Michael Cloud

Michael Jonathan Cloud (born May 13, 1975) is an American politician serving as a member of the United States House of Representatives for Texas's 27th congressional district since 2018. He is a member of the Republican Party.

For the American football player, see Mike Cloud. For the 2002 Libertarian U.S. Senate candidate, see 2002 United States Senate election in Massachusetts.

Michael Cloud
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 27th district
Assumed office
July 10, 2018
Preceded byBlake Farenthold
Personal details
Born (1975-05-13) May 13, 1975
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)
Rosel Cloud
​
(m. 1999)​
Children3
EducationOral Roberts University (BS)
WebsiteHouse website

Early life and career

Cloud graduated from Oral Roberts University in 1997 with a B.S. degree in mass media communications.[1] During his time at Oral Roberts, Cloud was on the cross country and track team.[2] He served as chair of the Victoria County Republican Party from May 2010 to May 2017.[3]

U.S. House of Representatives

2018 special election
Main article: 2018 Texas's 27th congressional district special election

Cloud succeeded Republican Blake Farenthold who resigned amid controversy due to settling a sexual harassment lawsuit with public money.[4][5] He had previously won the Republican runoff for the regularly scheduled election with outside help from the Club for Growth and the endorsement of Ron Paul, who had previously represented parts of the district in Congress.[6] On June 30, 2018, he won a special election to the seat, defeating Democratic candidate Eric Holguin 55% to 32%.[7]

2018
See also: 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas § District 27

Cloud went up against Holguin in a rematch during the 2018 general election on November 6. He won against Holguin, along with independent candidate James Duerr and Libertarian candidate Daniel Tinus, with 60.3% of the vote.

2020
See also: 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas § District 27

Cloud went up against Democratic candidate Ricardo "Rick" De La Fuente and Libertarian candidate Phil Gray in the 2020 general election on November 3. He ultimately won with 63.1% of the vote.

Tenure

Cloud took his oath and was sworn in on July 10, 2018.[8]

In December 2020, Cloud was one of 126 Republican members of the House of Representatives who signed an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania, a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which Joe Biden prevailed[9] over incumbent Donald Trump. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked standing under Article III of the Constitution to challenge the results of the election held by another state.[10][11][12]

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a statement that called signing the amicus brief an act of "election subversion." Additionally, Pelosi reprimanded Cloud and the other House members who supported the lawsuit: "The 126 Republican Members that signed onto this lawsuit brought dishonor to the House. Instead of upholding their oath to support and defend the Constitution, they chose to subvert the Constitution and undermine public trust in our sacred democratic institutions."[13][14] New Jersey Representative Bill Pascrell, citing section three of the 14th Amendment, called for Pelosi to not seat Cloud and the other Republicans who signed the brief supporting the suit. Pascrell argued that "the text of the 14th Amendment expressly forbids Members of Congress from engaging in rebellion against the United States. Trying to overturn a democratic election and install a dictator seems like a pretty clear example of that."[15]

During the Insurrection taking place at the United States Capitol 2021 Cloud was ushered with many congressional colleagues to a secure location. Later, video footage of him surfaced, where he rejected to wear a mask which is in violation of House rules. [16][17]

Committee assignments

Caucus memberships

Electoral history
Texas' 27th congressional district special election, 2018[19]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Michael Cloud 19,872 54.8
Democratic Eric Holguin 11,599 32.0
Democratic Raul (Roy) Barrera 1,748 4.8
Republican Bech Bruun (withdrawn) 1,571 4.3
Democratic Mike Westergren 858 2.4
Republican Marty Perez 276 0.8
Independent Judith Cutright 172 0.5
Libertarian Daniel Tinus 144 0.4
Independent Christopher Suprun 51 0.1
Total votes 36,268 100.0
Republican hold
Republican primary results[20]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Bech Bruun 15,845 36.1
Republican Michael Cloud 14,866 33.9
Republican Christopher K. Mapp 5,302 12.1
Republican Jerry Hall 3,616 8.2
Republican John Grunwald 3,038 6.9
Republican Eddie Gassman 1,226 2.8
Total votes 43,893 100.0
Republican primary runoff results
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Michael Cloud 15,234 61.0
Republican Bech Bruun 9,723 39.0
Total votes 24,957 100.0
Texas's 27th congressional district election, 2018[21]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Michael Cloud (incumbent) 125,118 60.3
Democratic Eric Holguin 75,929 36.6
Independent James Duerr 4,274 2.1
Libertarian Daniel Tinus 2,100 1.0
Total votes 207,421 100.0
Republican hold
Texas's 27th congressional district election, 2020[22]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Michael Cloud (incumbent) 172,305 63.1
Democratic Ricardo "Rick" De La Fuente 95,446 34.9
Libertarian Phil Gray 5,482 2.0
Total votes 273,253 100.0
Republican hold

References
  1. "Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress - Retro Member details". bioguideretro.congress.gov. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  2. Feuchtenberger, Hannah. "ABOUT MICHAEL CLOUD". Cloud for Congress | Michael Cloud. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  3. Svitek, Patrick (June 30, 2018). "Michael Cloud wins special election to fill U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold's seat". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  4. "Lawmaker behind secret $84K sexual harassment settlement unmasked". Politico. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  5. "Republican wins Texas special election for House seat". Washington Post. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  6. "Endorsements". Cloud for Congress | Michael Cloud. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  7. Tribune, The Texas (July 1, 2018). "Michael Cloud wins special election to fill U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold's seat". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  8. Tribune, The Texas (July 10, 2018). "Republican Michael Cloud sworn in as Texas' newest congressman". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  9. Blood, Michael R.; Riccardi, Nicholas (December 5, 2020). "Biden officially secures enough electors to become president". AP News. Archived from the original on December 8, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  10. Liptak, Adam (December 11, 2020). "Supreme Court Rejects Texas Suit Seeking to Subvert Election". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  11. "Order in Pending Case" (PDF). Supreme Court of the United States. December 11, 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  12. Diaz, Daniella. "Brief from 126 Republicans supporting Texas lawsuit in Supreme Court". CNN. Archived from the original on December 12, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  13. Smith, David (December 12, 2020). "Supreme court rejects Trump-backed Texas lawsuit aiming to overturn election results". The Guardian. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
  14. "Pelosi Statement on Supreme Court Rejecting GOP Election Sabotage Lawsuit" (Press release). Speaker Nancy Pelosi. December 11, 2020. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
  15. Williams, Jordan (December 11, 2020). "Democrat asks Pelosi to refuse to seat lawmakers supporting Trump's election challenges". TheHill. Archived from the original on December 12, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  16. https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/09/politics/republican-congress-members-refuse-masks-trnd/index.html?utm_source=twCNN&utm_medium=social&utm_term=link&utm_content=2021-01-11T00%3A15%3A06
  17. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/10/lawmakers-may-have-been-exposed-coronavirus-capitol-lockdown-attending-physician-says/
  18. McPherson, Lindsey (October 31, 2018). "As House Republicans Brace for Losses, Freedom Caucus Prepares for Growth". rollcall.com. Retrieved November 17, 2018. Potential recruits receiving Freedom Fund money this cycle include Chip Roy in Texas’ 21st District, Yvette Herrell in New Mexico’s 2nd District, Mark Harris in North Carolina’s 9th District, Greg Steube in Florida’s 17th District, Denver Riggleman in Virginia’s 5th District, Mark Green in Tennessee’s 7th District, Russ Fulcher in Idaho’s 1st District, Ron Wright in Texas’ 6th District and Ben Cline in Virginia’s 6th District.
  19. "2018 Special Election, US Representative, District 27". Texas Secretary of State. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  20. "2018 Primary Election Official Results". Texas Secretary of State. Archived from the original on March 7, 2018. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
  21. "Texas Election Results". Texas Secretary of State. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  22. "Texas Election Results - Official Results". Texas Secretary of State. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
Blake Farenthold		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 27th congressional district
2018–present		 Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by
Debbie Lesko		 United States Representatives by seniority
294th		 Succeeded by
Troy Balderson
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