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Rick Walker (Texas Congressional candidate)
Rick Walker (Republican Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Texas' 2nd Congressional District. He lost in the Republican primary on March 6, 2018.
Businessman Rick Walker founded and has served as the CEO of GreenEfficient. He previously founded a website design and data-hosting company. He received a degree in music business from Southern Nazarene University. Walker and his family were affected by Hurricane Harvey's impact on the Houston area.
Walker's campaign slogan is "Our Values." According to his campaign website, "The values of Faith, Family and Country are the rock upon which Rick will fight to create more good-paying jobs here at home, promote family values and the right to life, all while cutting government and bureaucratic waste through increased efficiency. Rick Walker shares our values and will put them to work for us in Congress."[1]
Biography
Rick Walker lives in Houston, Texas. He earned a bachelor's degree in music-business from Southern Nazarene University. Walker's career experience includes working as a deacon. He founded GreenEfficient, a sustainable technology, and real estate company.[2]
Elections
2018
General election
General election for U.S. House Texas District 2
Daniel Crenshaw defeated Todd Litton, Patrick Gunnels, and Scott Cubbler in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 2 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Daniel Crenshaw (R) | 52.8 | 139,188 |
 | Todd Litton (D) | 45.6 | 119,992 | |
 | Patrick Gunnels (L) | 0.9 | 2,373 | |
 | Scott Cubbler (Independent) | 0.7 | 1,839 | |
| Total votes: 263,392 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary runoff election
Republican primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 2
Daniel Crenshaw defeated Kevin Roberts in the Republican primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 2 on May 22, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Daniel Crenshaw | 69.5 | 19,430 |
 | Kevin Roberts | 30.5 | 8,523 | |
| Total votes: 27,953 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 2
Todd Litton defeated J. Darnell Jones, Silky Malik, H. P. Parvizian, and Ali Khorasani in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 2 on March 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Todd Litton | 52.8 | 15,113 |
 | J. Darnell Jones | 22.1 | 6,308 | |
 | Silky Malik | 9.7 | 2,770 | |
 | H. P. Parvizian | 7.9 | 2,259 | |
 | Ali Khorasani | 7.5 | 2,148 | |
| Total votes: 28,598 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 2
The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 2 on March 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Kevin Roberts | 33.0 | 15,273 |
| ✔ | | Daniel Crenshaw | 27.4 | 12,679 |
 | Kathaleen Wall | 27.1 | 12,524 | |
 | Rick Walker | 7.2 | 3,320 | |
| Jonny Havens | 2.0 | 936 | ||
 | Justin Lurie | 0.9 | 425 | |
 | Jon Spiers | 0.9 | 418 | |
| David Balat | 0.8 | 348 | ||
| Malcolm Whittaker | 0.7 | 322 | ||
| Total votes: 46,245 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign themes
2018
Ballotpedia survey responses
- See also: Ballotpedia's candidate surveys
Rick Walker participated in Ballotpedia's candidate survey on March 3, 2018. The survey questions appear in bold, and Rick Walker's responses follow below.[3]
What would be your top three priorities, if elected?
| “ | 1) Flood Mitigation (Harvey recovery) |
” |
What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about? Why?
| “ | (1) I flooded along with countless neighbors and friends during Harvey. We can't flood again. Read my full flood mitigation plan at rickwalker.com/flood-mitigation/. (2) Illegal immigration must stop. To be a nation, we must secure our borders and put our own citizens first. Read my immigration plan at rickwalker.com/immigration/. (3) I started a successful business in my twenties and understand what it takes to run a business. I've created more jobs than all other 8 candidates combined. For far too long, we‚Äôve been playing defense with the United States economy. We‚Äôve put trade barriers in place to protect our businesses which have ended up hurting our overall economy. We need to get free market principles in place. It‚Äôs time to go on offense! Read my full plan at rickwalker.com/economic-offense/.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many[5]
|
” |
Ballotpedia also asked the candidate a series of optional questions. Rick Walker answered the following:
What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?
| “ | Our Faith, Family, Country, Recovery and Jobs.[5] | ” |
| “ | I believe in our country. I want to make changes and uphold laws that will benefit our kids and our grandkids, not just make decisions to stay in power right now.[5] | ” |
| “ | I think it's important that a representative knows our issues and has real-world experience that pertains to making decisions for our families. I've created a successful business, been elected as chairman of an international organization, and raised a family. I'm not a career politician. I'm a husband, father, church leader, businessman, and community influencer. This is not a stepping stone in my career, it's our kids' futures.[5] | ” |
Candidate website
Walker’s campaign website stated the following:
| “ |
Traditional American values are the bedrock of the American Dream. Our country is tied together by our love of God and the strength of our families.
I will be unwavering in my defense of these basic freedoms upheld by the First Amendment. Religious liberty is being threatened by weak politicians and lawyers who buy into the politically correct agenda. Religious freedom and the freedom of expression is not only our right but an American tradition. We must invoke the same strength and conviction the Founding Fathers practiced to stand against religious persecution. The American family is under assault and must be defended. I am 100% pro-life. Persecution of the unborn must stop; we must offer a future and hope through adoption. By sharing the adoption tax credit with the birth mother and the adopting parents we can encourage life and better equip families for success.
Hurricane Harvey left a trail of destruction in our area. Like thousands in the greater Houston area, my family and I are still rebuilding our home left damaged by the floodwaters. Dishonest contractors, predatory trial lawyers, insurance companies and slow government agencies are causing unnecessary pain and ongoing hardships in our communities. I will fight for families, taxpayers, and seniors to get relief and improve flood mitigation. Along with the $15 billion in aid authorized in September, we must learn from our failures and adjust. We will pressure the state to fix the San Jacinto River Authority to save Kingwood, Atascocita and Humble from flooding. Additionally, dredging both the Addicks and Barker reservoirs, while adding a third reservoir in the Cypress Creek watershed, will save Braeswood, Bellaire, Meyerland, West University, Rice Village, Tanglewood, the Memorial Drive area, The Heights and other core areas of Houston from future flooding. I will be your voice in Washington, to help protect our homes from future flooding and devastation.
We must fight to keep jobs in America. Great paying jobs are critical to stable, successful families. For decades we have steadily encouraged businesses to leave the United States through burdensome regulations, robbing Americans of opportunity for their families. This must stop. It is essential that we are competitive in a global economy. Regulatory burdens need to be eased for exporters and job creators so they actually want to create jobs here instead of overseas. We cannot continue strapping the hands of our job-creating businesses behind their backs. Furthermore, we must make Houston the site of choice for major capital and employment efforts. We need to continue to compete with the other major US and global markets to promote our city as the best place to raise families, build commercial real estate projects and grow the next generation of bioscience, technological and educational leaders.
Our safety from threats both foreign and domestic must be the primary concern of the United States. A robust defense starts by securing our borders, continues through an unwavering support for our troops and ends with a no-nonsense approach to foreign policy. We cannot incentivize illegal immigration through sanctuary cities and states. This disregards our nation’s laws and sends the wrong message to those who wish to enter our country legally. We must foster a more efficient immigration system to encourage only legal immigration and penalize those who disrespect our laws.
Obamacare is an unmitigated disaster that has left many of us frustrated. The quality of medical care has not improved, doctors are discouraged and most importantly, we the people are frustrated. We must improve healthcare by removing state-by-state restrictions and encouraging competition. Free market solutions along with tort reform and improved healthcare savings accounts are the meaningful changes that will improve our broken system. I will join efforts to bring safe, affordable prescription drugs to every American. We should not allow the Federal Government’s burdensome regulations to cause our seniors and families to pay more than anyone else in the world for common prescription drugs.
The national debt has risen above $20 trillion and continues to rise. We can’t keep going on like this. As Ronald Reagan said, “Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.” This needs to stop. With record tax revenues in 2016 and an ever-growing national debt, it is clear that more taxes are not the answer. As a successful business owner, I understand how to budget and promote growth. Our nation has not passed a balanced budget in 16 years. We must produce a balanced budget, lower taxes, simplify the tax code and slash away out-of-control government programs to reduce our national debt. Instead of passing more taxes, I will fight to stop the government from wasting our hard-earned money.
We will create jobs and lower energy prices. While we allow other countries to take advantage of our wallets, the United States sits on large amounts of oil and the largest natural gas reserves in the world. We must ease regulations on energy producers, open domestic drilling and encourage an expanded network of pipelines. This would lower gas prices, save you money and create thousands of jobs. These common-sense solutions can remain while we continue to explore new sources of renewable energy.
Our right to bear arms is a sacred right in our Constitution. All Americans should have the ability to protect their families through responsible and comprehensive gun ownership, just as I protect my family by owning firearms. I believe broader responsible gun ownership, along with proper training, could save countless lives here in Texas.
Social Security is a crucial support system for our Seniors who have paid into this system their entire lives, but there are many things wrong with the way it works now. Social Security is a train headed for a dead end with no brakes. It is Congress’s responsibility to ensure Social Security switches tracks before it is too late.
Our armed forces and veterans have risked everything to fight for family and country. These brave men and women deserve all the respect and gratitude we can afford instead of the mistreatment and neglect they are often shown today. Our military men and women should not have to travel hours and wait months for medical treatment. Our nation’s heroes deserve easily accessible care of the highest quality. Additionally, we need to provide the resources necessary to assist our heroes in dealing with PTSD and suicide prevention.
As a dad of children currently thriving in the public school system, I am a believer in an educational system where the schools and parents work together as a team. I believe the out of control teachers unions should work for the parents. An investment in our children’s education is an investment in our country’s future. Parents, teachers and local school districts should be the driving force behind our children’s education, not federal government bureaucrats. Higher standards and increased parental involvement are absolutely key to success in the classroom, but we can go further. By significantly limiting the scope of the Department of Education to administering population-based funding to states, we will give power back to states, independent school districts and parents. [5] |
” |
| —Rick Walker’s campaign website (2018)[6] | ||
Campaign advertisements
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See also
- Search Google News for this topic
- United States House of Representatives
- Texas' 2nd Congressional District election, 2018
- Texas' 2nd Congressional District
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Campaign website
- Campaign Facebook page
- Campaign Twitter page
- Campaign Instagram page
- Campaign YouTube page
Footnotes
- ↑ Rick Walker for Congress, "Meet Rick," accessed February 1, 2018
- ↑ Rick Walker for Congress, "Meet Rick," accessed February 10, 2018
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Ballotpedia's candidate survey, "Rick Walker's responses," March 3, 2018
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Rick Walker’s campaign website, “Our Values,” accessed February 1, 2018
