Lance Gooden

Lance Gooden
Texas State Representative from District 4 (Kaufman and part of Henderson counties)
In office
2011 – January 13, 2015
Preceded by Betty Brown
Succeeded by Stuart Spitzer
Personal details
Born December 1, 1982
Terrell, Kaufman County
Texas, USA
Nationality American
Political party Republican
Alma mater University of Texas at Austin
Occupation Businessman

Lance Gooden (born December 1, 1982) is a departing two-term Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 4 (Kaufman and a portion of Henderson counties). In the 2010 primary election, Gooden narrowly upset the six-term incumbent Republican Representative Betty Brown, having polled 50.5 percent of the vote.[1] Gooden had formerly been Brown's legislative assistant.

A native of Terrell in Kaufman County, a city east of Dallas, Texas, Gooden graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, from which he received both a Bachelor of Arts in government and a Bachelor of Business Administration. Upon taking office early in 2011, Gooden worked on the state budget in an attempt to eliminate wasteful spending. He serves on these House committees: Appropriations, County Affairs, and House Administration, the latter of which handles employment by the House. In 2010, Gooden had no Democratic opponent in his heavily Republican district.[2][3]

Gooden won renomination to a second term in the Republican primary held on May 29, 2012. He polled 6,385 votes (53.5 percent) to 5,545 (46.5 percent) for his opponent, Stuart Spitzer, a surgeon from Kaufman, who was born and reared in Athens in Henderson County.[4][5] Gooden was then unopposed for his second term in the general election held on November 6, 2012.

However, on March 4, 2014, Dr. Spitzer in a second bid for the office unseated Gooden in the Republican primary. Spitzer polled 8,421 votes (51 percent) to Gooden's 8,079 (49 percent).[6] Speaker Joe Straus of San Antonio, made a campaign stop for Gooden's behalf in Forney in Kaufman County, a month before the primary election. Accompanying Straus to Forney was State Senator Bob Deuell,[7]who lost his own seat in the subsequent May 27 runoff election to the Tea Party movement choice, Bob Hall.

References

  1. ↑ ""Gooden upsets Brown"". Athens Review. March 3, 2010. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
  2. ↑ Dallas News
  3. ↑ Kaufmann Herald
  4. ↑ "Republican primary election returns, May 29, 2012". enr.sos.state.tx.us. Retrieved May 30, 2012.
  5. ↑ "About Stuart Spitzer". stuartspitzer.com. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Republican primary election returns, March 4, 2014". enr.sos.state.tx.us. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Denise Bell, "Texas Speaker of the House Straus Visits Forney to Endorse Rep. Gooden," February 4, 2014". The Forney Post. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
Texas House of Representatives
Preceded by
Betty Brown		 Texas State Representative from District 4 (Kaufman and part of Henderson counties)

Lance Gooden
2011–2015

Succeeded by
Stuart Spitzer