William Hose Flores Sr. (; born February 25, 1954) is an American businessman and politician who was the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2021. The district, located in the middle of the state, includes

Waco Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the s ...

, College Station, and Bryan. He is a member of the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa * Republican Party (Liberia) *Republican Party ...

and the former

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

of Phoenix Exploration Company, an

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

and

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbon d ...

company. Flores currently serves as Vice Chair of the

Electric Reliability Council of Texas The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. (ERCOT) is an American organization that operates Texas's electrical grid, the Texas Interconnection, which supplies power to more than 25 million Texas customers and represents 90 percent of the s ...

(ERCOT). Flores chose not to seek re-election in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

after five terms in office. He was succeeded by former U.S. Representative for Congressman

Pete Sessions Peter Anderson Sessions (born March 22, 1955) is an American politician from Texas who is the U.S. representative for Texas's 17th congressional district. A member of the Republican Party, he has served in the U.S. House of Representatives for ...

Early life and education

Flores was born in

Cheyenne, Wyoming Cheyenne ( or ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming, as well as the county seat of Laramie County, with 65,132 residents, per the 2020 US Census. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne metropolitan statistic ...

, at the F.E. Warren Air Force Base, where his father was serving in the military. He is the son of Ruth Ann Theresa (''née'' Kennedy) and Joe Pete Flores. He grew up in Stratford in the

Texas Panhandle The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a square-shaped area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east. It is adjacent to ...

. His paternal ancestors left Spain and settled in what is now Texas in 1725. Of his heritage, Flores has said, "My family came from Spain in 1725, and if people want to consider me

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

, they can, but I didn't advertise that way, and I'm an American first." He graduated with a

BBA 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 ...

, ''

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

'' in accounting from

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

in 1976. While there, he was a member of the Corps of Cadets, the

MSC Student Conference on National Affairs The MSC Student Conference on National Affairs (MSC SCONA) is an annual conference at Texas A&M University where civilian students and military cadets from across Texas and the United States gather to exchange ideas and discuss the role of the U ...

, the Ross Volunteer Company, and Corps Staff. He also served as Student Body Vice-President of Finance during his senior year. He has been a licensed

Certified Public Accountant Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the title of qualified accountants in numerous countries in the English-speaking world. It is generally equivalent to the title of chartered accountant in other English-speaking countries. In the United Sta ...

since 1978. He also received a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from

Houston Baptist University Houston Christian University (HCU), formerly Houston Baptist University, is a private Baptist university in Houston, Texas. It is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas (Southern Baptist Convention). Its Cultural Arts Center hou ...

in 1985.

Business career

Flores served as the

chief financial officer The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for managing the company's finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and fina ...

(CFO) for two publicly traded energy service firms from 1990 through 1998: Marine Drilling Companies, Inc. (1990–1997) and Western Atlas Inc. (1997–1998). From 2002 to 2005, Flores was the Senior Vice President and CFO of Gryphon Exploration Company. In 2006, a group of five oil and gas industry executives, led by Flores as president and CEO, formed Phoenix Exploration Company with $350 million of capital commitments from a group of private equity firms that included Riverstone Holdings and Pinebrook Partners. The company was engaged in oil and gas exploration along the Gulf Coast and the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

. Flores also served as a director of that company from its formation until he retired in December 2009 to run for public office. Flores is a former commissioner of the

Texas Real Estate Commission The Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) is the state agency that governs real estate practices in the state of Texas. The agency is headquartered at 1700 North Congress in Austin. TREC is composed of nine members appointed by the Governor with th ...

(appointed by Governor

Rick Perry James Richard Perry (born March 4, 1950) is an American politician who served as the 14th United States secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019 and as the 47th governor of Texas from 2000 to 2015. Perry also ran unsuccessfully for the Republic ...

), and a past director and former chairman of the board of the Association of Former Students of Texas A&M University. He has also served on boards of Phoenix Exploration Company, Marine Drilling Companies, Inc., FreeBirds, Inc., and The PARC, Inc, and the

Alley Theater A traverse stage, also commonly known as an alley, corridor stage, tennis court, or catwalk, is a form of theatrical (theatre stage) in which the audience is predominantly on two sides of the stage, facing towards each other. Design There are many ...

of Houston. He serves on the board of the Private Enterprise Research Center of

and as a member of the board of trustees of

, where he serves as vice-chairman.

U.S. House of Representatives

2010 election

In late 2009 Flores entered the Republican primary for the 17th District, held by 10-term Democratic incumbent

Chet Edwards Thomas Chester Edwards (born November 24, 1951) is an American politician who was a United States Representative from Texas, representing a district based in Waco, from 1991 to 2011. Previously, he served in the Texas Senate from 1983 to 1990. He ...

.Flores rolls to runoff win; Canseco comes from behind

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With i ...

, April 14, 2010. Flores claimed his worries about the future of "the American dream" inspired him to run for Congress. He committed a half million dollars of his own money to self-fund his campaign. In the Republican primary runoff on April 13, he had defeated Rob Curnock by a 64–36 percent margin. The size of his primary victory was a surprise to many political observers because Curnock was the 2008 nominee and he held Edwards' 2008 vote total close to 50 percent, despite being heavily outspent. During the Republican primary, Flores received the endorsement of former Republican U.S. Senator

Phil Gramm William Philip Gramm (born July 8, 1942) is an American economist and politician who represented Texas in both chambers of Congress. Though he began his political career as a Democrat, Gramm switched to the Republican Party in 1983. Gramm was a ...

After the primary win, Flores was also endorsed by George H. W. Bush,

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two te ...

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts ...

, and

Mike Huckabee Michael Dale Huckabee (born August 24, 1955) is an American politician, Baptist minister, and political commentator who served as the 44th governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He was a candidate for the Republican Party presidential nominati ...

. Through December 21, 2010, Flores' campaign raised $3.5 million, of which $1.49 million came from Flores himself. He spent $3.3 million overall. On November 2, 2010, Flores defeated Edwards with 62 percent of the vote. This was the largest margin of defeat for a Democratic incumbent in the 2010 cycle. Flores won his fourth term in the U.S. House in the general election held on November 8, 2016. With 149,417 votes (60.8 percent), he defeated Democrat William Matta, who trailed with 86,603 ballots (35.2 percent) and

Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's en ...

Clark Patterson with 9,708 (4 percent). Flores won his fifth term in the U.S. House in the general election held on November 6, 2018. With 134,375 votes (56.9 percent), he defeated Democrat Rick Kennedy, who trailed with 97,574 ballots (41.3 percent) and

Peter Churchman with 4,415 (1.9 percent).

Political positions

Upon his swearing-in, Flores became the first Republican to represent Waco in Congress since

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology * Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...

. Flores supports limited government and lower taxes; an end to the spending of the

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

; making the Bush-era tax cuts permanent;

anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respo ...

positions; and stronger enforcement at the U.S. Mexico border. Flores supports the building of new nuclear power plants to assist the U.S. in becoming energy self-sufficient. He also supports incentives for the development of solar and wind power. Flores is a member of the Conservative

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 ...

and the

Congressional Hispanic Conference The Congressional Hispanic Conference (CHC) is a Republican sponsored caucus in the United States Congress. Currently with eleven members, the CHC was formed in 2003, with the stated goal of promoting policy outcomes of importance to Americans o ...

National security

Flores supported President

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 P ...

's 2017

executive order In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of t ...

to temporarily curtail Muslim immigration until better screening methods are devised. He stated that "Taking 120-day breath to evaluate the effectiveness of our vetting program is a smart thing to do."

''Texas v. Pennsylvania''

In December 2020, Flores 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 ...

who signed 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: ** ...

, in which Joe Biden prevailed over incumbent

. 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 the election held by another state.

Republican Study Committee

On November 18, 2014, Flores was elected to the Chairmanship of the House

. Flores was elected on the second ballot, securing 84 votes to South Carolina Representative

Mick Mulvaney John Michael Mulvaney (born July 21, 1967) is an American politician who served as director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) from February 2017 until March 2020, and as acting White House Chief of Staff from January 2019 until March ...

's 57.

Committee assignments

Committee on Energy and Commerce A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

** Subcommittee on Energy and Power ** Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy ** Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation * Committee on Veterans' Affairs ** Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity **

Subcommittee on Health The U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health is a subcommittee within the Committee on Energy and Commerce. Jurisdiction The House Subcommittee on Health has general jurisdiction over bills and resolutions relating to pub ...

Caucus memberships

* House Baltic Caucus *

Congressional Western Caucus The Congressional Western Caucus is a caucus within the United States House of Representatives composed of 62 members. Although it has historically been bipartisan, it is currently composed almost exclusively of Republicans (with the sole excepti ...

Veterinary Medicine Caucus The Congressional Veterinary Medicine Caucus is a Congressional Member Organization within the United States Congress and is officially recognized by the Committee on House Administration. Information and purpose According to the Caucus's offici ...

Legislation sponsored

* On July 18, 2013, Flores introduced the Protecting States’ Rights to Promote American Energy Security Act (H.R. 2728; 113th Congress). The bill would require the federal government to defer to individual states about regulations governing

hydraulic fracturing Fracking (also known as hydraulic fracturing, hydrofracturing, or hydrofracking) is a well stimulation technique involving the fracturing of bedrock formations by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the high-pressure injection of "fra ...

. It passed the House of Representatives on November 20, 2013.

Personal life

Flores is married to Gina, whom he met in high school. They have two sons. Flores attends Central Church, a church in Bryan. Flores has served as a member of the Mays Business School Advisory Board, the Corps of Cadets Development Council, Corps of Cadets Association, the Houston A&M Club, the Brazos County A&M Club, and other roles at Texas A&M University. In 2003, he was honored as an outstanding alumnus of the

Mays Business School Mays Business School is the business school at Texas A&M University. The school educates more than 6,400 undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students in accounting, finance, management, management information systems, marketing and supply chai ...

of Texas A&M University. In 2010, he was also recognized as a 'Distinguished Alumnus' by Texas A&M University. In November 2021, Flores began serving on the board of ERCOT as Vice Chair.

Electoral history

References

External links

* * * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Flores, Bill 1954 births 21st-century American politicians American businesspeople in the oil industry American politicians of Spanish descent Businesspeople from Houston Hispanic and Latino American members of the United States Congress Houston Christian University alumni Living people People from Bryan, Texas People from College Station, Texas Politicians from Houston People from Sherman County, Texas Politicians from Cheyenne, Wyoming Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas Southern Baptists Texas A&M University alumni