Robert Lee Hall III, known as Bob Hall (born March 5, 1942), is an American

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

who is a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

member of the

Texas State Senate The Texas Senate ( es, Senado de Texas) is the upper house of the Texas State Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing single-member districts across the U.S. state of Texas, with populations of approximately 806,000 per con ...

. Aligned with the

Tea Party movement The Tea Party movement was an American fiscally conservative political movement within the Republican Party that began in 2009. Members of the movement called for lower taxes and for a reduction of the national debt and federal budget defi ...

, he succeeded fellow Republican Bob Deuell, whom he unseated by three hundred votes in the Republican runoff election held on May 27, 2014.

Early life and education

Hall graduated in 1960 from George D. Chamberlain High School in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

. In 1964, Hall received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree in electrical engineering from

The Citadel The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, commonly known simply as The Citadel, is a public senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina. Established in 1842, it is one of six senior military colleges in the United States. ...

Political career

Hall ran against incumbent State Senator Bob Deuell in 2012 but failed to meet constitutional residency requirements. He ran again in 2014. He unseated Deuell in a Republican primary runoff election, 18,230 votes (50.4 percent) to 17,930 (49.6 percent). Hall defeated

Libertarian Party Active parties by country Defunct parties by country Organizations associated with Libertarian parties See also * Liberal parties by country * List of libertarian organizations * Lists of political parties Lists of political part ...

nominee, Don Bates, in the November 4 general election. In the 2018 Republican primary, Hall was challenged by state representative

Cindy Burkett Cindy may refer to: People *Cindy (given name), a list of people named Cindy, Cindi, Cyndi or Cyndy *Tugiyati Cindy (born 1985), Indonesian footballer Music * ''Cindy'' (musical), an off-Broadway production in 1964 and 1965 * "Cindy" (folk song ...

, who ran as a politically moderate alternative to him. Hall defeated her in the March 6, 2018, primary election. Hall won his second state Senate term in the general election held on November 6, 2018. With 152,659 votes (59.4 percent), he defeated Kendall Scudder, who finished with 104,528 (40.6 percent). In 2019, Hall became chairman of the Agriculture committee. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Hall promoted misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines, including the debunked conspiracy theory that COVID-19 vaccines skipped animal testing. He encouraged people to not take the vaccine.

Personal life

Hall and his wife, the former Sarah Kay Smith, a native of

Commerce Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...

in Hunt County in East Texas, live in Tailwind Airpark in

Edgewood Edgewood may refer to: Places Canada *Edgewood, British Columbia South Africa *Edgewood, a University of KwaZulu-Natal campus in Pinetown, South Africa United States Cities and towns *Edgewood, California *Edgewood, Florida *Edgewood, Illinois, a ...

, a community for pilots and aviation enthusiasts which has its own runway and hangars. The couple is Southern Baptist and has three adult sons.

Electoral history

References

External links

Bob Hall's Texas Senate page

Official website

Bob Hall at the Texas Tribune

Bob Hall at Ballotpedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Bob 1942 births Engineers from Virginia Baptists from Texas Businesspeople from Tampa, Florida Businesspeople from Texas George D. Chamberlain High School alumni Living people People from Fairfax County, Virginia People from Mesquite, Texas People from Okaloosa County, Florida People from Santa Rosa County, Florida People from Seneca County, Ohio People from Shenandoah County, Virginia People from Edgewood, Texas People from York County, Pennsylvania Tea Party movement activists Republican Party Texas state senators The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina alumni United States Air Force officers Activists from Ohio Activists from Texas 21st-century American politicians People from Commerce, Texas Engineers from Pennsylvania Engineers from Ohio Baptists from Virginia Military personnel from Texas Military personnel from Pennsylvania