Dan H. Branch (born March 5, 1958) is an American politician who served as the Texas State Representative for the 108th district from 2003 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he represented part of
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
Texas Attorney General
The Texas attorney general is the chief legal officer of the in the 2014 Republican primary election, in which he was defeated by
Ken Paxton
Warren Kenneth Paxton Jr. (born December 23, 1962) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the Attorney General of Texas since January 2015. Paxton has described himself as a Tea Party conservative.
Paxton was re-elected to a th ...
.
Biography
Legislative tenure
Branch won the seat in 2002, when the incumbent Republican
Kenn George
Kenneth Suggeet George II (born June 25, 1948 in Midland, Texas) is an American businessman, politician and diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Uruguay from September 2, 2019 to January 20, 2021.
In the federal government, ...
stepped down after two terms to run unsuccessfully in the Republican primary for Texas land commissioner, losing to
Jerry E. Patterson
Jerry Emmett Patterson (born November 15, 1946) is an American politician who served as the commissioner of the Texas General Land Office from 2003 to 2015. A former state senator, he was the second Republican since Reconstruction to serve as la ...
, then a
state senator
A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature.
Description
A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...
from
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
. The 2002 race was Branch's first for state office. He won ever election thereafter until 2014, when he ran for attorney general.''Texas Tribune'' Elected Officials Directory "Elections Info" section. Retrieved 2014-02-07.
Branch served as chairman of the House Committee on Higher Education from 2009 to 2014 and served on the Calendars, Elections and Redistricting Committees, as well as the House Select Committee on State Sovereignty. Branch also serves on the Legislative Budget Board. Prior to the 81st Session, he served three terms as the Chair of Budget and Oversight on House Public Education Committee and served as Vice Chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Education.
In 2009, Branch was selected by Texas House members from eleven north Texas counties to co-chair the Dallas Area Legislative Delegation (DALD), at the delegation's first meeting of the 81st session. Branch replaced retired member Fred Hill (R-Richardson) as the Republican co-chair. Retrieved on 2011-10-25. He was re-elected in 2011 to serve as co-chair.
During the 81st legislative session, Branch was the author of House Bill 51, also known as the "Tier One Universities" Bill. The bill announced that seven so-called emerging research universities would compete for extra funding in hopes of joining the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University as nationally recognized research institutions. These seven schools include the
University of North Texas
The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," ...
, the
University of Texas at Dallas
The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD or UT Dallas) is a public research university in Richardson, Texas. It is one of the largest public universities in the Dallas area and the northernmost institution of the University of Texas system. It wa ...
, the
University of Texas at Arlington
The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA or UT Arlington) is a public research university in Arlington, Texas. The university was founded in 1895 and was in the Texas A&M University System for several decades until joining the University of Te ...
, the
University of Texas at El Paso
The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stud ...
, the
University of Texas at San Antonio
The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) is a public research university in San Antonio, Texas. With over 34,000 students across its four campuses spanning 758 acres, UTSA is the largest university in San Antonio and the eighth-largest by ...
, the
University of Houston
The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...
and
Texas Tech University
Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...
. After signing HB 51 into law,
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Rick Perry
James Richard Perry (born March 4, 1950) is an American politician who served as the 14th United States secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019 and as the 47th governor of Texas from 2000 to 2015. Perry also ran unsuccessfully for the Republica ...
Greg Abbott
Gregory Wayne Abbott (born November 13, 1957) is an American politician, attorney, and former jurist serving as the 48th governor of Texas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 50th Tex ...
announced his intention to run for Governor of Texas in the 2014 Texas gubernatorial election. On July 25, 2013, Dan Branch officially announced his candidacy in th 2014 election.
Shortly following the launch of his campaign, Branch received the endorsement of six of Attorney General Greg Abbott's top lieutenants, including former Solicitor General
James C. Ho
James Chiun-Yue Ho (born February 27, 1973) is a Taiwanese-born American attorney and jurist. He was nominated to serve as a United States federal judge, U.S. circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, U.S. Court ...
United States Attorney General
The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...
Alberto Gonzales
Alberto R. Gonzales (born August 4, 1955) is an American lawyer who served as the 80th United States Attorney General, appointed in February 2005 by President George W. Bush, becoming the highest-ranking Hispanic American in executive governme ...
endorsed Branch for attorney general.
A majority of the House Republican Caucus endorsed Branch in his bid for state Attorney General. Shortly after his announcement of candidacy for attorney general, Branch reported more than $4 million on hand, a considerably larger amount than that of his two opponents.
In the primary, Branch finished second place with 35%, compared to 45% for
Ken Paxton
Warren Kenneth Paxton Jr. (born December 23, 1962) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the Attorney General of Texas since January 2015. Paxton has described himself as a Tea Party conservative.
Paxton was re-elected to a th ...
. In the contentious runoff, Paxton defeated Branch by a 65% to 35% margin.
Community involvement
In the fall of 2008, Branch joined Dallas Mayor
Tom Leppert
Thomas Chris Leppert (born June 15, 1954) is an American businessman and politician who is the former CEO of Kaplan, Inc., one of the world's largest education providers. He had oversight of the company's operating divisions (Kaplan Test Prep a ...
and
Dallas Independent School District
The Dallas Independent School District (Dallas ISD or DISD) is a school district based in Dallas, Texas (USA). It operates schools in much of Dallas County and is the second-largest school district in Texas and the seventeenth-largest in the U ...
John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies
The John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies' is an American think tank based in Dallas, Texas, and now associated with Southern Methodist University. The primary mission of the Tower Center is to promote the study of politics and internati ...
Branch and his wife, Stacey, have five children: Daniel, Spencer, Catherine, Charles, and Sarah. They have lived and worked in Dallas for almost three decades."http://danbranch.com/branch_family Retrieved on 2009-5-7.