Gilbert Pena
Gilbert Pena (Republican Party) was a member of the Texas House of Representatives, representing District 144.
Pena (Republican Party) ran for election to the Texas House of Representatives to represent District 144. Pena lost in the Republican primary on March 6, 2018.
Pena ran in one of 48 contested Texas state legislative Republican primaries in 2018. To read more about the conflict between Republican factions in the primaries, including who the factions were, which races were competitive and who key influencers lined up behind, click here.
Biography
Gilbert Pena was born in Galveston, Texas. He earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Texas Southern University in 1996.[1]
Committee assignments
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Pena served on the following committees:
| Texas committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Human Services |
| • Juvenile Justice & Family Issues |
Campaign themes
2012
Pena's website highlighted the following campaign themes:
ECONOMY
- Excerpt: "I know the citizens of District 144 and how their lives are greatly impacted by the high cost of gasoline. You can count on me to work on solutions that will bring that cost down to a more affordable level."
LOWER TAXES
- Excerpt: "I have had enough of Legislators wasting constituents’ hard-earned tax dollars. I will fight to cut wasteful government spending and will always vote to keep your taxes low."
PRO-LIFE
- Excerpt: "I will fight for the rights of unborn children without fail. As a parent of a severely disabled child, the thought of not having the child never crossed my mind. You can count on me to be your pro-life vote, and expect me to stand up and be heard on the sanctity of this delicate issue."
PRO-SECOND AMENDMENT
- Excerpt: "I believe that you have the right to personal protection and for that reason, I will always be a second amendment activist."
SCHOOL FUNDING
- Excerpt: "Finding solutions to fund Schools and protecting the tax payers from higher taxes will be a priority."
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2018
General election
General election for Texas House of Representatives District 144
Incumbent Mary Ann Perez defeated Ruben Villarreal in the general election for Texas House of Representatives District 144 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Mary Ann Perez (D) | 61.2 | 14,349 |
 | Ruben Villarreal (R) | 38.8 | 9,106 | |
| Total votes: 23,455 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 144
Incumbent Mary Ann Perez advanced from the Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 144 on March 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mary Ann Perez | 100.0 | 2,214 |
| Total votes: 2,214 | |||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 144
Ruben Villarreal defeated Gilbert Pena in the Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 144 on March 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ruben Villarreal | 62.1 | 1,328 |
 | Gilbert Pena | 37.9 | 812 | |
| Total votes: 2,140 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Campaign finance
2016
Elections for the Texas House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election was held on March 1, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was December 14, 2015.[2]
Mary Ann Perez defeated incumbent Gilbert Pena in the Texas House of Representatives District 144 general election.[3]
| Texas House of Representatives, District 144 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Mary Ann Perez |
60.25% | 16,287 | |
| Republican | Gilbert Pena Incumbent | 39.75% | 10,745 | |
| Total Votes | 27,032 | |||
| Source: Texas Secretary of State | ||||
Mary Ann Perez defeated Cody Ray Wheeler and Bernie Aldape III in the Texas House of Representatives District 144 Democratic Primary.[4][5]
| Texas House of Representatives, District 144 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Mary Ann Perez |
53.32% | 2,209 | |
| Democratic | Cody Ray Wheeler | 35.77% | 1,482 | |
| Democratic | Bernie Aldape III | 10.91% | 452 | |
| Total Votes | 4,143 | |||
Incumbent Gilbert Pena ran unopposed in the Texas House of Representatives District 144 Republican Primary.[4][5]
| Texas House of Representatives, District 144 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican | Gilbert Pena Incumbent (unopposed) | |
2014
Elections for all 150 seats in the Texas House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election took place on March 4, 2014. Those candidates who did not receive 50 percent or more of the vote in their party primary on March 4 faced an additional May 27 primary runoff. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in these elections was December 9, 2013. Incumbent Mary Ann Perez was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Gilbert Pena was unopposed in the Republican primary. Perez was defeated by Pena in the general election.[6][7][8]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Gilbert Pena |
50.6% | 6,015 | |
| Democratic | Mary Ann Perez Incumbent | 49.4% | 5,863 | |
| Total Votes | 11,878 | |||
2012
Pena ran in the 2012 election for Texas House of Representatives, District 144. Pena was defeated by David Pineda in the May 29 primary election.[9][10]
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
David Pineda |
58.2% | 1,437 |
| Gilbert Pena | 41.8% | 1,030 |
| Total Votes | 2,467 | |
2010
Pena lost election to Texas House of Representatives District 143. He was unopposed in the March 2 Republican primary and was defeated by incumbent Democratic candidate Ana Hernandez in the November 2 general election.[11]
| Texas House of Representatives, District 143 2010 General election results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| Ana Hernandez (D)
|
7,409 | 68.30% | ||
| Gilbert Pena (R) | 3,438 | 31.697% | ||
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.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Texas scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2017
In 2017, the Texas State Legislature was in its 85th legislative session from January 10 through May 29. A special session was held from July 18 to August 15.
- Legislators are scored on their votes for or against the organization's position and principles.
- Legislators are scored based by the organization on their votes on bills relating to "core budget and free enterprise issues."
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental and public health issues.
- Legislators are scored on bills related to LGBT issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on small business issues.
- Legislators are scored based on their votes on bills relating to taxes and property rights.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills supported or opposed by the organization.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to social issues.
- Legislators are scored based on their votes on bills related to businesses, taxpayers, and families.
- Legislators are scored on bills related to reproductive health issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on environmental issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on social issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2016, the Texas State Legislature did not hold a regular session. |
2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2015, the Texas State Legislature was in its 84th legislative session from January 13 through June 1.
|
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Pena and his wife, Cynthia, have four children.
See also
- State legislative elections, 2018
- Texas House of Representatives elections, 2018
- State legislative special elections, 2018
- Texas State Legislature
- Texas state legislative districts
- Texas House of Representatives
- Texas House of Representatives elections, 2014
- Texas House of Representatives Committees
- Texas Joint Committees
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Campaign Facebook page
- Campaign Twitter page
- Texas Legislature website
- Profile from the Texas House of Representatives
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Biography from Texas Tribune
- Profile from Imagine Election
- Profile from Open States
- Campaign Contributions from Texas State Ethics
- Campaign contributions: 2012, 2010
Footnotes
- ↑ Facebook, "Texas State Representative Gilbert Peña," accessed February 25, 2018
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "Important 2016 Election Dates," accessed December 14, 2015
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "2016 General Election," accessed December 2, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Texas Secretary of State, "2016 March Primary Election Candidate Filings by County," accessed August 22, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Texas Secretary of State, "1992 - Current Election History results," accessed August 22, 2016
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "1992 - Current ELECTION HISTORY," accessed December 2, 2014
- ↑ The Libertarian Party of Texas, "2014 Texas Representative Candidate List," accessed July 30, 2014
- ↑ Green Party of Texas, "Greens Release Candidate List," accessed July 30, 2014
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "2012 Election and Candidate Information," accessed June 12, 2012
- ↑ Office of the (Texas) Secretary of State, "Race Summary Report," accessed July 12, 2012
- ↑ Official Texas Election Results
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Mary Ann Perez (D) |
Texas House of Representatives District 143 2015–2017 |
Succeeded by Mary Ann Perez (D) |
