Charles Stenholm

Stenholm was born in 1938 in Ericksdahl, Texas (sometimes identified as Stamford), a farming community in Jones County that was settled in the early 20th century largely by Swedish immigrants, including his grandparents. His parents Lambert and Irene Constance Stenholm raised him on their plantation-scale, 2000-acre farm near Abilene. They cultivated mostly cotton as a commodity crop. After attending public schools, Stenholm graduated from Texas Tech University, with a B.S. (1961) and an M.S. (1962) in Agriculture Education. He was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.

Stenholm took over his family farm, raising cotton and also having a cattle ranch. He operated the large cotton farm in Stamford for many years. He also worked as a vocational teacher. He married Cynthia Watson and they had three children together. Chris Stenholm (b. 1963) became a lawyer in Fort Worth, Texas; Cary Watson Stenholm operates the family farm; and Courtney Ann Stenholm graduated from Texas A & M University.

Stenholm had gotten increasingly interested in politics. In 1965 he became a lobbyist for the Rolling Plains Cotton Growers Association. In late 1978 longtime Democratic Congressman Omar Burleson decided to resign from his office representing Texas's 17th congressional district, giving Stenholm an opportunity. He ran in his first campaign as a Democrat and was narrowly elected to the US House of Representatives from the 17th district. Based in Abilene and encompassing several counties, the district was vast and mostly rural. Its territory stretched from San Angelo to the western fringes of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

Stenholm established a reputation as one of the most conservative Democrats in the House, and belonged to the Blue Dog Coalition. He was a leader of the Boll Weevils during the 1980s, and Chair of the Conservative Democratic Forum from 1981 until about 1993. In 1981, Stenholm was one of the more prominent Democratic supporters of Republican President Ronald Reagan's tax-cut package. A decade later, he said he regretted that support.[1]

Like many Texas politicians, Stenholm was conservative on certain social issues; he opposed both abortion and gun control. In 1990 he was one of three House Democrats who voted against the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.[2]

As a large farmer, Stenholm was chiefly interested in agriculture and also in budget matters. In 1992 he supported a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution requiring the federal government to keep to such budgets.[1]

In addition, for six years, Stenholm was ranking Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee. He was among members who personally benefited from the subsidy program, originally authorized during the Great Depression to aid small farmers stay on their land. Under the 1996 farm bill, from 1996-2002, Stenholm as a farmer received $39,000 in subsidies.[3] At least ten of his colleagues, both Republicans and Democrats, also received substantial farm subsidies during this period.[3]

Stenholm worked very closely with Larry Combest, the committee's chairman and a fellow farm owner, a Republican representing the neighboring Texas's 19th congressional district. They shepherded the 2002 Farm Bill through Congress, in which Texas got the largest increase in subsidies of any state, doubling the amount received.[3] During this period, the wealthiest 10% of farmers received 74% of the subsidies, which were directed at agribusiness. The 15 states that received 74% of the subsidies paid only 24% of the cost in their taxes, thus gaining a major federal handout.[3]

Stenholm frequently clashed with Democratic President Bill Clinton during his administration; he voted for three of the four articles of impeachment against him. But Stenholm was also a severe critic of the succeeding Republican Bush Administration's fiscal policy. He voted against making Bush's tax cuts permanent, as by then he strongly opposed cutting taxes unless the budget was balanced.

Stenholm was considered a major target of the Republican-dominated House in the redrawing of Texas's congressional districts in 2003, following the 2000 census. The Texas Legislature, now controlled by Republicans, significantly redrew the state's congressional map after House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of the Houston-based 22nd district pushed for a new map. Stenholm's district was dismantled and split among four districts. Most of his former territory, including his home in Abilene, was thrown into the heavily Republican Lubbock-based 19th congressional district, represented by Combest's successor, Republican Randy Neugebauer. The next-biggest chunk of Stenholm's former territory, including his cotton farm, was assigned to the equally Republican Amarillo-based 13th district, represented by Mac Thornberry.

Stenholm chose to run in the reconfigured 19th. The new district contained 60 percent of Neugebauer's former territory, a disadvantage which Stenholm could not overcome, despite his 13 terms of seniority. He lost by 18 percentage points in the November 2004 election, gaining slightly more than 40 percent of the vote. To date, this is the only time since Combest claimed the 19th for the GOP in 1984 that a Democrat has garnered even 40 percent of the vote in the district.

Some major news organizations mentioned Stenholm as a possible candidate for Secretary of Agriculture in President Bush's second-term Cabinet, although Bush had supported the congressional redistricting plan. Bush nominated Nebraska Governor Mike Johanns, a fellow Republican, for the post.

After leaving Congress, Stenholm became a lobbyist, representing various agricultural interests, including the horse meat industry. In 2006, he was the most visible lobbyist for three foreign-owned horse-slaughter plants in the U.S., which were fighting regulatory legislation that would have resulted in their having to close.[5] Meat from such horses was consumed as food by residents of some European Union countries, Japan and Mexico; it was also used for zoo food, and for medical purposes.

Since 2005, Stenholm has been a senior policy advisor and lobbyist with Olsson Frank Weeda, a Washington law and lobbying firm that specializes in representing food, drug, and agriculture interests before federal agencies.[6][7]

Stenholm is a member of the ReFormers Caucus of Issue One.[8] He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.[9]

• United States Congress. "Charles Stenholm (id: S000851)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• "National Farmers Union presents leadership award", Southwest Farm Press, September 27, 2004. Accessed January 27, 2006
• Appearances on C-SPAN