Richard Peterson

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Richard Peterson

Libertarian Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 4, 2014

Education

Bachelor's

Iowa State University

Graduate

University of Michigan

Ph.D

University of Michigan

Richard "Chip" Peterson was a 2014 Libertarian candidate who sought election to the U.S. House to represent the 19th Congressional District of Texas. Richard Peterson lost the general election on November 4, 2014.

Peterson ran unsuccessfully for the seat in 2012. He was defeated by Republican incumbent Randy Neugebauer on November 6, 2012.

Biography

Peterson holds a B.S. in economics from Iowa State University. He also received his M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from the University of Michigan. He is a professor emeritus at Texas Tech University.

Campaign themes

2014

Peterson's campaign website listed the following issues:

“	Social Security: "The government needs to stop lying to the people and face the problem honestly and sensibly. It must admit that the social security “trust fund” cannot be trusted. It must let people know that social security is not like a bank account, and future payments are not guaranteed. It must recognize that tax increases now will not help solve the nations social security problem in the future. It must admit that tax cuts now that increase the nation’s productivity in the future will, in fact, be helpful for solving our nation’s future social security problem." Taxes and Spending: "The government needs to reduce marginal tax rates to improve work and investment incentives and Congress needs to spend the people’s money as carefully as its members would spend their own money. The tax structure should be simplified and maximum income tax rates reduced so people will have a stronger incentive to work and produce." Regulation and Constituent Service: "The government needs to get off peoples’ backs and Congressional representatives need to use their staffs and influence so the government will stop tying up peoples’ lives in innumerable bundles of red tape. Tax codes are too complicated and need to be simplified." Military Spending: "It is essential to have a strong military to defend our homeland and we should honor the people who serve us in the military. It is questionable as to the extent our military should be asked to risk their lives in foreign adventures. While it is clear that military intervention in Afganistan was essential for defending our homeland against the terrorists lodged there, it is not clear that our military should have been asked to put their lives at risk in Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Haiti, as none of those countries posed an imminent threat to the U.S. and some of our soldiers lost their lives for no clear gain." International Relations: "It should be recognized that all U.S. consumers potentially benefit from free and unfettered international trade. However, it should be noted that U.S. producers can be hurt by unfair trade or by rapidly fluctuating exchange rates or terms f trade—so some provisions may need to be made to provide temporary trade adjustment assistance to producers harmed by international trade. Such assistance should be temporary so U.S. producers will not permanently engage in the production of goods for which they may no longer have a comparative advantage."	”
—Richard Peterson's campaign website, http://www.chippeterson.com/

Elections

2014

See also: Texas' 19th Congressional District elections, 2014

Peterson ran in the 2014 election for the U.S. House to represent Texas' 19th District. Peterson won the Libertarian Party nomination at the state convention in April 2014. He was defeated by incumbent Randy Neugebauer (R) in the general election on November 4, 2014.

U.S. House, Texas District 19 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Randy Neugebauer Incumbent	77.1%	89,326
	Democratic	Neal Marchbanks	18.4%	21,325
	Libertarian	Richard Peterson	4.4%	5,120
	Write-in	Donald L. Vance	0%	54
Total Votes				115,825
Source: Texas Secretary of State

2012

See also: Texas' 19th Congressional District elections, 2012

Peterson ran in the 2012 election for the U.S. House to represent Texas' 19th District. He ran as a Libertarian candidate. He ran against incumbent Randy Neugebauer (R) in the general election on November 6, 2012.

U.S. House, Texas District 19 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Randy Neugebauer Incumbent	85%	163,239
	Libertarian	Richard Peterson	15%	28,824
Total Votes				192,063
Source: Texas Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Peterson and his wife, Carol, have three children and seven grandchildren.

Recent news

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Richard Peterson News Feed

See also

• United States House of Representatives
• Texas' 19th Congressional District elections, 2014
• Texas' 19th Congressional District

External links

Suggest a link

• Campaign website

Footnotes

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Texas' current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

John Cornyn (R)

Ted Cruz (R)

Representatives

District 1

Nathaniel Moran (R)

District 2

Daniel Crenshaw (R)

District 3

Keith Self (R)

District 4

Pat Fallon (R)

District 5

Lance Gooden (R)

District 6

Jake Ellzey (R)

District 7

Lizzie Fletcher (D)

District 8

Morgan Luttrell (R)

District 9

Al Green (D)

District 10

Michael McCaul (R)

District 11

August Pfluger (R)

District 12

Craig Goldman (R)

District 13

Ronny Jackson (R)

District 14

Randy Weber (R)

District 15

Monica De La Cruz (R)

District 16

Veronica Escobar (D)

District 17

Pete Sessions (R)

District 18

Vacant

District 19

Jodey Arrington (R)

District 20

Joaquin Castro (D)

District 21

Chip Roy (R)

District 22

Troy Nehls (R)

District 23

Tony Gonzales (R)

District 24

Beth Van Duyne (R)

District 25

Roger Williams (R)

District 26

Brandon Gill (R)

District 27

Michael Cloud (R)

District 28

Henry Cuellar (D)

District 29

Sylvia Garcia (D)

District 30

Jasmine Crockett (D)

District 31

John Carter (R)

District 32

Julie Johnson (D)

District 33

Marc Veasey (D)

District 34

Vicente Gonzalez (D)

District 35

Greg Casar (D)

District 36

Brian Babin (R)

District 37

Lloyd Doggett (D)

District 38

Wesley Hunt (R)

Republican Party (27)

Democratic Party (12)

Vacancies (1)