Gary Wayne VanDeaver (born September 25, 1958) is an American politician serving as the state representative for the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abou ...

' 1st district, which currently encompasses Bowie,

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral d ...

, Lamar, and Red River

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

in northeastern

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. In 2022, the new House District 1 includes Bowie, Cass, Lamar, Morris, and Red River Counties. He is a retired lifelong educator with the

New Boston Independent School District New Boston Independent School District is a public school district based in New Boston, Texas (USA). In addition to New Boston, the district also serves the community of Boston. In 2009, the school district was rated "academically acceptable" ...

in New Boston, Texas, where he still resides. VanDeaver has been re-elected by his district three times, in 2016, 2018, and 2020. He has defeated the previous incumbent, George Lavender, twice, the second time by an even larger margin. He identifies as a Conservative Republican, and is seeking re-election to his House seat for a fifth term in 2022.

Background

VanDeaver was born in Grimes County south of College Station, Texas.

Political Life

VanDeaver defeated George Lavender in a rematch in the Republican primary on March 1, 2016. VanDeaver received 18,263 votes (61.9 percent) to Lavender's 11,242 (38.1 percent). VanDeaver ran unopposed in the 2018 Republican primary. VanDeaver ran unopposed in the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

held on November 6, 2018; no Democrats or third party candidates filed to run for the legislative seat. VanDeaver ran unopposed in the 2020 Republican primary. VanDeaver ran unopposed in the

held on November 3, 2020; no Democrats or third party candidates filed to run for the legislative seat. VanDeaver is running again in the 2022 Republican primary. VanDeaver is the only candidate in the race who has been endorsed by the Associated Republicans of Texas, National Rife Association, Texas Alliance for Life, Texans for Life Coalition, Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas, Texas Municipal Police Association, Texas Farm Bureau, National Federation of Independent Businesses, the Texas Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, Texas Forestry PAC, Texas State Teachers Association, Association of Texas Professional Educators, and Governor Greg Abbott .

References

External links

Gary VanDeaver for State Representative

State legislative page

Gary VanDeaver at the Texas Tribune
{{DEFAULTSORT:VanDeaver, Gary 1958 births Living people Republican Party members of the Texas House of Representatives People from Grimes County, Texas People from Clarksville, Texas People from New Boston, Texas Texas A&M University–Commerce alumni School superintendents in Texas Baptists from Texas 21st-century American politicians Educators from Texas