Eric Tedd Harless (born July 13, 1962) is a

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 ...

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 ...

politician that serves district 126 in 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 ...

. He is the husband of

Patricia Harless Patricia is a female given name of Latin origin. Derived from the Latin word ''patrician'', meaning "noble"; it is the feminine form of the masculine given name Patrick. The name Patricia was the second most common female name in the United State ...

Personal life

In 1981 Harless graduated from

Spring High School Spring High School is a public high school located in the Spring census-designated place in unincorporated Harris County, Texas, United States. Spring High School, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Spring Independent School Distr ...

, he then attended

Lone Star College Lone Star College (LSC) is a public community college system serving the northern portions of the Greater Houston, Texas, area. In 2017 it enrolled about 95,000 students. The headquarters of the Lone Star College System are located in The Wood ...

, and later attended

Sam Houston State University Sam Houston State University (SHSU or Sam) is a public university in Huntsville, Texas. It was founded in 1879 and is the third-oldest public college or university in Texas. It is one of the first normal schools west of the Mississippi River and ...

. He married Patricia Fincher in 1986, they have one son. Harless is a member of Champion Forest Baptist Church. Today, he and his wife Patricia own Fred Fincher Motors, a second-generation independent automobile dealership. His wife Patricia served in the Texas House representing the same District from 2007 – 2016.

Political career

Harless serves in the

for district 126. He was sworn in on January 8, 2019 succeeding Kevin Roberts. Harless is affiliated with the Republican Party. In May 2023, Harless was one of two Republicans on the House Committee on Community Safety for the 88th Legislature (along with

Justin Holland Justin Holland (July 26, 1819 – March 24, 1887) was an American classical guitarist, a music teacher, a community leader, a black man who worked with white people to help slaves on the Underground Railroad, and an activist for equal rights for ...

), who voted to advance HB 2744 to the full House chamber. The bill, which was championed by relatives of those killed in the 2022 Robb Elementary School shooting in

Uvalde, Texas Uvalde is a city and the county seat of Uvalde County, Texas, United States. The population was 15,217 at the 2020 census. Uvalde is located in the Texas Hill Country, west of downtown San Antonio and east of the Mexico–United States bord ...

, seeks to raise the age to purchase certain semi-automatic weapons from 18 to 21 - and Harless' vote came just two days after eight people were killed in the 2023 shooting at an outlet mall in Allen, Texas.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harless, Sam Sam Houston State University alumni 21st-century American legislators Republican Party members of the Texas House of Representatives Living people 1962 births 21st-century Texas politicians