Steve Stockman

Stephen Ernest “Steve” Stockman, (born November 14, 1956), is an American politician who has  been the United States Representative for Texas's 36th congressional district since 2013. A Republican, Stockman previously served as the U.S. Representative for Texas's 9th congressional district from 1995 to 1997.

Early life, education, and business career
Stockman was born in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan; outside Detroit. He graduated from Dondero High School in Royal Oak, Michigan. From 1985 to 1986, he attended San Jacinto College. In 1990, he earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Houston–Clear Lake. He was homeless until he became a born again Christian. He worked as an accountant in the computer sales and lab researcher division of IBM.

Elections
He first ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1990 against Democratic U.S. Representative Jack Brooks. Beaumont, Texas mayor Maury Meyers ranked first in the Republican primary with 45% of the vote, but failed to reach the 50% threshold. Stockman, who earned 41% of the vote, faced Meyers in a run-off. Meyers defeated Stockman 61%-39%. In the general election, Meyers lost to Brooks, 58%-42%.
 * 1990

Stockman ran again in 1992. This time, he was unopposed in the primary. Brooks defeated him 54%-43%.
 * 1992

He ran again in the Republican 1994 election cycle. He had two challengers in the primary, but won with 73% of the vote. In the general election, he defeated 42-year incumbent Brooks 52%-46%.
 * 1994

The 1996 general election for Texas's 9th Congressional District was unusual. After the normal primaries had been held, the district boundaries of the 18th, 29th and 30th districts were struck down as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander in Bush v. Vera, necessitating redistricting of the 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 18th, 22nd, 24th, 25th, 26th, 28th and 30th Districts. Because the redistricting was held after the normal primaries, those results were discarded and new votes for these districts were held as special elections; open to all candidates without a primary, and requiring a majority to win the seat outright.
 * 1996

These elections were held concurrently with the November general election for other elective positions. Stockman ranked first with 46%, but needed 50% to win outright. He faced Jefferson County assessor Nick Lampson in the run-off. Lampson won the run-off election 53%-47%.

Tenure
During Stockman's time in Congress, the district represented Chambers, Galveston, Jefferson, and part of Harris counties, including portions of metropolitan Houston.

A Houston Chronicle article reminds that "Stockman’s two years in Congress were marked by weirdness, such as an article in Guns & Ammo magazine that appeared under his byline in which he suggested the then-new Clinton administration raided the Branch Davidian compound in Waco on April 19, 1993, to justify a ban on assault weapons. Stockman said, in reports from the Associated Press in May 1995, that he stood by his article, which was published after the bombing on April 19, 1995 of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. A couple of weeks after he defended the article, he told the Associated Press that he regretted writing it, mostly for its timing. On the day the federal building in Oklahoma City was bombed, just four months into Stockman's term, there was confusion over a fax sent to Stockman’s office. The FBI became involved. In a news conference in Beaumont in April 1995, Stockman identified the sender as a former Orange County, Texas, Republican chairwoman who had ties to the Michigan militia. The fax was sent to several members of Congress after reports of the bombing came over television. Stockman was the only member to alert the FBI. Stockman also antagonized House Speaker Newt Gingrich by opposing the U.S. bailout of the Mexican peso.

Committee assignments

 * Banking and Currency
 * Financial Services
 * Science

Inter-congressional career (1997-2012)
He was a faculty member who conducted training for the conservative Leadership Institute, a non-partisan educational organization based in Arlington, Virginia. He also worked as director of the Leadership Institute's Campus Leadership Program. Stockman has also been involved with the Young Conservatives of Texas, and has represented the Republican National Committee at International Democrat Union meetings. He has received a 100 percent rating from the American Conservative Union. He is also supported by Gun Owners of America and Citizens United, and conservative U.S. Representative Louie Gohmert of Tyler, Texas.

1998 election for Railroad Commissioner
In 1998, Stockman was an unsuccessful Republican primary candidate for the Texas Railroad Commission. By a margin of 53-47 percent, he lost to Tony Garza, the choice of Governor George W. Bush. Garza then was elected to the Railroad Commission position but left midway in the term to become United States Ambassador to Mexico after George W. Bush was elected President.

2006 congressional election
In 2006, he attempted to run as an Independent candidate for Texas's 22nd congressional district, Tom DeLay's former seat, but he failed to gather enough signatures to be placed on the ballot. However, Stockman did register for the Special Election to fill out the remainder of the term for the Texas 22nd Congressional district, one of five candidates.

2012 election
In 2011 Stockman formed an exploratory committee, Friends of Steve Stockman, to consider a run for the Texas's 14th congressional district seat being vacated by unsuccessful presidential candidate Ron Paul. Stockman instead ran in 2012 in the newly created 36th District. This district was drawn to be heavily Republican, and it was understood that whoever won the Republican primary would be the district's first congressman. In the May 29 primary, Stockman finished second in the first round behind Stephen Vincent Takach (born c. 1962), a financial planner who spent heavily from his own funds. Takach finished with 22 percent of the vote, far short of the 50 percent threshold required to win. Stockman won the July 31 runoff election, defeating Takach 55%-45%--thus assuring his return to Congress after a 16-year absence.

In the November 6 general election, Stockman defeated the Democrat Max Owen Martin (born 1946), a retired pilot from Clear Lake City, Texas. A supporter of U.S. President Barack Obama, Martin was unopposed for his party's congressional nomination. Stockman defeated Martin 71%-27%.

Tenure
Stockman decided not to vote for John Boehner (R-OH) for Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. He was one of just ten Republicans to not vote for Boehner: Justin Amash, Steve Pearce, Jim Bridenstine, Ted Yoho, Paul Broun, Louie Gohmert, Walter Jones, Thomas Massie, Tim Huelskamp, Mick Mulvaney, and Raúl Labrador, but only one to vote "Present" as his protest vote. Stockman stated "I will not vote for or support Congressman Boehner’s bid to remain Speaker of the House. This is not something I do lightly, but out of bedrock conservative principle and a dire need to save this nation from its current course. We cannot tolerate betrayal of conservative principle and economic reality. I have known Congressman Boehner since I first came to the House in 1995. He is a decent man. But I have sharp disagreements with the manner in which he has handled President Obama and House conservatives. While he is all too eager to favorably negotiate with a liberal White House that has outmaneuvered him at every turn, he has been harsh and punitive in dealing with conservatives."

In January 2013, Stockman introduced “The Safe Schools Act,” a bill that would repeal federal laws mandating “gun free zones” around schools in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting which took place in the previous month. He said "I have one concern, protecting children from dangerous predators. By disarming qualified citizens and officials in schools we have created a dangerous situation for our children. In the 22 years before enactment of ‘gun free school zones’ there were two mass school shootings. In the 22 years since enactment of ‘gun free schools’ there have been 10 mass school shootings. Not only has the bill utterly failed to protect our children it appears to have placed them in danger.” The same month, Stockman issued a press release condemning gun control executive orders issued by President Barack Obama post-Sandy Hook, stating, "I will seek to thwart this action by any means necessary, including but not limited to eliminating funding for implementation, defunding the White House, and even filing articles of impeachment."

Committee assignments

 * Committee on Foreign Affairs
 * Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations
 * Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia and Emerging Threats
 * Committee on Science, Space and Technology
 * Subcommittee on Research
 * Subcommittee on Space

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