Gary VanDeaver

Gary Wayne VanDeaver (born September 25, 1958)[1] is an American politician serving as the state representative for the Texas House of Representatives' 1st district, which encompasses Bowie, Franklin, Lamar, and Red River counties in northeastern Texas. He is a retired educator with the New Boston Independent School District in New Boston, Texas, where he still resides.

Gary Wayne VanDeaver
Member of the Texas House of Representatives
from the 1st district
Assumed office
January 13, 2015
Preceded byGeorge Lavender
Personal details
Born (1958-09-25) September 25, 1958
Grimes County, Texas, US
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)
Pamela Sue Nevill VanDeaver
​
​
(m. 1983)​
Children2
ResidenceNew Boston, Texas
Alma materTexas A&M University–Commerce
OccupationEducator
Websitegaryvandeaver.com

Background

Though born in Grimes County south of College Station, Texas,[1] VanDeaver was reared on a cattle operation near Clarksville in Red River County in northeast Texas and graduated in 1977 from Clarksville High School. He holds a doctorate obtained in 1996 in professional education from Texas A&M University–Commerce, formerly East Texas State University. In December 2014, he retired as superintendent of the New Boston district. Having begun as a vocational agriculture teacher, VanDeaver has worked for thirty-three years in the education profession.[2][3]

He is a member of the Red River County Fair Association and the Bogata Rodeo Association, also in Red River County, and he sits on the board of the Texas Future Farmers of America. He is a past president of the New Boston Lions International and his local Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the National Rifle Association and a deacon and Sunday school teacher at the First Baptist Church of New Boston. VanDeaver has been married since 1983 to the former Pamela Sue Nevill (born 1963), who is also an educator. The couple has two grown daughters, Kacey and Katelyn VanDeaver.[2][3]

Political life

In the primary election held on March 4, 2014, VanDeaver, in his last year as school superintendent, unseated the two-term District 1 Republican incumbent, George Lavender, a businessman from Texarkana in far northeastern Texas. VanDeaver received 9,400 votes (54.3 percent) to Lavender's 7,898 (45.7 percent).[4] VanDeaver had no Democratic opposition in the general election held on November 4, 2014. Both Lavender and VanDeaver call themselves "conservative Republicans."

VanDeaver defeated George Lavender in a rematch in the Republican primary on March 1, 2016.[5] VanDeaver received 18,263 votes (61.9 percent) to Lavender's 11,242 (38.1 percent).[6]

VanDeaver ran unopposed in the 2018 Republican primary.[7] VanDeaver ran unopposed in the general election held on November 6, 2018; no Democrats or third party candidates filed to run for the legislative seat.[8]

References
  1. "Gary Wayne VanDeaver". search.ancestry.com. Retrieved January 15, 2015.
  2. "Conservative Republican Gary VanDeaver for State Representative". garyvandeaver.com. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
  3. "Gary VanDeaver". Texarkana Business Journal. Archived from the original on November 3, 2014. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
  4. "Republican primary election returns, March 4, 2014". team1.sos.state.tx.us. Archived from the original on March 5, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  5. "2016 Filed Primary Candidates". texasgop.org. Archived from the original on January 19, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
  6. "Republican primary returns". Texas Secretary of State. March 1, 2016. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  7. Murphy, Ryan (March 6, 2018). "Texas Primaries 2018: Full election results". Texas Tribune. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  8. "Gary VanDeaver". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
Texas House of Representatives
Preceded by
George Lavender		 Texas State Representative for District 1
(Bowie, Franklin, Lamar, and Red River counties)
2015–		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
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