86th legislative session from January 8 through May 27.
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2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the Texas State Legislature did not hold a regular session. |
2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the Texas State Legislature was in its 85th legislative session from January 10 through May 29. A special session was held from July 18 to August 15.
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2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the Texas State Legislature did not hold a regular session. |
2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the Texas State Legislature was in its 84th legislative session from January 13 through June 1.
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2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
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In 2014, the Texas State Legislature did not hold a regular session. |
2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
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In 2013, the Texas State Legislature was in its 83rd legislative session from January 8 through May 27. Thirty minutes after the regular session ended, Governor Rick Perry called legislators back for a special session starting that evening.[16] Two additional called sessions were held from July 1 through July 30 and July 30 through August 5.[17]
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2012
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2012, click [show]. |
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In 2012, the Texas State Legislature did not hold a regular session. |
2011
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2011, click [show]. |
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In 2011, the Texas State Legislature was in its 82nd legislative session from January 11 through May 30. A special session was called for May 31 through June 29.[17]
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See also
- State legislative elections, 2018
- Texas House of Representatives elections, 2018
- State legislative special elections, 2018
- Texas House of Representatives
- Texas House of Representatives Committees
- Texas Joint Committees
- Texas state legislative districts
- Texas State Legislature
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Dennis Bonnen campaign website
- Texas House of Representatives - Rep. Bonnen
- Profile from Open States
- Legislative profile from Project Vote Smart
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Campaign Contributions: 2012, 2010, 2008, 2006, 2004, 2002, 1998
- Freedom Speaks profile
- Texas State Directory profile
- Texas Political Almanac HD 25 page
- Texas Tribune profile & bio
- Vote-TX.org profile
- State Surge profile
- Dennis Bonnen on Facebook
Footnotes
- ↑ The Texas Tribune, "Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen won't seek reelection after recording scandal," October 22, 2019
- ↑ Texas House of Representatives, "Speaker of the House," accessed February 6, 2019
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Biography," accessed May 24, 2014
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedNFIB - ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "Important 2016 Election Dates," accessed December 14, 2015
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "2016 General Election," accessed December 2, 2016
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "2016 March Primary Election Candidate Filings by County," accessed August 22, 2016
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "1992 - Current Election History results," accessed August 22, 2016
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "1992 - Current ELECTION HISTORY," accessed December 2, 2014
- ↑ The Libertarian Party of Texas, "2014 Texas Representative Candidate List," accessed July 30, 2014
- ↑ Green Party of Texas, "Greens Release Candidate List," accessed July 30, 2014
- ↑ Facebook, post by Randall Lee Goodson, January 10, 2014. accessed February 19, 2014.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Texas Secretary of State, "1992 - Current Election History," accessed February 17, 2014
- ↑ Follow the Money, "Candidate funds," accessed May 24, 2014
- ↑ The Texas Tribune, "Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen tests positive for coronavirus," December 27, 2020
- ↑ kten.com, "Texas Lawmakers To Tackle Redistricting In Special Session," May 29, 2013
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Legislative reference Library of Texas, "Texas Legislative Sessions and Years," accessed June 13, 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by ' |
Texas House District 25 1997-2021 |
Succeeded by Cody Vasut (R) |
