Lance Carter Gooden (born December 1, 1982) is an American politician serving as the
U.S. representative
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 c ...
for
Texas's 5th congressional district
Texas's 5th congressional district of the United States House of Representatives is in an area that includes a northeast portion of the City of Dallas, Dallas County including Mesquite plus a number of smaller suburban, exurban and rural counti ...
since 2019.
His district includes parts of eastern
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 ...
, as well as a large swath of exurban and rural territory to Dallas's east.
A member of the
Republican Party, Gooden previously served as the
Texas State Representative for the
4th district (
Henderson County and
Kaufman County) from 2011 to 2015. He lost his reelection bid in the 2014 Republican primary election but was returned to office in the 2016 election for a non-consecutive third term in the state legislature before he ran for Congress.
Early life and education
A native of
Terrell
Terrell, Terell, Terrel, or Terrelle may refer to:
Places United States
*Terrell, Georgia, unincorporated community
*Terrell, North Carolina, unincorporated community in Catawba County, North Carolina, United States
*Terrell, Texas, city in Kau ...
in Kaufman County, an eastern suburb of Dallas, Gooden graduated from the
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
, from which he received a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
in government in 2001 and a BBA in finance in 2004.
Texas House of Representatives
In the 2010
primary election
Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...
, Gooden won 50.5% of the vote, upsetting six-term incumbent Republican Representative
Betty Brown
Betty J. Brown (born August 20, 1939) is an American politician and rancher who served as a member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1999 to 2011.
Career
From 1999 to 2011, Brown represented House District 4 for Henderson and Kaufman ...
. Gooden had formerly been Brown's legislative assistant.
Upon taking office in 2011, Gooden worked on the state budget in an attempt to eliminate wasteful spending. He served on the House Appropriations, County Affairs, and House Administration committees, the last of which handles employment by the House. In 2010, Gooden had no
Democratic opponent in his heavily Republican district. In 2011, he assisted hotel mogul
Monty Bennett
Monty J. Bennett (born ) is an American businessman who founded and is the chairman and CEO of Ashford Inc., a hospitality real estate company. He is also the publisher of the ''Dallas Express'', a news website launched in 2021 in Dallas, Texas. ...
in his fight against the
Tarrant Regional Water District
The Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD) is a water district in Texas. It provides raw water for over 2.1 million people, implements vital flood control measures and creates recreational opportunities for the residents of 11 North Texas Counties. ...
, pushing legislation to designate Bennett's 1,000-acre ranch as a municipal utility district and granting immunity from a proposed water pipeline through the property.
Gooden won renomination to a second term in the Republican primary held on May 29, 2012. He polled 6,385 votes (53.5%) to his opponent Stuart Spitzer's 5,545 (46.5%). Gooden was unopposed for a second term in the November 6 general election.
In 2016, Gooden staged a comeback and unseated Spitzer in the March 1 Republican primary, 14,500 votes (51.8%) to 13,502 (48.2%). He returned to the State House in January 2017.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2018
Gooden won the Republican nomination for the 5th congressional district and the November 6 general election, receiving 62.7% of the vote.
2020
Gooden was reelected on November 3, receiving 62% of the vote.
Tenure
2020 election
In December 2020, Gooden was one of 126 Republican members of the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
to sign an
amicus brief
An ''amicus curiae'' (; ) is an individual or organization who is not a party to a legal case, but who is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. The decision on ...
in support of ''
Texas v. Pennsylvania'', a lawsuit filed at the
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
contesting the results of the
2020 presidential election
This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included.
January
*5 January:
**C ...
, in which
Joe Biden defeated incumbent
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked
standing
Standing, also referred to as orthostasis, is a position in which the body is held in an ''erect'' ("orthostatic") position and supported only by the feet. Although seemingly static, the body rocks slightly back and forth from the ankle in the s ...
under
Article III of the Constitution to challenge the results of an election held by another state.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Patricia Pelosi (; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who has served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and previously from 2007 to 2011. She has represented in the United States House of ...
issued a statement that called signing the amicus brief an act of "election subversion." She also reprimanded Gooden and the other House members who supported the lawsuit: "The 126 Republican Members that signed onto this lawsuit brought dishonor to the House. Instead of upholding their oath to support and defend the Constitution, they chose to subvert the Constitution and undermine public trust in our sacred democratic institutions." New Jersey Democratic Representative
Bill Pascrell
William James Pascrell Jr. (born January 25, 1937) is an American politician who is the U.S. representative for , having served in this position since January 2013. A member of the Democratic Party and a native of Paterson, New Jersey, Pascrel ...
, called for Pelosi to not seat Gooden and the other Republicans who signed onto the brief supporting the suit, arguing that "the
text of the 14th Amendment expressly forbids Members of Congress from engaging in rebellion against the United States. Trying to overturn a democratic election and install a dictator seems like a pretty clear example of that."
Gooden voted against certifying the
electors from Arizona and Pennsylvania in the
2020 United States presidential election
The 2020 United States presidential election was the 59th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and the junior U.S. senator from California Kamala Ha ...
and voted against the
second impeachment of Donald Trump
Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, was impeached for the second time on January 13, 2021, one week before his term expired. It was the fourth impeachment of a U.S. president, and the second for Trump after his first imp ...
following the
2021 United States Capitol attack
On January 6, 2021, following the defeat of then-U.S. President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, a mob of his supporters attacked the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. The mob was seeking to keep Trump in pow ...
.
George Floyd Justice in Policing Act
On March 3, 2021, Gooden was the only House Republican to vote for the
George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which passed 220–212. Later that evening, he tweeted that he voted for the bill "accidentally", claiming he pushed the wrong button, a mistake he failed to notice in time. Gooden then tweeted that he had "arguably the most conservative/America First voting record in Congress", and "Of course I wouldn't support the radical left's, Anti-Police Act". According to Gooden, he had the official record changed to reflect his opposition.
Iraq
In June 2021, Gooden was one of 49 House Republicans to vote to repeal the
, which would codify the right to same-sex marriage in federal law.
In August 2022, he co-sponsored a bill put forth by
Marjorie Taylor Greene
Marjorie Taylor Greene (born May 27, 1974), also known by her initials MTG, is an American politician, businesswoman, and far-right conspiracy theorist
Sources describing Greene as "far-right" include:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* who has served as th ...
that would criminalize
gender-affirming health care for trans youth.
Hong Kong
In October 2022, ''
Politico
''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...
'' reported that Gooden criticized some US-based financial executives for attending the
Global Financial Leaders' Investment Summit The Global Financial Leaders' Investment Summit is a financial summit to be hosted in Hong Kong by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), scheduled for 1–3 November 2022.
Background
The initiative was announced by Financial Secretary Paul Ch ...
, saying: "The hypocrisy is staggering and every financial institution enabling China's atrocities should be ashamed."
Committee assignments
*
Committee on Financial Services
The United States House Committee on Financial Services, also referred to as the House Banking Committee and previously known as the Committee on Banking and Currency, is the committee of the United States House of Representatives that oversees t ...
**
Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development and Insurance (Vice Ranking Member)
Caucus membership
*
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 prim ...
Electoral history
Personal life
On October 1, 2016, Gooden married Alexa Calligas, whose family is from
Shreveport
Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population o ...
,
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
. They reside in Terrell with their two children.
Gooden grew up attending the Rockwall and Brin
Church of Christ Church of Christ may refer to:
Church groups
* When used in the plural, a New Testament designation for local groups of people following the teachings of Jesus Christ: "...all the churches of Christ greet you", Romans 16:16.
* The entire body of Ch ...
in
Terrell, Texas
Terrell is a city in Kaufman County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 17,465. Terrell is located about east of Dallas.
History
Terrell developed as a railroad town, beginning in 1873 with construction here ...
, and remains a member of that congregation.
References
External links
Congressman Lance Goodenofficial U.S. House website
Lance Gooden Election websiteLance Gooden at the Texas Tribune*
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gooden, Lance
1982 births
21st-century American politicians
Businesspeople from Texas
Christians from Texas
Living people
Republican Party members of the Texas House of Representatives
People from Terrell, Texas
American members of the Churches of Christ
Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas
McCombs School of Business alumni