Mark Strama
Mark Strama is a former Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives, representing District 50. He was first elected to the chamber in 2004, and resigned from the chamber June 26, 2013 to take a job with Google.[1] Governor Rick Perry (R) selected November 5, 2013 as the date for the special election to fill the remainder of Strama's term.[2]
Biography
Strama earned his bachelor's degree from Brown University. Prior to running for office in 2004, Strama was a technology entrepreneur who founded the first company to register voters online.
Strama is a Sylvan Learning Center franchise owner. He has worked as a Consultant/Director of Business Development for Accenture eDemocracy Services (2003-2004), Senior Vice President of Public Elections for Election.com (2000-2003), and Founder/Chief Executive Officer of NewVoter.com, Incorporated (1999-2000).
Strama is a founding member of the Pflugerville Independent School District MEN in Education Program, member/Bronze-Level Sponsor of the Greater Pflugerville Chamber of Commerce, sits on the Board of Directors of KidsVoting United States of America, and member of the Pflugerville Council of Neighborhood Association.[3]
Strama left the Texas House of Representatives to work for Google and aid the setup of Google Fiber in the city of Austin.[1]
Committee assignments
2013-2014
At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Strama served on the following committees:
| Texas committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • International Trade & Intergovernmental Affairs |
| • Ways & Means |
2011-2012
During the 2011-2012 legislative session, Strama served on the following Texas House of Representatives committees:
| Texas committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Human Services |
| • Public Health, Chair |
2009-2010
During the 2009-2010 legislative session, Strama served on the following Texas House of Representatives committees:
| Texas committee assignments, 2009 |
|---|
| • Energy Resources |
| • Technology, Economic Development & Workforce, Chair |
Issues
Redistricting
Representative Strama announced on January 13th 2011 that he would not participate in the 2011 redistricting cycle due to skepticism over the partisan nature of the legislature-controlled process. Community Impact Newspaper reported that "Strama said he's not going to draw any maps, he's not going to lobby his neighbors for specific borders, he's not going to participate in any redistricting committee hearings, and he said he may not even vote on the final redistricting bill in the coming months."[4] Strama explained: "When the Legislature controls redistricting, the likeliest outcome is that there will be fewer districts that are evenly balanced with a genuine chance of being competitive in the general election. There are far more districts where the outcome of the general election is preordained by the district boundaries. It's just wrong."[4]
Sponsored legislation
- HB 104 - Relating to the reapportionment of state legislative, congressional, and judicial districts and the creation, function, and duties of the Texas Redistricting Commission.
- HB 105 - Relating to limits on political contributions and expenditures in connection with certain legislative and executive offices; providing civil and criminal penalties.
- HB 516 - Relating to the establishment and funding of a green job skills training program.
- HB 1314 - Relating to the availability of certain financial information on Internet websites of school districts and open-enrollment charter schools.[5]
Elections
2012
Strama ran in the 2012 election for Texas House of Representatives, District 50. Strama ran unopposed in the May 29 primary election. He was unchallenged in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[6]
2010
Strama won re-election in District 50. He was unopposed in the March 2 Democratic primary and defeated Republican Pat McGuinness and Libertarian Emily Cowan in the November 2 general election.[7]
| Texas House of Representatives, District 50 2010 General election results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
 Mark Strama (D)
|
23,720 | 54.84% | ||
| Pat McGuinness (R) | 18,041 | 41.71% | ||
| Emily Cowan (L) | 1,486 | 3.43% | ||
2008
On November 4, 2008, Strama won re-election to the Texas House of Representatives from Texas' 50th District, defeating Jerry Mikus, Jr. (R) and Jerry Chandler (L). Strama received 45,456 votes in the election, while Mikus received 23,681 votes, and Chandler received 3,055 votes.[8] Strama raised $200,714 for his campaign; Mikus raised $20,544.[9]
| Texas House of Representatives, District 50 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| Mark Strama (D)
|
45,456 | 62.96% | ||
| Jerry Mikus, Jr. (R) | 23,681 | 32.80% | ||
| Jerry Chandler (L) | 3,055 | 4.23% | ||
2006
On November 4, 2006 Strama won re-election to the Texas House of Representatives from Texas' 50th District, defeating Jeff Fleece (R) and Jerry Chandler (L).[10]
Strama raised $365,541 for his campaign while Fleece raised $203,610 and Chandler raised $0.[11]
| Texas House of Representatives, District 50 (2006) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| Mark Strama (D)
|
23,098 | |||
| Jeff Fleece (R) | 13,681 | |||
| Jerry Chandler (L) | 1,892 | |||
2004
On November 4, 2004 Strama won re-election to the Texas House of Representatives from Texas' 50th District, defeating incumbent Jack Stick (R) and Greg Knowles (L).[12]
Strama raised $829,967 for his campaign while Stick raised $800,899 and Knowles raised $0.[13]
| Texas House of Representatives, District 50 (2004) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| Mark Strama (D)
|
31,401 | |||
| Jack Stick (R) | 30,832 | |||
| Greg Knowles (L) | 2,390 | |||
Campaign themes
2008
Strama's answers to the Texas State Legislative Election 2008 Political Courage Test are available. The test informs voters how a candidate would vote on the issues if elected.
When asked his legislative priorities he replied:
"I believe we need to overhaul our state testing system in public schools so that education does not revolve around testing; however, testing is effective at assessing student needs and adopting instruction to meet those needs.
I believe Texas needs to continue to incentivize and stimulate the renewable energy industry, and lead - not fight - the evolution from oil and gas to clean, affordable energy technologies.
Finally, I will continue to advocate campaign finance reform and redistricting reform so that politicians can be held accountable by voters."[14]
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.
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Mark + Strama + Texas + House"
External links
- Mark Strama's campaign website
- Texas House of Representatives - Rep. Strama
- Legislative profile from Project Vote Smart
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Official Campaign Contributions
- Follow The Money, Campaign Contributions: 2012, 2010, 2008, 2006, 2004
- Texas State Directory profile
- Freedom Speaks profile (Archive)
- Texas Political Almanac HD 50 page
- Texas Tribune profile & bio
- Vote-TX.org profile
- State Surge profile
- Mark Strama on Facebook
- Mark Strama on MySpace (dead link)
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Texas Tribune, "Strama Resigns to Lead Google Fiber in Austin," June 26, 2013
- ↑ The Texas Tribune, "Special Election to Replace Strama Set for Nov. 5," July 11, 2013
- ↑ Project Vote Smart - Rep. Strama
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Community Impact News, "Rep. Mark Strama opts out of 'redistricting game'," January 13, 2010
- ↑ Texas Legislature - Bills Authored/Joint Authored by Rep. Strama
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "1992 - Current Election History," accessed February 17, 2014
- ↑ Official Texas Election Results
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "1992 - Current Election History," accessed February 24, 2014
- ↑ District 50 Texas House candidate funds, 2008
- ↑ Texas House official election results for 2006
- ↑ District 50 Texas House candidate funds, 2006
- ↑ Texas House official election results for 2004
- ↑ District 50 Texas House candidate funds, 2004
- ↑ Project Vote Smart - Rep. Strama Issue Positions
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by ' |
Texas House District 50 2005–June 26, 2013 |
Succeeded by Celia Israel (D) |
