French Hill (politician)

James French Hill (born December 5, 1956) is an American politician serving as the U.S. Representative for Arkansas's 2nd congressional district since 2015. He is a member of the Republican Party.

This article is about the politician. For other uses, see French Hill (disambiguation).
French Hill
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Arkansas's 2nd district
Assumed office
January 3, 2015
Preceded byTim Griffin
Personal details
Born
James French Hill

(1956-12-05) December 5, 1956
Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)
Martha McKenzie
​
(m. 1988)​
Children2
EducationVanderbilt University (BS)
WebsiteHouse website

Early life, education and career
President George H. W. Bush with French and Martha Hill.

Hill was born in Little Rock, Arkansas.[1] He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Vanderbilt University.[2] He attended the UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Management, where he earned a certified corporate director designation.[3]

From 1982 to 1984, Hill was an aide to Republican Senator John Tower.[1] He was a staffer on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.[1] Hill was executive secretary to President George H. W. Bush’s Economic Policy Council from 1991 to 1993, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Corporate Finance from 1989 to 1991.[1][4] Hill founded and was CEO and chairman of the Board Delta Trust and Banking Corporation in Little Rock until its acquisition by Simmons Bank in 2014.[5]

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections
Official portrait for the 113th Congress

2014
Main article: 2014 United States House of Representatives elections in Arkansas § District 2

Hill ran for the 2nd district U.S. House seat after fellow Republican Tim Griffin decided instead to run for lieutenant governor. Hill defeated Democratic nominee Pat Hays, the mayor of North Little Rock,[6] 52 to 44 percent.[7]

2016
Main article: 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Arkansas § District 2

Hill was renominated in the Republican primary over Brock Olree of Searcy (White County) and was reelected with 58% of the vote against the Democratic nominee, former Little Rock School District Board President Dianne Curry, and Libertarian nominee Chris Hayes of North Little Rock.

2018
Main article: 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Arkansas § District 2

In 2017, Arkansas's 2nd district was included on the initial list of Republican-held seats targeted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2018.[8] In the November general election, Hill defeated Democratic nominee Clarke Tucker with 52.1% of the vote to Tucker's 45.8%. Libertarian Joe Swafford received 2%.[9]

2020
Main article: 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Arkansas § District 2

Hill ran for another term. Sarah Huckabee Sanders endorsed Hill, speaking at a rally in support of him.[10] In the November general election, Hill defeated Democratic nominee Joyce Elliott.[11]

Tenure

As of September 2018, Hill had voted with his party 95% of the time and in line with President Trump's position 96.6% of the time.[12][13] On May 4, 2017, he voted to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and pass the American Health Care Act.[14][15] Hill voted for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.[16]

On April 17, 2020, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy appointed Hill to the COVID-19 Congressional Oversight Commission to oversee the implementation of the CARES Act.[17]

In 2020, the Hill campaign warned that opponent Joyce Elliott was "as dangerous as they come".[1] Hill warned that if elected, Elliott would "be a member of the Democratic conference and she'd be a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and her first vote would be for Speaker Pelosi to be the speaker of the House."[1]

Hill praised the Trump administrations handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.[1]

Committee assignments

Caucus memberships

Electoral history
Arkansas's 2nd congressional district Republican primary election, 2014
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican French Hill 29,916 55.08
Republican Ann Clemmer 12,400 22.83
Republican Conrad Reynolds 11,994 22.08
Arkansas's 2nd congressional district election, 2014
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican French Hill 123,073 51.86
Democratic Patrick Henry Hays 103,477 43.60
Libertarian Debbie Standiford 10,590 4.46
Write-ins Write-ins 190 0.08
Arkansas's 2nd congressional district Republican primary election, 2016
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican French Hill (inc.) 86,474 84.54
Republican Brock Olree 15,811 15.46
Arkansas's 2nd congressional district election, 2016[22]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican French Hill (inc.) 176,472 58.34
Democratic Dianne Curry 111,347 36.81
Libertarian Chris Hayes 14,342 4.74
Write-ins Write-ins 303 0.1
Arkansas's 2nd congressional district election, 2018
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican French Hill (inc.) 132,125 52.1
Democratic Clarke Tucker 116,135 45.8
Libertarian Joe Swafford 5,193 2.0

Personal life

A ninth-generation Arkansan and a Roman Catholic,[23] Hill resides in Little Rock.[1] He and his wife, Martha McKenzie, have two children.[1]

References
  1. "Hill, Elliott in tight race for U.S. House seat". Arkansas Online. October 18, 2020. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  2. Burnett, Lisa (May 20, 2014). "Hill gets GOP nod for District 2". Arkansas Online.,
  3. "J. French Hill – 40 Under 40 – 1996". ArkansasBusiness.com. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  4. "2013 SMEI Arkansas Top Manager of the Year Award". SMEI.org. Sales and Marketing Executives International, Inc. Archived from the original on November 5, 2014. Retrieved January 11, 2015.
  5. Friedman, Mark; Turner, Lance (March 24, 2014). "Simmons First to Buy Delta Trust for $66M". ArkansasBusiness.com. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  6. "GOP's French Hill wins US House seat in Arkansas". Associated Press. November 4, 2014. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  7. "Arkansas House results – 2014 Election Center – Elections and Politics from CNN.com". CNN. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
  8. Cheney, Kyle (January 30, 2017). "Amid Democratic doldrums, DCCC identifies 2018 targets". Politico. Retrieved March 23, 2017.
  9. "Arkansas Election Results: Second House District". New York Times. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  10. "Sarah Huckabee Sanders encourages Arkansas voters at French Hill rally". THV 11. October 31, 2020. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  11. Cushman, Paige (November 3, 2020). "French Hill wins re-election against Democratic opponent Joyce Elliott". KATV. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
  12. Bycoffe, Aaron (January 30, 2017). "Tracking J. French Hill In The Age Of Trump". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
  13. Willis, Derek. "Represent". ProPublica. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
  14. "How the House voted to pass the GOP health-care bill". Washington Post. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
  15. "How every member voted on health care bill". CNN. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
  16. Almukhtar, Sarah (December 19, 2017). "How Each House Member Voted on the Tax Bill". The New York Times. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  17. "Hill named to panel overseeing virus aid". Arkansas Online. April 18, 2020. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
  18. "Membership". Congressional Arts Caucus. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  19. "Member List". Republican Study Committee. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  20. "Our Members". U.S. House of Representatives International Conservation Caucus. Archived from the original on August 1, 2018. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
  21. "Members". U.S. - Japan Caucus. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  22. "Arkansas Election Results". The New York Times. November 6, 2018. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  23. "Arkansas–2: J. French Hill (R)". Nationaljournal.com. Retrieved January 11, 2015.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
Tim Griffin		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Arkansas's 2nd congressional district
2015–present		 Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by
Jody Hice		 United States Representatives by seniority
224th		 Succeeded by
John Katko
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