Lyle Thomas Larson (born March 25, 1959) is a businessman from

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

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 ...

, 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 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 ...

from District 122 in his native northern

Bexar County Bexar County ( or ; es, Béxar ) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. It is in South Texas and its county seat is San Antonio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,009,324. Bexar County is included in the San Antonio–New Bra ...

. He was first elected to the state House in 2010 to succeed fellow Republican Frank Corte Jr.

Background

Larson was reared on a family farm at Thousand Oaks and Jones-Maltsberger Road; the location is now heavily

urbanized ''Urbanized'' is a documentary film directed by Gary Hustwit and released on 26 October 2011. It is considered the third of a three-part series on design known as the Design Trilogy; the first being ''Helvetica'', about the typeface, and the seco ...

. When his parents divorced, he lived with his father, a large-animal

veterinarian A veterinarian (vet), also known as a veterinary surgeon or veterinary physician, is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, vet ...

. He has a twin sister and a total of four siblings. His sisters went to live with their mother when the parents' marriage ended, and he was hence separated from his twin. While working on the farm, Larson contracted

paratyphoid Paratyphoid fever, also known simply as paratyphoid, is a bacterial infection caused by one of the three types of ''Salmonella enterica''. Symptoms usually begin 6–30 days after exposure and are the same as those of typhoid fever. Often, a grad ...

from handling feed for hogs and not washing his hands before eating. He lost weight and remained thin during his time playing

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

at Douglas MacArthur High School in the

North East Independent School District The North East Independent School District (commonly NEISD or North East ISD) is a school district located in San Antonio, Texas, United States. North East ISD serves the north central and northeast areas of Bexar County, covering approximately . ...

in Bexar County, from which he graduated in 1977. In 1981, he obtained a

Bachelor of Business Administration Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is a bachelor's degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of business administration and usually including advanced ...

degree from

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

in College Station, where Larson's father had obtained his veterinary degree. He married and divorced right out of college. Prior to starting his own company, American Consortium, which distributes industrial products for

Polaroid Polaroid may refer to: * Polaroid Corporation, an American company known for its instant film and cameras * Polaroid camera, a brand of instant camera formerly produced by Polaroid Corporation * Polaroid film, instant film, and photographs * Polar ...

, he worked for Nalco Chemical Company and

Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational corporation founded in 1886 that develops medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer packaged goods. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company i ...

.Peggy Fikac, "S.A. Rep. Larson is not scared by any governor," ''

San Antonio Express-News The ''San Antonio Express-News'' is a daily newspaper in San Antonio, Texas. It is owned by the Hearst Corporation and has offices in San Antonio and Austin, Texas. The ''Express-News'' is the third largest newspaper in the state of Texas, with ...

,'' August 6, 2017, pp. 1, A23. Larson is a member of the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelical ...

. He is a

quail Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds generally placed in the order Galliformes. The collective noun for a group of quail is a flock, covey, or bevy. Old World quail are placed in the family Phasianidae, and New Wor ...

hunter and bass

fisherman A fisher or fisherman is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishers may be professional or recreati ...

. San Antonio International Ag Promotions, which he founded, hosts such trade expositions as the San Antonio International Farm and Ranch Show and the Texas Hunting and Outdoor Classic. He takes an annual fishing trip to

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...

with friends from high school and college.

Political life

Larson has been characterized as a moderate Republican. Larson is personally and politically close to House Speaker

Joe Straus Joseph Richard Straus III (born September 1, 1959) is an American politician who served as the Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives from 2009 to 2019. A Republican, he represented District 121, which comprises northeastern Bexar County, ...

, also of San Antonio. The two men are the same age, and their family connections go back for four decades. Larson's father provided care for the horses and cattle on the Straus farms. But Larson said in an interview that "sometimes" Straus "doesn't quite understand me." After the 2017 regular session of the legislature, Governor

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 ...

veto A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto ...

ed five of Larson's bills, including measures dealing with

brackish water Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estua ...

and

desalination Desalination is a process that takes away mineral components from saline water. More generally, desalination refers to the removal of salts and minerals from a target substance, as in Soil salinity control, soil desalination, which is an issue f ...

efforts. Another Larson measure which would have prevented a governor from appointing members to a state board or commission if the nominee had donated $2,500 or more to the governor's previous campaign passed the House, 91-48, but it received no hearing in 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 cons ...

. Another Larson bill which would ensured that a parent has the right to view the body of a deceased child before the performance of an

autopsy An autopsy (post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death or to evaluate any di ...

was vetoed because Abbott said that he had already signed a measure with identical language authored by Republican State Senator

Donna Campbell Donna Sue Burrows Campbell (born September 9, 1954) is an American politician and physician who is the 25th District member of the Texas Senate. On July 31, 2012, she became the first person in Texas history to defeat an incumbent Republican sen ...

New Braunfels New Braunfels ( ) is a city in Comal County, Texas, Comal and Guadalupe County, Texas, Guadalupe counties in the U.S. state of Texas known for its German Texan heritage. It is the county seat, seat of Comal County. The city covers and had a popula ...

. Larson said that he believes Abbott "lacks maturity ndcan't separate policy and politics." On the eve of the special legislative session of 2017, Larson continued to express frustration with Governor Abbott: "The reality is, since the governor skipped class for four months, we've got ... summer school with him now to help him learn what we did." Larson said that he is unlikely to serve in the state House much past 2020: "My ambitions are just to try to do the right thing. ... And then leave everything on the field, then walk away." Despite his squabbles with Governor Abbott, Larson won re-nomination over a conservative intra-party challenger, Mayor Christopher Michael "Chris" Fails of

Hollywood Park Hollywood Park may refer to: Places United States * Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California * Hollywood Park, Chicago, a neighborhood in North Park, Chicago, Illinois * Hollywood Park, Inglewood, an entertainment complex and m ...

in Bexar County. On November 6, 2018, he was reelected with 58,062 votes (62 percent) to 35,577 ballots (38 percent) for his Democratic opponent, Claire Barnett.

Ethics controversy

Larson caused controversy within his own party after accusing Governor Abbott of quid pro quo, or "pay for play", politics. According to Larson, people "have to pay large sums of money" for state seats. However, opponents of Larson's comments were quick to cite the fact that Abbott has appointed 21 people from HD 122 (Larson's District) to positions on boards, including Larson himself who was named to the Southwestern States Water Commission. Of these 21 people, none of them gave more than $5000.

himself was quick to respond saying, "Mr. Larson's fabricated comments are an embarrassment for someone who claims to be a champion of ethics reform. His comments are a disservice to his constituents, and even more so to the appointees from his district who selflessly serve the state of Texas".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Larson, Lyle 1959 births Living people Republican Party members of the Texas House of Representatives San Antonio City Council members County commissioners in Texas Businesspeople from Texas Douglas MacArthur High School (San Antonio) alumni Texas A&M University alumni Politicians from San Antonio American twins 21st-century American politicians 21st-century Methodists 20th-century Methodists American United Methodists 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American politicians