David Dreier

David Dreier
Chairman of the House Rules Committee
In office January 3, 2011 – January 3, 2013
Preceded by	Louise Slaughter
Succeeded by	Pete Sessions
In office January 3, 1999 – January 3, 2007
Preceded by	Gerald Solomon
Succeeded by	Louise Slaughter
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 26th district
In office January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2013
Preceded by	Howard Berman
Succeeded by	Julia Brownley
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 28th district
In office January 3, 1993 – January 3, 2003
Preceded by	Julian Dixon
Succeeded by	Howard Berman
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 33rd district
In office January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1993
Preceded by	Wayne Grisham
Succeeded by	Lucille Roybal-Allard
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 35th district
In office January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1983
Preceded by	James Lloyd
Succeeded by	Jerry Lewis
Personal details
Born	(1952-07-05) July 5, 1952 Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Alma mater	Claremont McKenna College Claremont Graduate University
Religion	Christian Science

David Timothy Dreier (born July 5, 1952) is an American entrepreneur and Republican Party politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1981 to 2013.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

Before 2004

In 1978, Dreier decided to run for the United States House of Representatives at the age of 25. He ran against incumbent Democrat James Fredrick Lloyd, who had first won in an upset in a Republican-leaning district in 1974. Though unknown, Dreier ran a spirited campaign. Lloyd won that race by 54% to 46%. In 1980, Dreier ran again and defeated Lloyd 52% to 45%, winning on the coattails of former California Governor Ronald Reagan's presidential election.^[1] After the 1980 United States Census, his district was renumbered to the 33rd, and defeated U.S. Congressman Wayne Grisham in the Republican primary of 1982, 57% to 43%.^[2] He won the 1982 general election with 65% of the vote.^[3] He won re-election every two years after that with at least 57% of the vote until his 2004 re-election campaign. His district was renumbered to the 28th after the 1990 United States Census and to the 26th district after the 2000 United States Census.^[4]

2004 election

In 2004, Dreier faced strong criticism on his stances on illegal immigration from opponent Cynthia Matthews.^[5]

Dreier was not the originator of the NRCC complaint and disavowed orchestrating the complaint. The hosts continued the allegedly infringing activity through the election and on February 24, 2006, the FEC declared that the charges were without merit. In an interview on KABC's Doug McIntyre program, Dreier denied the charges regarding immigration.^[6]

Dreier won with 54% of the vote.^[7][8]

After 2004

In 2006, he won re-election in rematch against Matthews 57% to 38%, despite the fact Republicans lost the majority that year.^[9] In 2008, Dreier won re-election against Democrat Russ Warner with 53% of the vote, his worst re-election performance of his career.^[10][11] In 2010, he defeated Warner in a rematch with 54% of the vote.^[12]

After the 2010 United States Census, the voter-created California Citizens Redistricting Commission put Dreier and longtime Republican congressman Jerry Lewis into the newly drawn 31st congressional district.^[13] Drier eventually decided to retire.^[14]

Tenure

Dreier served as chairman of the House Rules Committee from 1999 until 2007. The Democrats gained control of the House in the 2006 midterm elections and Drier served as ranking member for the 110th and 111th Congresses. With the Republicans regaining control of the House in the 2010 midterm elections, Dreier again assumed the chairmanship during the 112th Congress.^[15]

Dreier supported the Defense of Marriage Act and against inclusion of homosexuals as a protected class in hate crime law. However, in 2007 he did vote for employment discrimination legislation to protect employees against discrimination based on sexual orientation.^[16] Dreier voted against the Matthew Shepard Act and voted against the repeal of the U.S. military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. In December 2010, Dreier voted in favor of repealing the policy in a standalone bill.^[17]

Dreier has served for many years as a trustee of Claremont McKenna College, his undergraduate alma mater, which falls within his Congressional district.^[18]

According to Roll Call magazine, Dreier has a personal fortune in excess of $7.5 million^[19] and as much as $29 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.^[20]

Dreier is a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership. He was a leading member of the board of directors of the International Republican Institute.^[21]

Dreier also publicly supported a provision in the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 that excludes many legal immigrants from receiving federal tax rebates.^[22]

Dreier has been a longstanding supporter of closer ties between the United States and countries of Latin America and has met frequently with executive and legislative branch leaders throughout the region. On one occasion, during his visit to Colombia's lower house chamber on August 28, 2007,^[23] he drew criticism from some opposition lawmakers when he sat on the edge of a podium during informal remarks to Colombian legislators. Dreier later apologized and insisted he intended no disrespect. In comments released August 30, 2007 he said "I meant absolutely no offense. I simply wanted to demonstrate my warm feeling and affection."^[24]

Dreier was elected to the Board of Trustees of the California Institute of Technology in 2013.

Committee assignments

• Committee on Rules (Chairman)
  • Subcommittee on Legislative and Budget Process
  • Subcommittee on Rules and the Organization of the House

Caucus memberships

• International Conservation Caucus
• Sportsmen's Caucus
• U.S.-Mexico Congressional Caucus (Co-Chair)
• Zero Capital Gains Tax Caucus

Leadership bid

Following the indictment of Tom DeLay on September 28, 2005, Dreier was widely expected to temporarily assume the position of House Majority Leader.^[25] Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert favored Dreier for the position, presumably because Dreier has consistently adhered to the views of the Republican leadership and would have been willing to relinquish the title immediately should DeLay have been able to return to the Majority Leader position. However, a conference of rank-and-file Republican representatives disapproved of the choice of Dreier in such a senior position largely because many conservative Republican House members believe that Dreier is too politically moderate. According to Dreier spokeswoman Jo Maney, Dreier declined the temporary Majority Leader position because he "would have had to give up his chairmanship of the Rules Committee to move to another position, and that's not something that he wanted to do".^[26]

The House Majority Leader position instead went to then Majority Whip Roy Blunt, though both Dreier and then Deputy Majority Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia shared in some duties.^[27]

On February 29, 2012, Dreier announced that upon completion of his current term he would not seek re-election.^[28]

Personal life

Dreier is a descendant of Richard Bland Lee, a congressman from Virginia who served on the first Rules Committee impaneled by the House of Representatives.^[29] He lived in Beverly Hills and Malibu with his chief of staff, Brad Smith.^[30] He currently resides in San Dimas, California.^[31]

Electoral history

California's 35th congressional district: Results 1980^[32]

Year		Republican	Votes	%		Democratic	Votes	%
1980		David Dreier	100,743	52%		James Lloyd	88,743	46%		James Noonan	Peace and Freedom	5,492	3%

California's 33rd congressional district: Results 1982–1990^[32][33]

Year		Republican	Votes	%		Democratic	Votes	%		Third Party	Party	Votes	%		Third Party	Party	Votes	%
1982		David Dreier	112,362	65%		Paul Servelle	55,514	32%		Phillips Franklin	Libertarian	2,251	1%		James Noonan	Peace and Freedom	2,223	1%
1984		David Dreier	147,363	71%		Claire McDonald	54,147	26%		Gail Lightfoot	Libertarian	4,738	2%		James Noonan	Peace and Freedom	2,371	1%
1986		David Dreier	118,541	72%		Monty Hempel	44,312	27%		James Noonan	Peace and Freedom	2,500	2%
1988		David Dreier	151,704	69%		Nelson Gentry	57,586	26%		Gail Lightfoot	Libertarian	6,601	3%		James Noonan	Peace and Freedom	3,492	2%
1990		David Dreier	101,336	64%		Georgia Webb	49,981	31%		Gail Lightfoot	Libertarian	7,840	5%

California's 28th congressional district: Results 1992–2000^[32][33]

Year		Republican	Votes	%		Democratic	Votes	%		Third Party	Party	Votes	%		Third Party	Party	Votes	%		Third Party	Party	Votes	%
1992		David Dreier	122,353	58%		Al Wachtel	76,525	37%		Walter Sheasby	Green	6,233	3%		Thomas Dominy	Libertarian	4,271	2%
1994		David Dreier	110,179	67%		Tommy Randle	50,022	30%		Jorj Baker	Libertarian	4,069	2%
1996		David Dreier	113,389	61%		David Levering	69,037	37%		Ken Saurenman	Libertarian	4,459	2%
1998		David Dreier	90,607	58%		Janice Nelson	61,721	39%		Jerry Douglas	Libertarian	2,099	1%		Walter Sheasby	Green	1,954	1%		Lawrence Allison	Natural Law	819	1%
2000		David Dreier	116,557	57%		Janice Nelson	81,804	40%		Randall Weissbuch	Libertarian	2,823	1%		Lawrence Allison	Natural Law	2,083	1%		Joe Haytas	American Independent	1,932	1%

California's 26th congressional district: Results 2002–2010^[32][33]

Year		Republican	Votes	%		Democratic	Votes	%		Third Party	Party	Votes	%		Third Party	Party	Votes	%
2002		David Dreier	95,360	64%		Marjorie Mikels	50,081	33%		Randall Weissbuch	Libertarian	4,089	3%
2004		David Dreier	134,596	54%		Cynthia Matthews	107,522	43%		Randall Weissbuch	Libertarian	9,089	4%
2006		David Dreier	102,028	57%		Cynthia Matthews	67,878	38%		Ted Brown	Libertarian	5,887	3%		Elliott Graham	American Independent	3,351	2%
2008		David Dreier	140,615	53%		Russ Warner	108,039	40%		Ted Brown	Libertarian	18,476	7%
2010		David Dreier	112,774	54%		Russ Warner	76,093	37%		David Miller	American Independent	12,784	6%		Randall Weissbuch	Libertarian	6,696	3%

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to David Dreier.

• U.S. Congressman David Dreier Official U.S. house site
• David Dreier for U.S. Congress Official campaign site
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Profile at Project Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Profile at Congress.org
• David Dreier at the Notable Names Database

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by James Lloyd	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 35th congressional district 1981–1983	Succeeded by Jerry Lewis
Preceded by Wayne Grisham	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 33rd congressional district 1983–1993	Succeeded by Lucille Roybal-Allard
Preceded by Julian Dixon	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 28th congressional district 1993–2003	Succeeded by Howard Berman
Preceded by Howard Berman	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 26th congressional district 2003–2013	Succeeded by Julia Brownley
Preceded by Gerald Solomon	Chairman of the House Rules Committee 1999–2007	Succeeded by Louise Slaughter
Preceded by Louise Slaughter	Chairman of the House Rules Committee 2011–2013	Succeeded by Pete Sessions