Drew Ferguson (politician)
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Anderson Drew Ferguson IV (born November 15, 1966) is an American politician who is 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 . The district stretches from the southern suburbs of
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
to the northern suburbs of
Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...
, including a sliver of Columbus itself. 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 ...
, Ferguson previously served as the
mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
of
West Point, Georgia West Point is a city in Troup County, Georgia, Troup and Harris County, Georgia, Harris counties in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is located approximately halfway between Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery, Alabama and Atlanta ...
, a city between
LaGrange Joseph-Louis Lagrange (born Giuseppe Luigi LagrangiaLangdale, Alabama Valley is a city in Chambers County, Alabama, Chambers County, Alabama, United States. Valley was incorporated in 1980 combining the four textile mill villages of Fairfax, Langdale Historic District, Langdale, River View, Alabama, River View, and ...
, in 1966 and graduated from the
University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...
and the
Medical College of Georgia The Medical College of Georgia (often referred to as MCG) is the flagship medical school of the University System of Georgia, the state's only public medical school, and one of the top 10 largest medical schools in the United States. Established ...
.


Career prior to Congress

Ferguson was a dentist with a family dental practice. He served as an
alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...
for West Point, Georgia, and then as mayor from 2008 to 2016. He resigned in 2016 to focus on his race for the House of Representatives.


U.S. House of Representatives


Elections


2016

In 2016, Ferguson ran for the Georgia third district seat being vacated by Republican incumbent
Lynn Westmoreland Leon Acton "Lynn" Westmoreland (born April 2, 1950) is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for from 2007 to 2017 and the from 2005 to 2007. He is a member of the Republican Party. Early life, education and career Westmorel ...
. He placed in the top two in the May Republican primary and faced State Senator
Mike Crane Mike Crane (born April 8, 1963) is a former Republican member of the Georgia State Senate from the 28th District. Prior to his election to the state senate, Crane was the Republican nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives in Georgia's 13th ...
in the runoff. The two had finished within 100 votes of each other; both had about 27% of the vote. In the runoff, Ferguson had the support of business-oriented Republicans, including Westmoreland. The primary and its runoff were expensive and bitterly contested; Super PACs and other groups outside Georgia spent more than $2 million on the race. On July 26, Ferguson defeated Crane with 54% of the vote. In the November general election, Ferguson defeated Democratic nominee Angela Pendley with 68% of the vote.


2018

In the May 2018 Republican primary, Ferguson faced Philip Singleton of Sharpsburg, a former Army helicopter pilot; Ferguson won with 74% of the vote. In November, Ferguson defeated Democratic nominee Chuck Enderlin with 66% of the vote.


Tenure

Ferguson was sworn into office on January 3, 2017. In November 2018, after he won reelection, Ferguson was appointed
chief deputy whip The positions of majority leader and minority leader are held by two United States Senate, United States senators and members of the party leadership of the United States Senate. They serve as the chief spokespersons for their respective Polit ...
for the House Republican conference by House Majority Whip
Steve Scalise Stephen Joseph Scalise (; born October 6, 1965) is an American politician who is the United States House of Representatives Minority Whip and representative for . Scalise is in his eighth House term, having held his seat since 2008. The district ...
. This post is historically a stepping stone to higher posts. For example, future House Majority Leader
Eric Cantor Eric Ivan Cantor (born June 6, 1963) is an American lawyer and former politician who represented Virginia's 7th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2014. A Republican, Cantor served as House Minority ...
and current House Minority Leader
Kevin McCarthy Kevin Owen McCarthy (born January 26, 1965) is an American politician, serving as Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives, House Minority Leader in the United States House of Representatives since 2019. A member of the Rep ...
once served as chief deputy whip. On May 19, 2021, Ferguson and the other seven Republican House leaders in the 117th Congress voted against establishing a national commission to investigate 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 ...
. Thirty-five House Republicans and all 217 Democrats present voted to establish the commission.


Committee assignments

*
Committee on Ways and Means The Committee on Ways and Means is the chief tax-writing committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee has jurisdiction over all taxation, tariffs, and other revenue-raising measures, as well as a number of other program ...
** Subcommittee on Social Security ** Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures


Caucus memberships

* U.S.-Japan Caucus *
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 ...


Political positions

Running for election in 2016, Ferguson's main issues were securing the borders, destroying the
Islamic State An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...
, strengthening the military, replacing the income tax with a
flat tax A flat tax (short for flat-rate tax) is a tax with a single rate on the taxable amount, after accounting for any deductions or exemptions from the tax base. It is not necessarily a fully proportional tax. Implementations are often progressiv ...
, repealing
Obamacare The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presid ...
, and supporting a constitutional amendment for congressional
term limits A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...
. He signed on to the lawsuit seeking to overturn the result of the 2020 election, one of four Georgian representatives to do so. The Supreme Court dismissed the suit on December 11, 2020.


''Texas v. Pennsylvania''

In December 2020, Ferguson 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 ''Texas v. Pennsylvania'', 592 U.S. ___ (2020), was a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the administration of the 2020 presidential election in certain states, in which Joe Biden defeated incumbent Donald Trump. Fil ...
'', 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.


Abortion

Ferguson has sponsored legislation prohibiting abortion, including ''No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act'', ''Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act'', ''Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act'', ''Sanctity of Human Life Act'', and ''Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2019''.


LGBT rights

In 2021, Ferguson voted against , the Equality Act, which would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation and gender identity. In response to a 2016
American Family Association The American Family Association (AFA) is a Christian fundamentalist 501(c)(3) organization based in the United States.
survey, Ferguson indicated on a
Likert scale A Likert scale ( , commonly mispronounced as ) is a psychometric scale commonly involved in research that employs questionnaires. It is the most widely used approach to scaling responses in survey research, such that the term (or more fully the ...
question that he agrees with the statement "Governments should define marriage as between one man and one woman; no other definition of marriage should be legalized or supported with public funds."


Controversy

In February 2019, a representative from the
American Federation of Government Employees The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is an American labor union representing over 670,000 employees of the federal government, about 5,000 employees of the District of Columbia, and a few hundred private sector employees, mostly ...
sought an apology from Ferguson for a biography of
Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of Nort ...
that was on display in Ferguson's office. The AFGE representative reported that the book displayed a page that detailed Lee's pro-slavery beliefs. Ferguson's spokeswoman relayed an apology, and said the book had been removed from display.


Electoral history


Personal life

Ferguson is married to his wife, Julie Ferguson. They have six children.


References


External links


Congressman Drew FergusonCampaign websiteHouse Vote History
* * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson, Drew 1966 births 21st-century American politicians American dentists Living people Mayors of places in Georgia (U.S. state) People from West Point, Georgia Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Georgia (U.S. state) University of Georgia alumni