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Joe Farias
Joe Farias (b. March 13, 1946) is a former Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives, representing District 118 from 2006 to August 10, 2015. He resigned to spend more time with his family.[1]
Biography
Farias received his AA from Saint Philips Junior College. He has worked as a Supervisor of Technical Training for City Public Service from 1971-2003, and served in the United States Army from 1968-1971.
He is a member of the Saint Leo's Catholic School Board.[2]
Committee assignments
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Farias served on the following committees:
| Texas committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • County Affairs, Vice-Chair |
| • Defense & Veterans' Affairs |
2013-2014
In the 2013-2014 legislative session, Farias served on the following committees:
| Texas committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • County Affairs, Vice chair |
| • Defense & Veterans' Affairs |
| • Rules & Resolutions |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Farias served on the following Texas House of Representatives committees:
| Texas committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Defense & Veterans' Affairs |
| • Local & Consent Calendars |
| • Rules & Resolutions |
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Farias served on the following Texas House of Representatives committees:
| Texas committee assignments, 2009 |
|---|
| • Defense & Veterans' Affairs |
| • Public Education |
| • Rules & Resolutions |
Issues
Sponsored legislation
- HB 1978 - Relating to the establishment of an evidence-based youth development competitive grant pilot program.
- HB 2408 - Relating to the extension of consumer credit to certain members of the Texas National Guard and armed forces of the United States and their dependents; providing a penalty.
- HB 3041 - Relating to a comprehensive schedule of public school reporting requirements.
- HB 3042 - Relating to a study regarding changing the state minimum wage to the living wage.[3]
Elections
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 Joe Farias was unopposed in the Democratic primary and was unchallenged in the general election.[4][5][6]
2012
Farias won re-election in the 2012 election for Texas House of Representatives, District 118. Farias was unopposed in the May 29 primary and defeated Robert Casias (R) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[7]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  Joe Farias Incumbent |
59.8% | 23,992 | |
| Republican | Robert Casias | 40.2% | 16,095 | |
| Total Votes | 40,087 | |||
2010
Farias won re-election in District 118. He was unopposed in the March 2 Democratic primary and faced no opposition in the November 2 general election.[8]
| Texas House of Representatives, District 118 2010 General election results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| Joe Farias (D)
|
13,824 | 100% | ||
2008
On November 4, 2008, Farias won re-election to the Texas House of Representatives from the 118th District, receiving 24,169 votes ahead of Republican Don Green (14,747) and Libertarian James Thompson (1,414).[7] He raised $181,357 for his campaign.[9]
| Texas House of Representatives, District 118 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| Joe Farias (D)
|
24,169 | 59.92% | ||
| Don Green (R) | 14,747 | 36.56% | ||
| James L. Thompson (L) | 1,414 | 3.50% | ||
Campaign themes
2014
Farias' website highlighted the following campaign themes:[10]
School Finance
- Excerpt: "Representative Farias represents some of the poorest school districts in the state and will continue to work to ensure that these lower-wealth school districts, and all school districts across the state, are able to keep up with increased educational demands."
Payday Lending
- Excerpt: "Representative Farias is committed to working with his fellow elected officials to develop and implement policies that will curb abusive short-term lending in Texas which is trapping more and more Texans in a destructive cycle of debt."
Veterans
- Excerpt: "Representative Farias had the privilege to serve on the Defense and Military Affairs Committee during the 82nd Legislative session. He will continue to support issues that affect the everyday lives of veterans and their families."
Healthy Schools
- Excerpt: "Representative Farias believes health education is integral to the primary mission of schools. It provides young people with the knowledge and skills they need to become healthy and productive adults"
Dropout Prevention
- Excerpt: "Representative Farias is committed to increasing high school graduation rates through research and evidenced-based solutions."
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.
2015
In 2015, the Texas State Legislature was in its 84th legislative session from January 13 through June 1.
- Americans for Prosperity Texas - Texas Legislative Report Card 2015
- Legislators are scored on how they voted on tax and fiscal legislation.
- Concerned Women for America of Texas: Legislative Scorecard for the 84th session
- Legislators are scored based on votes on bills relating to abortion, common core, and sex trafficking.
- Legislators are scored on their votes for or against the organization's position and principles.
- Empower Texans - 2015 Fiscal Responsibility Index
- Legislators are scored based by the organization on their votes on bills relating to "core budget and free enterprise issues."
- Equality Texas - Equality Texas rankings for the Texas House during the 84th legislative session
- Legislators are scored on bills related to LGBT issues.
- Environment Texas - 2015 Legislative Scorecard
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental and public health issues.
- Heritage Alliance - 2015 Texas Conservative Report
- Legislators are scored based on votes on social issues, economic issues, and other issues.
- National Federation of Independent Business in Texas: 2015 Legislative Voting Record
- Legislators are scored on their votes on small business issues.
- Texas Association of Business: Senate and House - For the Record 2015
- Legislators are scored based on their votes on bills related to businesses, taxpayers, and families.
- Texas Eagle Forum - 2015 Legislative Scorecard
- Legislators are scored based on votes relating to conservative issues.
- Texas Right to Life - 2015 Legislative Scores
- Legislators are scored on bills related to reproductive health issues.
- Texas Tribune Guest Column: Mark P. Jones - The 2015 Texas House, From Right to Left
- Mark P. Jones, chair of the Department of Political Science at Rice University, biennially ranks state representatives based on how liberal and conservative they are according to legislative history.
- Texans Uniting for Reform & Freedom - 2015 Session Report Card
- Legislators are scored based on their votes on bills relating to taxes and property rights.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
|---|
|
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]. |
|---|
|
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.[11] Two additional called sessions were held from July 1 through July 30 and July 30 through August 5.[12]
|
2012
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2012, click [show]. |
|---|
|
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.[12]
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Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Farias and his wife, Angie, have four children.
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Joe + Farias + Texas + House"
See also
- Texas State Legislature
- Texas House of Representatives
- Texas House of Representatives Committees
- Texas Joint Committees
- Texas state legislative districts
External links
- Profile from Open States
- Campaign Contributions: 2012, 2010, 2008, 2006
- Freedom Speaks profile (Archived)
- Texas State Directory profile
- Texas Political Almanac HD 118 page
- Texas Tribune profile & bio
- Vote-TX.org profile
- State Surge profile
- Mexican American Legislative Caucus profile
Footnotes
- ↑ trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com, "Rep. Joe Farias resigns Texas House seat, prompting another special election in San Antonio," August 10, 2015
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Biography," accessed May 24, 2014
- ↑ Texas Legislature, "Bills Authored/Joint Authored by Rep. Farias," accessed May 27, 2014
- ↑ 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
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Texas Secretary of State, "1992 - Current Election History," accessed February 17, 2014
- ↑ Official Texas Election Results
- ↑ Follow the Money, "2008 Candidate funds," accessed May 24, 2014
- ↑ joefarias.com, "Issues," accessed February 14, 2014
- ↑ kten.com, "Texas Lawmakers To Tackle Redistricting In Special Session," May 29, 2013
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Legislative reference Library of Texas, "Texas Legislative Sessions and Years," accessed June 13, 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by ' |
Texas House District 118 2007–August 10, 2015 |
Succeeded by John Lujan (R) |
