David Joseph Weldon (born August 31, 1953) is an American politician and physician. He was 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

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

, representing , and was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination in Florida's 2012 U.S. Senate race.

Early life, education, and medical career

Weldon was born on

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18t ...

to Anna (née Mallardi) and David David Joseph Weldon Sr. His father was a combat-decorated

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

veteran. After graduating

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...

from

Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system' ...

in 1978, he earned his M.D. degree at the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 18 ...

School of Medicine in 1981. He was inducted into

Alpha Omega Alpha Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society () is an honor society in the field of medicine. Alpha Omega Alpha currently has active Chapters in 132 LCME- accredited medical schools in the United States and Lebanon. It annually elects over 4,000 new ...

. Weldon served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

from 1981 to 1987 and the

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed Forces. Since July 20 ...

from 1987 until 1992. He practiced as a physician in Florida after becoming an MD.

Tenure in Congress

In response to the legal battle over the removal of the feeding tube of

Terri Schiavo The Terri Schiavo case was a series of court and legislative actions in the United States from 1998 to 2005, regarding the care of Theresa Marie Schiavo (née Schindler) (; December 3, 1963 – March 31, 2005), a woman in an irreversible ...

, Weldon introduced legislation to force review of the case by the federal government. Weldon, who has a medical degree, believed that Schiavo was not in a vegetative state. He supported his belief saying, "She responds to verbal stimuli, she attempts to vocalize, she tracks with her eyes, she emotes, she attempts to kiss her father." In December, 2005, Weldon joined with several other Congressmen to form the

Second Amendments The Second Amendments was a bipartisan conservative rock/ country/country rock band, all of the members of which were also members of the United States House of Representatives. It featured Representatives Collin Peterson ( DFL-Minnesota) on guit ...

, a

bipartisan Bipartisanship, sometimes referred to as nonpartisanship, is a political situation, usually in the context of a two-party system (especially those of the United States and some other western countries), in which opposing political parties find co ...

rock and

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whi ...

band set to play for United States troops stationed overseas over the holiday season. Weldon plays the bass guitar.

Committee assignments

U.S. House Committee on Appropriations The United States House Committee on Appropriations is a committee of the United States House of Representatives that is responsible for passing appropriation bills along with its Senate counterpart. The bills passed by the Appropriations Comm ...

**Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies **Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs * U.S. House Committee on Science * U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce * U.S. House Committee on Banking * U.S. House Committee on Government Reform *

Republican Study Committee The Republican Study Committee (RSC) is a study group of conservative members of the Republican Party in the United States House of Representatives. As of 2021, the Chairman of the RSC is Representative Jim Banks of Indiana. Although the prima ...

Caucus memberships

*Chair and co-founder, Congressional Aerospace Caucus *Chair and co-founder, Congressional Israel Allies Caucus

Elections

;1994 Weldon decided to run in

Florida's 15th congressional district Florida's 15th congressional district is an electoral district for the U.S. Congress and was reassigned in 2012, effective January 2013, to the northern parts of Hillsborough and Polk counties as well as the southernmost parts of Lake. See ...

, vacated by Democratic U.S. Congressman Jim Bacchus. He was one of seven Republicans to file for the primary. On September 8, he ranked first with 24% of the vote, but failed to reach the 50% threshold to win outright. In the October 4 run-off election, he defeated Carole Jean Jordan 54–46%. In the November general election, he defeated Democrat Sue Munsey 54–46%. ;1996 Won re-election to a second term defeating John L. Byron 51–43%. ;1998 Won re-election to a third term with 63% of the vote. ;2000 Won re-election to a fourth term with 59% of the vote. ;2002 Won re-election to a fifth term with 63% of the vote. ;2004 Won re-election to a sixth term with 65% of the vote. ;2006 Former presidential candidate Bob Bowman, a Democrat, challenged Weldon in 2006. The incumbent raised significantly more campaign funds than Bowman. By the end of September, Weldon's total was $673,321 versus $21,944 for Bowman. Weldon also refused to debate Bowman during the campaign. In the November election, Weldon received 125,596 votes to Bowman's 97,947. Weldon won re-election to a seventh term with 56% of the vote. ;2008 On January 25, 2008, claiming "He never wanted to be a career politician", Weldon announced he would not seek an eighth term and would be returning to his medical practice.Mary Ann Akers
"Rep. Weldon To Spend More Time With Family, Really"
''Washington Post'', January 25, 2008 He endorsed state Senator

Bill Posey William Joseph Posey (born December 18, 1947) is an American businessman and politician serving as the U.S. representative for , in Congress since 2009. A member of the Republican Party, he formerly served in the Florida Senate and the Florida ...

to succeed him.

2012 U.S. Senate election

Weldon decided to run for the U.S. Senate in 2012 in the hope of facing Democratic incumbent

Bill Nelson Clarence William Nelson II (born September 29, 1942) is an American politician and attorney serving as the administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Nelson previously served as a United States Senator from Flo ...

. His opponent in the Republican primary was U.S. Representative

Connie Mack IV Cornelius Harvey McGillicuddy (born August 12, 1967), popularly known as Connie Mack IV, is an American politician and lobbyist. He is the former U.S. Representative for , serving from 2005 to 2013. A Republican, he ran for the U.S. Senate in ...

. Weldon ran as a Christian conservative, and trailed Mack in both funding and name recognition. He lost the Republican primary with 20% of the vote, coming in second behind Mack's 59%. Mack went on to lose the general election to Nelson, 42-55%.

Post-politics

Weldon has a medical practice at Health First Medical Group in

Malabar, Florida Malabar is a town in Brevard County, Florida. The population was 2,757 at the 2010 United States Census. It is part of the Palm Bay–Melbourne– Titusville Metropolitan Statistical Area. Government Malabar has a strong council form o ...

References

External links

Congressman Dave Weldon
''official U.S. House website''
Dave Weldon for Congress
''official campaign website'' * *
Online Focus: U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon
(interview re:

stem cell research In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can differentiate into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type of ...

Public Broadcasting Service The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educa ...

(August 9, 2004)
Rep. Dave Weldon, M.D.
testimony before the Institute of Medicine Immunization Safety Review Committee, SafeMinds (January 11, 2001) {{DEFAULTSORT:Weldon, Dave 1953 births Living people People from Indialantic, Florida University at Buffalo alumni People from Amityville, New York Stony Brook University alumni United States Army officers Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Florida 21st-century American politicians 20th-century American politicians Candidates in the 2012 United States elections 20th-century American physicians United States Army reservists