Randy Weber
Randall Keith Weber (born July 2, 1953)[1] is an American businessman and politician who has represented Texas's 14th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives since 2013. He was previously a member of the Texas House of Representatives, representing the 29th district. He is a member of the Republican Party.[2]
Randy Weber | |
|---|---|
Official portrait, 2022 | |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 14th district | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Ron Paul |
| Member of the Texas House of Representatives from the 29th district | |
| In office January 3, 2009 – January 3, 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Mike O'Day |
| Succeeded by | Ed Thompson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Randall Keith Weber July 2, 1953 Pearland, Texas, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Brenda Weber |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Alvin Community College University of Houston–Clear Lake (BS) |
| Website | House website |
Early life, education, and business career
Weber graduated from Alvin Community College and in 1977 earned a BS in public affairs from the University of Houston–Clear Lake. In 1981, he founded Weber's Air & Heat Air-Conditioning Company.[3]
Early political career
Weber was a city councilman of Pearland, Texas, for six years. He also served as a Brazoria County Grand Jury Commissioner, a Brazoria County Redistricting Committee member, a Texas Republican Party Convention delegate, president of Brazoria County Cities Association, a Brazoria County Republican Party member, and chair of the Pearland Area Republican Party Headquarters.[4]
Texas House of Representatives
Elections
After State Representative Glenda Dawson died on September 12, 2006,[5] a special election was held on December 19. Businessman Mike P. O'Day earned 48% of the vote, falling just short of the 50% threshold. Weber earned 28% of the vote, qualifying for the runoff.[6] In the January runoff, O'Day defeated him 57%–43%.[7]
After O'Day retired, Weber ran for the March 2008 primary and won with 59% of the vote.[8] He won the general election with 60% of the vote.[9] He was reelected in 2010 with 85% of the vote.[10]
Tenure
Committee assignments
- Border & Intergovernmental Affairs Committee (vice chair)
- Public Education Committee[11]
- Republican Study Committee[12]
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2012
After U.S. Representative Ron Paul of Texas's 14th congressional district decided to retire, nine Republicans ran in the newly redrawn district. Paul and Governor Rick Perry endorsed Weber. He ranked first with 28% of the vote. In the runoff, he defeated Pearland City Councilwoman Felicia Harris, 62%–37%.[13] He faced former Congressman Nick Lampson in the general election; Lampson jumped into the race after the 14th had been redrawn to include much of the territory he had represented in Congress from 1997 to 2005. In the November 6 general election, Weber defeated Lampson, 53% to 45%.[2] Based upon Weber's vote total, Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball named Weber one of its "Underachievers" because he received only 54% of the vote in his district while Mitt Romney received 59%.[14]
2016
Weber was reelected on November 8, 2016. He polled 160,631 votes (61.9%) to Democratic nominee Michael Cole's 99,054 (38.1%).[15]
Tenure
In January 2014, during President Obama's State of the Union address, Weber in a tweet called Obama "Kommandant-In-Chef" [sic] and "the Socialist dictator." After the White House apologized for failing to send a higher-profile leader to a demonstration in Paris after the January 2015 terrorist attacks in that city, Weber tweeted, "Even Adolph [sic] Hitler thought it more important than Obama to get to Paris."[16] Weber then wrote that he needed to "apologize to all those offended by my tweet". He did not delete his tweet made during the State of the Union address.[16]
In 2015, Weber cosponsored a resolution to amend the Constitution to ban same-sex marriage.[17] Weber also cosponsored a resolution disagreeing with the Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which held that same-sex marriage bans violated the constitution.[18]
In April 2015, Weber met with Aleksandr Torshin, the alleged handler for Russian spy Maria Butina,[19] according to internal documents from Center for the National Interest.[20]
The American Conservative Union gave him a 92% evaluation, Americans for Prosperity gave him a 94% evaluation, Campaign for Working Families, Concerned Women for America, and Faith and Freedom Coalition each gave him 100% evaluations, Conservative Review gave him a 73% evaluation, Eagle Forum gave him an 80% evaluation, National Journal gave him an 89% evaluation, and the John Birch Society gave him a 67% evaluation.
In December 2020, Weber was one of 126 Republican members of the House of Representatives to sign an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania, a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which Joe Biden defeated[21] incumbent Donald Trump. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked standing under Article III of the Constitution to challenge the results of an election held by another state.[22][23][24]
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a statement that called signing the amicus brief an act of "election subversion." She also reprimanded Weber and the other House members who supported the lawsuit: "The 126 Republican Members that signed onto this lawsuit brought dishonor to the House. Instead of upholding their oath to support and defend the Constitution, they chose to subvert the Constitution and undermine public trust in our sacred democratic institutions."[25][26]
Weber is a supporter of efforts to impeach President Biden. In September 2021, Weber submitted a resolution to impeach Biden "for perpetuating a perception that Afghan security forces were winning the war against the Taliban."[27] That same month, he also co-sponsored a resolution by Bob Gibbs to impeach Biden.[28] In August 2021, Weber co-sponsored a resolution to impeach Alejandro Mayorkas, Biden's Secretary of Homeland Security.[29]
Committee assignments
Caucus memberships
Personal life
Weber has been married to Brenda Weber, a Pearland schoolteacher, for over 30 years. They have three children and eight grandchildren.[3] He lives in Alvin, Texas.[34]
References
- ^ Randy Weber – Texas – Bio, News, Photos – Washington Times 2013-01-10 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Pinkerton, James. GOP's Weber beats Lampson in race to succeed Ron Paul, Houston Chronicle, November 7, 2012.
- ^ a b "Meet Randy – Randy Weber". randyweber.org. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
- ^ "The Voter's Self Defense System". Vote Smart. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
- ^ Hanson, Eric; Chronicle, Copyright 2006 Houston (2006-09-12). "State Rep. Glenda Dawson, of Pearland, dies". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
- ^ "Our Campaigns - TX State House 029 - Special Election Race - Dec 19, 2006". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
- ^ "Our Campaigns - TX State House 029 - Special Election Runoff Race - Jan 16, 2007". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
- ^ "Our Campaigns - TX State House 029 - R Primary Race - Mar 04, 2008". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
- ^ "Our Campaigns - TX State House 029 Race - Nov 04, 2008". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
- ^ "Our Campaigns - TX State House 029 Race - Nov 02, 2010". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
- ^ Texas House of Representatives : Representative Thompson, Ed
- ^ "Member List". Republican Study Committee. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
- ^ "Our Campaigns - TX District 14 - R Runoff Race - Jul 31, 2012". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
- ^ Kondik, Kyle. Sanford Joins "the Underachievers", Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball, May 9, 2013.
- ^ "General Election Results". Texas Secretary of State. November 8, 2016. Retrieved December 16, 2016.
- ^ a b Ohlheiser, Abby (13 January 2015). "Texas Rep. Randy Weber said Obama is basically worse than Hitler. He has since apologized". The Washington Post. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
- ^ Huelskamp, Tim (2015-02-12). "Cosponsors - H.J.Res.32 - 114th Congress (2015-2016): Marriage Protection Amendment". www.congress.gov. Retrieved 2022-04-10.
- ^ King, Steve (2015-07-29). "Cosponsors - H.Res.359 - 114th Congress (2015-2016): Providing that the House of Representatives disagrees with the majority opinion in Obergefell et al. v. Hodges, and for other purposes". www.congress.gov. Retrieved 2022-04-12.
- ^ Helson, Kevin. "Butina Affidavit". U.S. Department of Justice. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
- ^ Lynch, Sarah (June 22, 2018). "Exclusive: Alleged Russian agent Butina met with U.S. Treasury, Fed officials". Reuters. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
- ^ Blood, Michael R.; Riccardi, Nicholas (December 5, 2020). "Biden officially secures enough electors to become president". AP News. from the original on December 8, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ Liptak, Adam (2020-12-11). "Supreme Court Rejects Texas Suit Seeking to Subvert Election". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
- ^ "Order in Pending Case" (PDF). Supreme Court of the United States. 2020-12-11. (PDF) from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
- ^ Diaz, Daniella. "Brief from 126 Republicans supporting Texas lawsuit in Supreme Court". CNN. from the original on December 12, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
- ^ Smith, David (2020-12-12). "Supreme court rejects Trump-backed Texas lawsuit aiming to overturn election results". The Guardian. Retrieved 2020-12-13.
- ^ "Pelosi Statement on Supreme Court Rejecting GOP Election Sabotage Lawsuit" (Press release). Speaker Nancy Pelosi. December 11, 2020. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
- ^ "H.Res.635 - Impeaching Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr., President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors". www.congress.gov. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
- ^ "H.Res.671 - Impeaching Joseph R. Biden, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors". www.congress.gov. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
- ^ "H.Res.582 - Impeaching Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, for high crimes and misdemeanors". www.congress.gov. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
- ^ "What is the House Freedom Caucus, and who's in it?". Pew research center. 20 October 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
- ^ "Members". House Baltic Caucus. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
- ^ "Members". U.S. - Japan Caucus. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
- ^ "Member List". Republican Study Committee. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
- ^ McCutcheon, Michael; Barone, Chuck (2013). 2014 Almanac of American Politics. The University of Chicago Press.
External links
- Congressman Randy Weber official U.S. House website
- Randy Weber for Congress
- Randy Weber at Curlie
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
- Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
- Profile at Vote Smart
- Profile at the Texas Tribune
- Profile at Vote TX