Konni Lyn Burton (born April 15, 1963) is an American

business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for pr ...

woman 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 ...

former member of 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 ...

for

District 10 District 10 may refer to: Places *District 10 (Ho Chi Minh city), Vietnam *District 10 (Zürich), in Switzerland * District 10, an electoral district of Malta * District 10, a police district of Malta *District 10 School, a historic school in Marga ...

. Backed by the

Tea Party movement The Tea Party movement was an American fiscally conservative political movement within the Republican Party that began in 2009. Members of the movement called for lower taxes and for a reduction of the national debt and federal budget defic ...

, Burton on January 13, 2015, succeeded Wendy R. Davis of

Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

, who vacated the state Senate after her unsuccessful campaign as the Democratic

gubernatorial A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political_regions, political region, ranking under the Head of State, head of state and in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of ...

nominee A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * t ...

in the 2014 Texas gubernatorial election.

Early life, education, and career

Burton holds 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 the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," ...

.Sen. Konnie Burton, District 10 (R-Colleyville)
''Texas Tribune'' Ethics Explorer (last accessed January 2, 2017). Burton is a

homemaker Homemaking is mainly an American and Canadian term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping, housewifery or household management. It is the act of overseeing the organizational, day-to-day operations of a hous ...

; she previously was the owner of a wedding consulting business.

Political career

Before running for office, Burton was vice president of the NE Tarrant Tea Party.

2014 election

In the 2014 elections, Burton was "considered a rock star in Republican circles."Anna M. Tinsley
Konni Burton reclaims Texas Senate District 10 for Republican Party
''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'' (November 4, 2014). In the March 4, 2014 Republican

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 ...

(and the May 27, 2014 primary

runoff Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to: * RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program * Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed * Runoff or run-off, a stock market ...

) for the state Senate, Burton was endorsed by

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

Ted Cruz Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas from ...

.Anna M. Tinsley
Ted Cruz stands in support of Konni Burton: Cruz said Konni Burton is the candidate needed to replace Wendy Davis in the Texas Senate
'' Fort Worth Star-Telegram'' (March 19, 2014). In the first round, Burton came in first place among the five-way Republican field, garnering 43% of the vote and advancing to a runoff against former

State Representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

Mark M. Shelton, who received 35 percent. In the primary runoff, Burton gained the Republican nomination; Burton received 17,435 votes (60%), while Shelton received 11,515 votes (40%). Burton then defeated the Democratic nominee, Libby Willis, who carried Wendy Davis's support, 95,484 votes (53%) to 80,806 (45%), retaking the Senate seat for the Republicans.

State Senate tenure

Burton is a member of the Higher Education, Criminal Justice, Nominations, and Veteran Affairs & Military Installations committees, and serves as vice-chair of the latter committee. A

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...

Baker Institute study of Texas Senate roll-call votes from January 2011 to May 2017 showed that Burton was the most conservative member of the Texas Senate. During the 2016 Republican presidential primaries, Burton was a staunch supporter of

.Anna M. Tinsley
High-profile Texans still can't support Donald Trump
''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'' (July 20, 2016).

Abortion

Burton is an opponent of abortion. She supported legislation to defund

Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reve ...

by cutting off its

Medicaid Medicaid in the United States is a federal and state program that helps with healthcare costs for some people with limited income and resources. Medicaid also offers benefits not normally covered by Medicare, including nursing home care and pers ...

funds, even for non-abortion general healthcare services. She opposed the

U.S. 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 ...

's decision in ''

Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt ''Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt'', 579 U.S. 582 (2016), was a landmark decision of the US Supreme Court decided on June 27, 2016. The Court ruled 5–3 that Texas cannot place restrictions on the delivery of abortion services that create a ...

'' (which struck down Texas's restrictive abortion law as unconstitutional) saying that she was "extremely disappointed" in the ruling. Burton took office in January 2015 wearing

cowboy boots Cowboy boots are a specific style of riding boot, historically worn by cowboys. They have a High-heeled footwear#Men and heels, high heel that is traditionally made of stacked leather, rounded to pointed toe, high shaft, and, traditionally, no l ...

bearing the phrase "Stand for Life," a fashion statement mirrored after Wendy Davis' choice of pink tennis shoes during 2013's abortion bill filibuster.Dave Montgomery
New Tarrant senator makes a statement with her footwear
''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'' (January 13, 2015).

Economy

Burton barred taxpayer-funded lobbyists (i.e., lobbyists representing governmental entities) from her office, and supported legislation to ban governmental entities from hiring lobbyists. Burton has supported limitations on local control in Texas, saying that the state should "step in" to restrict

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

from passing ordinances that regulate issues such as the

phase-out of lightweight plastic bags A plastic bag ban is a law that restricts the use of lightweight plastic bags at retail establishments. In the early 21st century, there has been a global trend towards the phase-out of lightweight plastic bags. Single-use plastic shopping bags, c ...

and

Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery (Uber Eats and Postmates), package ...

. Burton also opposes local ordinances banning

texting while driving Texting while driving, also called texting and driving, is the act of composing, sending, or reading text messages on a mobile phone while operating a motor vehicle. Texting while driving is considered extremely dangerous by many people, includi ...

. Burton has introduced legislation in the Senate to abolish

civil asset forfeiture Civil may refer to: *Civic virtue, or civility *Civil action, or lawsuit *Civil affairs *Civil and political rights *Civil disobedience *Civil engineering *Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism *Civilian, someone not a member ...

in the state.

Education

In November 2016, Burton introduced S.B. 242, which would amend state law to make a parent entitled to all of a school district's written records about their child's "general physical, psychological or emotional well-being" and provide that an attempt by a school employee to conceal or encourage a child to withhold information would be grounds for discipline.Carol Christian
Senator: Proposed bill wouldn't force schools to 'out' LGBTQ students
''Houston Chronicle'' (November 18, 2016). Burton introduced the bill in response to

Fort Worth Independent School District A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

guidelines (later rescinded) that sought to protect transgender students from being "

outed Outing is the act of disclosing an LGBT person's sexual orientation or gender identity without that person's consent. It is often done for political reasons, either to instrumentalize homophobia in order to discredit political opponents or to com ...

" to their parents.Mary Tuma
After Filing Bill Forcing Schools to Out LGBTQ Kids, Legislator Bullies Media
''Austin Chronicle'' (November 21, 2016). The bill was condemned by LGBT advocates such as

Equality Texas Equality Texas is a statewide political advocacy organization in Texas that advocates for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights, including same-sex marriage. History Equality Texas was founded in 1989 as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit cor ...

,Aliyya Swaby
Educators say parental rights bill could harm trust with students
''Texas Tribune'' (November 30, 2016). which issued a statement saying that "the legislation would essentially destroy protected communications between a student and an educator. The bill was also opposed by the Texas State Teachers Association and educators' groups, who said that the bill could harm trust between teachers and students and potentially force teachers to share "unsubstantiated rumors" with parents. According to the ''

Austin Chronicle ''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogr ...

'', Burton refused to field questions from the press in regard to SB 242, directing them instead to her website. Amid the furor, Burton's chief of staff said that her legislation would not force schools to "

out Out may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Out'' (1957 film), a documentary short about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 * ''Out'' (1982 film), an American film directed by Eli Hollander * ''Out'' (2002 film), a Japanese film ba ...

" LGBT students. On the other hand, supporters of Burton's bill have been quick to point out that the bill was created in response to a Fort Worth School District deciding to withhold information from parents (without any parental input). Additionally, Burton herself has stressed on numerous occasions that the words "sexuality" and "gender" are not listed in the bill. Instead, the bill would require the release of written documentation of a students "general physical, psychological or emotional well-being", which many people believe is a parental right and therefore cannot be circumvented by local school districts. On Friday February 9, 2018, Burton walked during a presentation by County Judge Glen Whitley of

Hurst Hurst may refer to: Places England * Hurst, Berkshire, a village * Hurst, North Yorkshire, a hamlet * Hurst, a settlement within the village of Martock, Somerset * Hurst, West Sussex, a hamlet * Hurst Spit, a shingle spit in Hampshire ** Hurs ...

. Whitley challenged that the reason that local property taxes were high is that the state was budgeting for a 14 percent local tax increase instead of increasing funds for education. Burton countered in an open letter posted on her official webpage that Whitley was " … was uninformed at best and willfully misleading at worst."

2018 re-election bid

Burton lost her bid for reelection in the general election held on November 6, 2018, to Democratic nominee

Beverly Powell Beverly Powell (born September 18, 1951), is an American politician from the U.S. state, state of Texas. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, she represented District 10 in the Texas Senate from 2019 to 2023. In 2018, Powell defeated i ...

, a businesswoman and a former president of the

Burleson Independent School District Burleson may refer to: Places * Burleson, Texas * Burleson County, Texas * Old Burleson, Alabama People with the surname * Albert S. Burleson, American postmaster general and congressman * Alec Burleson (born 1998), American baseball player * ...

school board who carried the endorsement of the ''

Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...

''. Powell unseated Burton, 148,544 (51.7 percent) to 138,695 (48.3 percent).

Later career

Following the election, Burton founded the online right wing website ''The Texan'' in 2019.

Personal life

Burton and her husband, Phil, have two adopted daughters.Bobby Cervantes
Dan Patrick, calling for more foster parents, says state elected officials 'have opened their homes'
PolitiFact Texas (October 28, 2016). Phil Burton is the vice president of the

McKinney, Texas McKinney is a city in and the county seat of Collin County, Texas. It is Collin County's third-largest city, after Plano and Frisco. A suburb of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, McKinney is about north of Dallas. The U.S. Census Bureau l ...

branch of construction manufacturing company Simpson Strong-Tie. According to financial disclosure forms, in addition to their home in Colleyville, the Burtons own two condos in

Port Aransas Port Aransas ( ) is a city in Nueces County, Texas, United States. This city is 180 miles southeast of San Antonio. The population was 2,904 at the 2020 census. Port Aransas is the only established town on Mustang Island. It is located north of ...

, which they rent out, and 107 acres in Hamilton County west of

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 st ...

, Texas. The Burtons belong to the Calvary

Lutheran Church Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

Richland Hills Richland Hills is a city in Tarrant County, Texas, United States. The population was 7,801 at the 2010 census. Government Richland Hills operates under a charter adopted in 1986, which provides for a "Council-Manager" form of government. The Cou ...

in Tarrant County; she is a former member of the church council.

References

External links

*
Konni Burton
topics at ''

The Texas Tribune ''The Texas Tribune'' is a news website headquartered in Austin, Texas. It aims to promote civic engagement through original, explanatory journalism and public events. Its website and content in various delivery platforms serve as an alternativ ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Burton, Konni Living people People from Kerrville, Texas People from Nueces County, Texas People from Colleyville, Texas Republican Party Texas state senators Businesspeople from Texas University of North Texas alumni American Lutherans American anti-abortion activists Tea Party movement activists Activists from Texas 21st-century American politicians Christians from Texas 1963 births