| Steve Stockman | |
|---|---|
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 9th district |
|
| In office 1995–1997 |
|
| Preceded by | Jack Brooks |
| Succeeded by | Nick Lampson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 14, 1956 Bloomfield Hills, Michigan |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Patti |
| Alma mater | University of Houston |
| Occupation | Consultant |
Steve Stockman (born November 14, 1956) is a Republican politician who represented Texas's 9th Congressional District between 1995 and 1997.
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Stockman was born in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, near Detroit. He graduated from Dondero High School.
In 1992, Stockman ran as a Republican for the House of Representatives against Jack Brooks. He was unsuccessful in this attempt, though he unseated the 42-year incumbent and then chairman of the House Judiciary Committee in 1994.
During Stockman's time in Congress, the district represented Chambers, Galveston, Jefferson, and part of Harris counties, including part of metropolitan Houston.
A conservative, he was a faculty member who conducted training for the non-partisan Leadership Institute based in Arlington, Virginia. He worked for the Leadership Institute as the Campus Leadership Program Director. He has also been involved with the Young Conservatives of Texas, and has represented Republicans at International Democrat Union meetings.
Stockman, as a one term incumbent, was defeated by Democrat Nick Lampson, in 1996.
In 2011 Stockman formed an exploratory committee, Friends of Steve Stockman, to consider a run for the TX-14 Congressional seat being vacated by Congressman Ron Paul.
In Stockman's one term in office, he sponsored 22 bills or resolutions and cosponsored 241. One sponsored resolution was agreed to by both the House and Senate; 37 cosponsored bills or resolutions passed the House, of which 18 passed the Senate. Of those, 2 were vetoed and 1 died in conference.
Notable sponsored bills in the 104th Congress included:
Notable cosponsored bills in the 104th Congress that became law included:
Notable cosponsored bills in the 104th Congress that did not become law included:
In June 1996, Stockman and his campaign alleged that Houston Press reporter Tim Fleck trespassed in Stockman's campaign headquarters, which was also his home, and terrorized his wife. Fleck countered with a lawsuit alleging libel and slander. Both the charges and lawsuit were later dropped.[1][2]
On April 19, 1995, Stockman's office received a fax "at about the same time" touting the bombing in Oklahoma City, which was initially discarded. Stockman later turned that fax over to the FBI.[3] Following false news reports that the fax had been sent in advance,[4] federal officials later determined the fax was sent about 50 minutes after the bombing.[5] He was never implicated in any way in the bombing itself, but his critics said the reason that the militia movement trusted him was due to an article in Guns and Ammo Magazine proclaiming that the Waco Siege was a government conspiracy to “prove the need for a ban on so called assault weapons”.[6]
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,[7] 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.
These elections were held concurrently with the November general election for other elective positions. Stockman led Democrat Nick Lampson in the special election, 46.44 percent to 44.13 percent, but did not get a majority in a three-way race.[8]
In the subsequent head-to-head runoff, Lampson defeated Stockman, 52.83 percent to 47.16 percent.[9]
In 1998, Stockman was an unsuccessful Republican primary candidate for the Texas Railroad Commission. He lost to Governor George W. Bush's preferred candidate, Tony Garza, by a margin of 53 percent to 47 percent. Garza went on to win the Railroad Commission position in the November general 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.[10] 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.[11]
| United States House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Jack Brooks |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 9th congressional district 1995–1997 |
Succeeded by Nick Lampson |