Bryan Slaton | |
---|---|
Member of the TexasHouseofRepresentatives from the 2nd district | |
In office January 12, 2021 –May 8, 2023 | |
Preceded by | Dan Flynn |
Succeeded by | Jill Dutton |
Personal details | |
Born | Mineola,Texas,U.S. | February 2,1978
Political party | Republican |
Spouse | Sharmen |
Children | 2 |
Residence(s) | Royse City,Texas,U.S. |
Alma mater | Ouachita Baptist University (BA) University of North Texas (BA) Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (M.Div.) |
Occupation | Pastor;Financial Services |
Website | https://bryanslaton.com/ |
Bryan Lee Slaton (born February 2,1978) [1] is a former pastor and American politician. Slaton represented the 2nd district in the Texas House of Representatives from 2021 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party,Slaton also works for his family business,Slaton Financial Services.
In May 2023 the Texas House Committee on General Investigating recommended Slaton be expelled after an investigation found that on March 31 or April 1,2023,Slaton provided alcohol to,and had sex with,a 19-year-old female legislative aide under his employ who was "unable to give effective consent." [2] The committee also concluded that Slaton later showed a threatening email to the aide,and told her not to discuss the incident,and asked another lawmaker not to discuss the incident. [3]
On May 8,2023,Slaton resigned his House membership. On May 9,2023,the Texas House voted unanimously [4] to expel him,as failing to do so would have allowed him to draw his salary and other benefits until a successor could be elected. [2]
Slaton was born in Mineola,Texas. [5] He attended Ouachita Baptist University,where he received a BA in youth ministry and speech communication. He then attended University of North Texas and earned a degree in accounting. [5] Slaton later earned a Master of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. [5] He served in the ministry as a youth and family minister for 13 years,for three of those years at River Hills Baptist Church in Corpus Christi,Texas. [5] Bryan works for his brother's small business,Slaton Financial Services. [5]
In 2016,Slaton filed to run against incumbent state representative Dan Flynn. On March 1,2016,Slaton narrowly lost to the incumbent in the Republican primary. Flynn polled 14,917 votes (51 percent) to Slaton's 14,336 (49 percent). [6] In 2018,Slaton decided to take on the incumbent again. In the 2018 primary election,Flynn defeated Slaton again,11,803 (51.7 percent) to 11,013 (48.3 percent).
However,on July 14,2020,Slaton defeated Flynn by a 22-point margin in the Republican primary runoff,forcing the incumbent into a runoff election. [7] [8] Slaton positioned himself as ostensibly more conservative than Flynn, [9] but later in office revealed extremist views when Slaton introduced a bill to discuss secession. [10] Slaton criticized Flynn for unnecessary and superfluous spending. [11] He sent out mail which pointed out Flynn's campaign-funded lifestyle expenses such as nearly $14,000 in spending on cookies and using his campaign fund to pay for a Netflix subscription. [11] Slaton campaigned on abolishing property taxes,ending overly broad laws that give government excess power during emergencies,and pledging to oppose any tax increase. [11]
In March 2021,Slaton introduced a bill that would abolish abortion and make it a criminal act,whereby women and physicians who received and performed abortions,respectively,could receive the death penalty. The bill made no exceptions for rape or incest;it did provide exemptions for ectopic pregnancies that threaten the life of the woman "when a reasonable alternative to save the lives of both the mother and the unborn child is unavailable." [12]
In June 2022,Slaton said in a social media post that he planned to introduce legislation in the 2023 legislative session that would ban minors from drag shows in Texas. [13] Slaton declared in an interview that year:"Children don't need to be focused on sex and sexualization,and we need to let them just grow up to be children and let them do that as they’re getting closer to being an adult". [14]
Slaton supports a ban on Democrats being given committee chairmanships as long as the Republicans hold the majority of seats in the Texas House. [15] On December 6,2022,Slaton proposed a rule change to the Texas House Administration Committee that would end Democrats receiving committee chairmanships. On February 27,2023,Slaton introduced HB 2889,which would allow a tax credit for married residents of Texas that would increase as the number of children increases,either by procreation or adoption. [16]
On March 6,2023,Slaton introduced HB 3596,the "Texas Independence Referendum Act" (TEXIT), [17] which would allow for a referendum to investigate the secession of Texas from the U.S. The U.S. Supreme Court case Texas v. White ruled in 1869 that the Constitution did not permit states to unilaterally secede from the United States. [10]
On May 10,2023,Slaton was expelled by a unanimous vote,147–0,based on an investigation that determined the Royse City Republican had sex with a 19-year-old aide after getting her drunk. [18]
Slaton married his second and current wife in 2017; [19] she filed for divorce in April 2022 then withdrew it in November 2022. [20]
On April 10,2023,a complaint surfaced alleging Slaton had been in an "inappropriate relationship" with an intern who worked for his office,over the previous month,culminating in a late-night incident involving alcohol. [20] Reportedly,multiple House colleagues encouraged Slaton to resign when the incident became public. [21]
The incident was investigated by the House Committee on General Investigating, [lower-alpha 1] which published a report in May 2023 unanimously recommending Slaton's expulsion from the House,and detailing that he had committed the crimes of providing alcohol to a minor,abuse of official capacity,and official oppression. [22] The committee's report stated that Slaton had invited a 19-year-old aide to his home at around 10 p.m. on March 30,2023,telling her that he "did not want to drink by himself." Friends of the aide accompanied her as a "protective measure," with their presence surprising Slaton. [23] At his home,Slaton provided alcohol to all of them. The staff member testified that she drank a "lot of alcohol," felt "pretty rough" and "really dizzy." [23] When the friends left Slaton's home and she attempted to get up to leave as well,Slaton told her in front of the others that she "did not have to leave if she did not want to," and she stayed. [23] The aide later testified that this was "an inappropriate situation ... because I had too much to drink." [23]
A co-worker of the aide testified that the aide later confided that she had unprotected sex with Slaton. The committee report further details that the aide bought the Plan B emergency contraceptive the next day. [22] [23]
The General Investigating Committee report stated that,according to testimony,Slaton had showed the aide an email that said,"I know you’re sleeping with a staffer. Can you really trust those 20-year-old girls? She owns you now." [23] The aide testified that this incident made her "really fearful that I would potentially lose my job," and that in response,Slaton told her,"[e]verything would be fine. Everyone involved just has to stay quiet." [23] The aide reported her suspicion to the committee that the threatening email she had been shown appeared to come from Slaton's business email account. [22]
The committee reported that Slaton did not deny the allegation of having sex with the aide,and that neither Slaton nor his attorney provided any evidence to contradict the allegations. Instead,Slaton's attorney advocated that the complaints against the representative should be rejected because the alleged incident with the intern occurred in Slaton's home,not in their workplace. [22] [23]
Included in the committee report was the note that another representative had called Slaton to ask if he "invited a young staffer to your condo and you guys had sex," to which Slaton replied,"Yes,that's true." The report revealed that Slaton later requested that the other legislator keep the details of their call "between us." [22]
House Resolution 1542 to expel Slaton was scheduled for a vote on May 9,2023. [24] However,on May 8,2023,Slaton resigned his seat. [25] A memo issued by the General Investigating Committee to the Texas House noted that,despite the timing of Slaton's act of resignation,Texas law and court opinions still considered Slaton a full member of the state house,entitled to all benefits of the office "until his successor is duly qualified," arguing that expulsion was therefore necessary regardless of Slaton resigning. The House voted 147–0 to expel him. [lower-alpha 2]
The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the US state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a powerful arm of the Texas government not only because of its power of the purse to control and direct the activities of state government and the strong constitutional connections between it and the Lieutenant Governor of Texas,but also due to Texas's plural executive.
Kevin Patrick Brady is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 8th congressional district from 1997 to 2023. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district includes northern Houston,including The Woodlands. He retired after the 2022 election cycle.
Daniel Archie Flynn,was an American businessman and rancher from Van,Texas,who was from 2003 to 2021 a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 2. On July 14,2020,Flynn was defeated in his re-election attempt by Bryan Slaton by a 22-point margin in the Republican primary runoff.
Steve Hixson Toth is an American businessman and politician serving as a member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 15,The Woodlands area.
Garret Neal Graves is an American politician serving as the United States representative from Louisiana's 6th congressional district since 2015. He is a member of the Republican Party.
Todd Anthony Courser is an American lawyer,Tea Party Republican politician,and former member of the Michigan House of Representatives who resigned his seat when it became clear that he would be expelled for misconduct and the misuse of taxpayer resources in an attempt to cover up his extramarital affair with fellow Representative Cindy Gamrat.
The 2017–18 United States political sexual scandals saw a heightened period of allegations of sexual misconduct,harassment and assault,and resulted in the subsequent firings and resignations of American politicians. Some of the allegations are linked to the aftermath of the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse cases starting in October 2017 amid the wider MeToo movement.
Ronny Lynn Jackson is an American physician,politician,and retired United States Navy rear admiral who is the U.S. representative for Texas's 13th congressional district.
District 2 is a house in the Texas House of Representatives. It was created in the 3rd legislature (1849–1851).
Chris McNutt is an American conservative activist and gun rights lobbyist who has advocated for "permitless carry" legislation,also known as "Constitutional Carry." He is the president of Texas Gun Rights,a state affiliate of the National Association for Gun Rights.
Annette Elizabeth Johnson is an American attorney and politician. She has represented the 134th District in the Texas House of Representatives since 2021. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Johnson is also an adjunct professor of law at South Texas College of Law Houston.
Jeffrey Harold Cason is an American businessman and politician who served a single term in the Texas House of Representatives,from January 2021 to January 2023. A member of the Republican Party,he was elected from District 92.
Andrew Stevenson Murr is an American attorney,rancher and politician serving as a member of the Texas House of Representatives from the 53rd district. Elected in 2014,he assumed office in 2015. His maternal grandfather was Coke Stevenson,the 35th Governor of Texas. Murr announced in November 2023 that he was not going to run for re-election after being censored by two local county Republican parties for his support of the impeachment of Ken Paxton.
The 88th Texas Legislature was a meeting of the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Texas,composed of the Texas Senate and the Texas House of Representatives. The Texas State Legislature met in its regular session in Austin,Texas,from January 10,2023 to May 29,2023,followed by four consecutive special sessions.
Michael Allen Collins Jr. is an American politician and businessman serving as the U.S. representative for Georgia's 10th congressional district since 2023. He is a member of the Republican Party.
Benjamin "Ben" Bumgarner is a Texas politician who currently serves in the Texas House of Representatives from the 63rd District,which covers southern Denton County.
Following statewide primaries held on March 5,2024,the 2024 Texas House of Representatives election will be held on November 5,2024. The winners of this election will serve in the 89th Texas Legislature. It will be held alongside numerous other federal,state,and local elections,including the 2024 U.S. presidential election and the 2024 Texas Senate election.
The 2023 Texas elections were held on November 7,2023.
The following is a list of events of the year 2023 in Texas.
Jill Dutton is an American politician who is the representative for the 2nd district in the Texas House of Representatives. She is a member of the Republican Party.