Luke Messer

Luke Messer
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Indiana's 6th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2013
Preceded by	Mike Pence
Member of the Indiana House of Representatives from the 57th district
In office 2003-2007
Preceded by	W. Roland Stine
Succeeded by	Sean Eberhart
Personal details
Born	(1969-02-27) February 27, 1969[1] Evansville, Indiana
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Jennifer
Residence	Shelbyville, Indiana
Alma mater	Wabash College, Vanderbilt University Law School
Occupation	Lawyer
Religion	Presbyterian
Website	Representative Luke Messer

Allen Lucas "Luke" Messer (born February 27, 1969) is an American politician who has served as a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Indiana's 6th congressional district, since 2013. He is a member of the Republican Party.

Born in Evansville, Indiana, Messer is a graduate from Wabash College and Vanderbilt University Law School. After a failed run for the U.S. House in 2000, Messer served as the executive director of the Indiana Republican Party from 2001 to 2005. He was appointed to serve in the Indiana House of Representatives in 2003, after State Representative W. Roland Stine was killed in a car accident. Messer represented Indiana's 57th District from 2003 to 2007. In 2012, Messer defeated Democratic challenger Brad Bookout and was elected to a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Early life, education, and law career

Messer graduated from Greensburg Community High School in 1987.^[2]

Messer attended Wabash College where he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity, he graduated in 1991. He also attended Vanderbilt University Law School, from which he received a law degree, in 1994.^[3][4] Shortly after Messer graduated from Vanderbilt, he served as an Associate Counsel at Koch Industries from 1995 to 1996.^[5]

Early political career

Messer started his political career serving as the Press Secretary for Tennessee Representative Ed Bryant in 1997. He served as the Legal Counsel on the House Subcommittee for Government Reform for Indiana Representative's David McIntosh and Dan Burton from 1998 to 1999, and the Legal Counsel to U.S. Representative Jim Duncan later in 1999.^[6] In 1998, he served as the campaign manager for Virginia Murphy Blankenbaker's failed congressional campaign.^[7] In 1999, Messer returned to Indiana and was a practicing attorney at the Barnes & Thornburg Law Firm in Indianapolis.^[8]

In 2000, Messer ran for the United States House of Representatives in Indiana's 2nd congressional district, where incumbent David M. McIntosh was retiring to run for governor. Though Messer received the endorsement of The Indianapolis Star,^[9] he lost the election to Mike Pence.

Indiana House of Representatives

On May 23, 2003, Messer was sworn in by the Chief Justice of Indiana Supreme Court Randall Shepard to fill the remainder of the late W. Roland Stine's term.^[2] From 2003-2006, Messer represented District 57 in the Indiana House of Representatives, which contained portions of Shelby County and Bartholomew County.^[10] During the 2005-2006 legislative session, Messer served as the Assistant Majority Floor Leader.^[11] His legislation aimed at curbing high school drop-out rates received national attention after Shelbyville High School became a symbol of a national dropout crisis.^[12] He did not run for reelection as State Representative in 2006, and was succeeded by Sean Eberhart.^[13] Messer joined the law firm Ice Miller LLP as a partner in their Public Affairs group.^[14]

Messer served as the co-chair of John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign in Indiana.^[15] In 2010, Messer ran for the House of Representatives in Indiana's 5th congressional district. He challenged Dan Burton, the incumbent representative, in the Republican primary. Burton narrowly defeated Messer in the election.^[16] Messer then became President & CEO of School Choice Indiana, a lobbying group that supported Indiana's private school voucher law.^[17]

United States House of Representatives

Elections

With the announcement of then Representative Mike Pence's intentions to run for Governor of Indiana, in May 2011, Messer declared his candidacy for the Republican nomination to represent Indiana's 6th congressional district.^[18] On May 8, 2012 Messer defeated the grassroots effort by Columbus real estate investor Travis Hankins, winning with 71% of the vote.^[19] He faced Democrat Brad Bookout, a Delaware County councilman, in the general election.^[20][21] Messer, described as a "Libertarian-Leaning Conservative" by OnTheIssues.Org,^[22] aligned his views with the views of Mike Pence, saying that "If you like Congressman Mike Pence, we’re going to have very similar philosophy in the way we approach the job," he was also described by Bookout as "a clone" of Pence.^[23] On November 6, 2012, Messer defeated Bookout with roughly 59% of the vote.^[24] After the election, Messer was selected by his peers as Freshman Class President for the 113th Congress.^[25]

Committee assignments

• Committee on the Budget
• Committee on Education and the Workforce
  • Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training
  • Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions
• Committee on Foreign Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific

Personal life

Messer is married to his wife Jennifer, have two daughters and one son, and they currently reside in Shelbyville, Indiana. Messer is the author of a children’s book called Hoosier Heart.^[26]

Electoral history

2006

2012

References

Further reading

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at The Library of Congress

External links

• Congressman Luke Messer
• Messer for Congress
• Luke Messer on the Open Directory Project