William Foster III (Texas congressional candidate)

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

William Foster III

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

March 3, 2020

Education

Bachelor's

Prairie View University, 1971

Graduate

Prairie View University, 1975

Personal

Birthplace

Hearne, Texas

Religion

Baptist

Profession

Business owner

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

William Foster III (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Texas' 17th Congressional District. He lost in the Democratic primary on March 3, 2020.

Foster completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

William Foster III was born in Hearne, Texas. He earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from Prairie View University in 1971 and 1975, respectively. Foster’s career experience includes working as a business owner.

Elections

2020

See also: Texas' 17th Congressional District election, 2020

Texas' 17th Congressional District election, 2020 (March 3 Republican primary)

Texas' 17th Congressional District election, 2020 (March 3 Democratic primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House Texas District 17

Pete Sessions defeated Rick Kennedy and Ted Brown in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 17 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Pete Sessions (R)	55.9	171,390
		Rick Kennedy (D)	40.9	125,565
		Ted Brown (L)	3.2	9,918

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 306,873
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary runoff election

Democratic primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 17

Rick Kennedy defeated David Jaramillo in the Democratic primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 17 on July 14, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Rick Kennedy	57.3	13,496
		David Jaramillo	42.7	10,054

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 23,550 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= 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.

Republican primary runoff election

Republican primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 17

Pete Sessions defeated Renee Swann in the Republican primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 17 on July 14, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Pete Sessions	53.5	18,524
		Renee Swann	46.5	16,096

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 34,620 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= 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.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 17

Rick Kennedy and David Jaramillo advanced to a runoff. They defeated William Foster III in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 17 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Rick Kennedy	47.9	22,148
✔		David Jaramillo	35.0	16,170
		William Foster III	17.1	7,887

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 46,205
= 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.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 17

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 17 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Pete Sessions	31.6	21,667
✔		Renee Swann	19.0	13,047
		George Hindman	18.1	12,405
		Elianor Vessali	9.2	6,283
	Submit photo	Scott Bland	7.2	4,947
		Trent Sutton	5.2	3,593
		Todd Kent	3.5	2,367
		Kristen Alamo Rowin	1.7	1,183
		Laurie Godfrey McReynolds	1.6	1,105
	Submit photo	David Saucedo	1.4	975
	Submit photo	Jeffrey Oppenheim (Unofficially withdrew)	0.7	483
		Ahmad Adnan	0.7	477

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 68,532
= 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.

Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for U.S. House Texas District 17

Ted Brown advanced from the Libertarian convention for U.S. House Texas District 17 on March 21, 2020.

		Candidate
✔		Ted Brown (L)

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.
= 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

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

William Foster III completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Foster's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am William Foster III. I was born in Hearne Texas. I attended Prairie View A and M University, a part of the Texas A and M University System with degrees in Math, Physics, computer science, and Public Administration. I worked at NASA on the first Space Station "Skylab" and have been a Math Instructor at several levels of the Education system. I taught and coached in HISD schools in Houston, the Houston community college and Prairie View University, I coached Football, Tennis and Golf, winning Championships at each sport.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• That I was an advocate for the people and fought for issues that affected their quality of life, liberty and prosperity.
• I intend to return the power to govern back to the people.
• I will assure the people when I am elected, Healthcare for all citizens will be affordable.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Better Economics and better government management.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

100% concern for the welfare of the people.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

To Provide for the people and assure that if there is an injustice to one it affects us all. produce and use technology to help prevent such ills.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

The assassination of President Kennedy. 14

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

chopping cotton in cotton fields. several months

What qualities does the U.S. House of Representatives possess that makes it unique as an institution?

The recognition of the constitution and its laws guide us and the fact that nobody is above the law.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for representatives to have previous experience in government or politics?

no

What do you perceive to be the United States’ greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

Providing the needs of families to enjoy a quality life and keeping peace around the world.

If you are not a current representative, are there certain committees that you would want to be a part of?

ways and means

Do you believe that two years is the right term length for representatives?

no

What are your thoughts on term limits?

I am in agreement to term limits

Both sitting representatives and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?

the loss of a child from the parents.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also

2020 Elections

What's on the ballot? U.S. President U.S. Congress U.S. Congress special elections State executives State legislatures State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards Election analysis hub

Government

Who represents me? U.S. Congress State executives State legislators State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards

Newsletters

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External links

• Search Google News for this topic

Footnotes

[show]

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)