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Tommy Merritt
Tommy Merritt is a former Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives, representing District 7 from 1997 to 2011.
Merritt ran for election as Texas Commissioner of Agriculture in 2014.
Biography
Merritt is the Founder of Gregg Industrial Insulators, and previously worked as a Postal Inspector for the United States Postal Service from 1971-1974. Before his election to the House, Merritt's political experience consisted of being Chairman/Director of the Gregg County Appraisal Board from 1986-1993. He is a member of the First Baptist Church, Junior Achievement of East Texas, Rail Working Group - National Conference of State Legislators, Turn Around Kilgore, and Turn Around Longview.[1]
Committee assignments
- Local & Consent Calendars Committee, Texas House
- Public Safety Committee, Texas House (Chair)
- Redistricting Committee, Texas House
- Transportation Committee, Texas House
Sponsored legislation
- HB 3333 - Relating to the creation and operation of the Texas-Louisiana border region economic development steering committee; authorizing an assessment.
- HB 3650 - Relating to the creation, administration, powers, duties, operations, and financing of a border region higher-speed rail authority for the Texas-Louisiana and the Texas-Mexico border regions; granting the power to issue bonds; imposing a tax; granting the power of eminent domain.
- HB 3987 - Relating to the administration of certain provisions affecting the licensing of persons to carry a concealed handgun.
- HB 4036 - Relating to public safety and the issuance of driver's licenses and identification cards.[2]
Elections
2014
Merritt ran for election as Texas Commissioner of Agriculture in 2014. [3] Marritt came in second in the Republican primary on March 4 and lost to Sid Miller in the runoff on May 27. The general election took place on November 4, 2014.
- Primary
| Texas Agriculture Commissioner Republican Primary, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
 Sid Miller |
34.6% | 411,560 | ||
| Tommy Merritt |
20.9% | 249,440 | ||
| Eric Opiela | 17.4% | 207,222 | ||
| Joe Cotten | 14.6% | 174,348 | ||
| J. Allen Carnes | 12.4% | 148,222 | ||
| Total Votes | 1,190,792 | |||
| Election results via Texas Secretary of State. | ||||
- Runoff
| Texas Agriculture Commissioner Republican Primary Runoff, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
| Sid Miller |
53.2% | 364,756 | ||
| Tommy Merritt | 46.8% | 320,835 | ||
| Total Votes | 685,591 | |||
| Election results via Texas Secretary of State. Vote totals above are unofficial and reflect 98 precincts reporting. | ||||
2012
Merritt ran in the 2012 election for Texas House of Representatives, District 7. Merritt was defeated by David Simpson in the May 29 Republican primary election.[4][5]
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
David Simpson Incumbent |
61.6% | 10,258 |
| Tommy Merritt | 38.4% | 6,384 |
| Total Votes | 16,642 | |
2010
In the March 2 primary election, Merritt was defeated in the race for the Republican nomination. David Simpson defeated Merritt by a margin of 7,891-7,032.[6]
2008
On November 4, 2008, Merritt won re-election to the Texas House of Representatives from Texas' 7th District, defeating Joey Stroman (L). Merritt received 40,671 votes in the election while Stroman received 5,368 votes.[7] Merritt raised $59,072 for his campaign; Stroman raised $450.[8]
| Texas House of Representatives, District 7 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| Tommy Merritt (R)
|
40,671 | 88.34% | ||
| Joey Stroman (L) | 5,368 | 11.65% | ||
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 "Tommy + Merritt + Texas + Agriculture"
See also
External links
- Official campaign website
- Texas House of Representatives - Rep. Merritt (dead link)
- Legislative profile from Project Vote Smart
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Campaign Contributions: 2008, 2006, 2004, 2002, 1998
- Freedom Speaks profile
- Texas State Directory profile
- Texas Political Almanac HD 7 page
- Texas Tribune profile & bio
- Vote-TX.org profile
- State Surge profile
Footnotes
- ↑ Project Vote Smart - Rep. Merritt
- ↑ Texas Legislature - Bills Authored/Joint Authored by Rep. Merritt
- ↑ News-Journal, "Former lawmaker ponders bid for state agriculture commissioner," July 26, 2013
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "1992 - Current Election History," accessed February 17, 2014
- ↑ Office of the (Texas) Secretary of State, "Race Summary Report," accessed July 12, 2012
- ↑ Results for March 2, 2010 primary in Texas
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "1992 - Current Election History," accessed February 24, 2014
- ↑ District 7 Texas House candidate funds, 2008
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by ' |
Texas House District 7 1997–2011 |
Succeeded by David Simpson(R) |
