Van Taylor

Nicholas Van Campen Taylor (born August 1, 1972), known as Van Taylor,[1] is an American businessman and politician from Plano, Texas. He is the U.S. Representative for Texas's 3rd congressional district. The district includes much of Collin County, a suburban county north of Dallas. A veteran of the Iraq War and a member of the Republican Party, he represented District 8 in the Texas Senate for a single term from 2015 to 2019. He also previously served in the Texas House of Representatives for District 66 in western Collin County.

Van Taylor
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 3rd district
Assumed office
January 3, 2019
Preceded bySam Johnson
Member of the Texas Senate
from the 8th district
In office
January 13, 2015  January 3, 2019
Preceded byKen Paxton
Succeeded byAngela Paxton
Member of the Texas House of Representatives
from the 66th district
In office
April 20, 2010  January 13, 2015
Preceded byBrian McCall
Succeeded byMatt Shaheen
Personal details
Born
Nicholas Van Campen Taylor

(1972-08-01) August 1, 1972
Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)
Anne Coolidge
(m. 2004)
Children3
EducationHarvard University (BA)
WebsiteHouse website
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Marine Corps
Rank Major
Battles/warsIraq War

Early life, education, and career

A seventh-generation Texan, Taylor was born in Dallas.[1] He is a descendant of Humble Oil co-founder Robert Lee Blaffer.[2][3] He grew up in Midland, Texas, where he attended the Hillander School and San Jacinto Junior High School. He graduated from St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire. With numerous AP credits, he subsequently graduated in three years from Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, from which he obtained a Bachelor of Arts in history. He also took classes at both the Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Business School. [4]

From January 2002 to December 2018, Taylor worked for Churchill Capital Company,[5] a real estate investment banking and principal investment firm,[6] as a real estate investment banker.[7] He previously worked for McKinsey & Company and Trammell Crow Company.[8]

Taylor married Anne Coolidge, a real estate investment manager, in 2004.[9]

Military service

In Iraq, Taylor was assigned to the Marine Corps' Company C, 4th Reconnaissance Battalion and fought with 2nd Force Reconnaissance Company. As a captain, Taylor led missions in advance of Task Force Tarawa during Operation Iraqi Freedom, which detected and defeated several Fedayeen ambushes. He also participated in a casualty evacuation of thirty-one wounded Marines, transporting them safely to medical treatment.

Taylor's military decorations include the Navy Commendation Medal with "V", the Combat Action Ribbon, and the Presidential Unit Citation. Taylor left the Marine Corps Reserve as a major.

2006 campaign for U.S. House

In 2005 and 2006, Taylor ran for Texas's 17th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives. He won the Republican primary with 54.03% of the vote. With 40.31% of the vote in the general election, he lost to incumbent Democrat Chet Edwards.[10]

Texas House of Representatives

2010 campaign

On December 2, 2009, Taylor announced his candidacy for the District 66 Texas State House seat. Plano city council member Mabrie Jackson had already resigned from the council to enter the House race.[11] On November 30, 2009, incumbent representative Brian McCall announced that he would not run for re-election.[12] Observers speculated that McCall had told Jackson that he would step down so that she could get a head start in the campaign. McCall also endorsed Jackson as his preferred successor.

The candidates in the Republican primary held on March 2, 2010, were Wayne Richards, Jackson, and Taylor. While Jackson earned the largest number of votes (41 percent) in the primary, she was shy of the 50 percent plus one vote required to win the nomination outright.[13] Wayne Richards promptly endorsed the runner-up candidate, Taylor, who then defeated Jackson in the April run-off election. McCall left the House seat early, and Taylor was sworn into office on April 20, 2010, by Collin County Judge Keith Self.

Texas State Senate

2014 campaign

On August 2, 2013, Taylor announced he would seek the Republican Party's 2014 nomination for the Texas Senate, District 8 seat held by Ken Paxton, who was stepping down to run for state attorney general.[14]

Meanwhile, two Republicans, Matt Shaheen and Glenn Callison, competed in the May 27 runoff election to succeed Taylor in House District 66. In the primary held on March 4, 2014, Shaheen led with 4,880 votes (48.8 percent); Callison trailed with 4,001 votes (40 percent). The third candidate, Stacy Chen, held the remaining 1,116 votes (11.2 percent).[15] Shaheen won the runoff, 4,612 to 3,886[16] and then won the November 4, general election against a Libertarian Party candidate.

Political positions

Taylor is considered a major ally of the Tea Party movement.[17] He was endorsed by the North Texas Tea Party for his 2014 campaign for Texas Senate, District 8.[18]

In 2017, Taylor introduced legislation to establish a registry of individuals who have been barred from employment at an educational facility. The measure, if adopted, would prevent any school employee, not just administration and faculty, from working at a school if the person is found to have engaged in an improper relationship with a student.[19]

U.S. House of Representatives

2018 general election

In August 2017, Taylor announced that he would run for the United States House of Representatives for Texas's 3rd congressional district. Incumbent 13-term Republican Sam Johnson had announced his retirement. Taylor was endorsed by the Club for Growth, a national conservative group,[20] and With Honor, a cross-partisan political group supporting next-generation military veterans.[21] Taylor secured the nomination after easily winning the March 6 primary.[22] Taylor won the general election on November 6, 2018, with 54.3% percent of votes cast.[23]

Taylor's victory continued a run of Republican control in one of the first areas of Texas to turn Republican. The GOP has held the seat without interruption since a 1968 special election, and Taylor is only the fourth person to represent it since then. At the same time, it was the closest race in the district in over half a century; indeed, it was the first time since the regular 1968 election that a Democrat had crossed the 40 percent mark.

Committee assignments

  • Committee on Financial Services[24]

Electoral history

Republican primary results[25]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Van Taylor 45,475 84.7
Republican David Niederkorn 5,052 9.4
Republican Alex Donkervoet 3,185 5.9
Total votes 53,712 100.0
Texas's 3rd congressional district, 2018[26]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Van Taylor 169,520 54.2
Democratic Lorie Burch 138,234 44.2
Libertarian Christopher Claytor 4,604 1.5
Independent Jeff Simons (write-in) 153 0.1
Total votes 312,511 100.0
Republican hold

References

  1. Texas Birth Index, 1903–1997.
  2. "From Humble Beginnings" (PDF). New Orleans Bar Association. October 21, 2009. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
  3. "JANE OWEN Obituary – Houston, TX | Houston Chronicle". Legacy.com. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  4. "Connecting People, building relationships". Successnorthdallas.org. Archived from the original on March 25, 2012. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  5. https://www.linkedin.com/in/repvantaylor
  6. "Real Estate Investment Banking & Investment Firm | Churchill Capital". www.churchillcapital.com.
  7. correspondent, Maria Recio American-Statesman. "Chip Roy, Central Texas' newest congressman, returns to the halls of Congress". Austin American-Statesman.
  8. "79(R) SR 951 – Enrolled version – Bill Text". capitol.texas.gov.
  9. "Coolidge-Taylor wedding". Midland Reporter-Telegram. May 8, 2004. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
  10. "State Sen. Van Taylor". Texastribune.org. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  11. "Star Local: Plano Star Courier". Planostar.com. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  12. "Error". Archived from the original on March 7, 2010.
  13. "Taylor to seek Paxton's Texas Senate seat | Dallas Morning News". Trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com. August 2, 2013. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  14. "Republican primary election returns, March 4, 2014". team1.sos.state.tx.us. Archived from the original on March 7, 2014. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
  15. "Republican runoff election returns, May 27, 2014". Texas Secretary of State. Archived from the original on January 9, 2014. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  16. Tomlinson, Chris (January 15, 2013). "Texas House starts session with fight over rules, powers | Lubbock Online | Lubbock Avalanche-Journal". Lubbockonline.com. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  17. "First NTTP TeaApproval for 2014 – Van Taylor for State Senate, District 8". Northtexasteaparty.org. August 2, 2013. Archived from the original on June 5, 2015. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  18. Elena Mejia Lutz, "Improper relations at school targeted", San Antonio Express-News, February 24, 2017, p. A5.
  19. Svitek, Patrick (August 23, 2017). "GOP state Sen. Van Taylor of Plano makes congressional run official". Texas Tribune. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
  20. "With Honor Endorses Nine Next-Generation Veterans for Congress". Politico. January 25, 2018. Retrieved January 5, 2019.
  21. "Texas Primary Election Results". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  22. "Texas' 3rd Congressional District election, 2018 – Ballotpedia". Ballotpedia. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  23. "Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives". clerk.house.gov. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
  24. "2018 Primary Election Official Results". Texas Secretary of State. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
  25. "Texas Election Results". Texas Secretary of State. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
Texas Senate
Preceded by
Ken Paxton
Member of the Texas Senate
from the 8th district

2015–2018
Succeeded by
Angela Paxton
Texas House of Representatives
Preceded by
Brian McCall
Member of the Texas House of Representatives
from the 66th district

2010–2015
Succeeded by
Matt Shaheen
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
Sam Johnson
Member of the United States House of Representatives
from Texas's 3rd congressional district

2019–present
Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by
Haley Stevens
United States Representatives by seniority
360th
Succeeded by
William Timmons
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