Michael Keith Simpson is an American politician and former dentist serving as the U.S. representative for Idaho's 2nd congressional district since 1999. The district covers most of the eastern portion of the state, including Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Sun Valley, Twin Falls and the northern two-thirds of Boise. A member of the Republican Party, Simpson was first elected to public office in 1984, and was elected to the House in the 1998 elections, succeeding Mike Crapo. He served as Speaker of the Idaho House of Representatives from 1992 to 1998.
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.
The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. There are no term limits. The House meets at the State Capitol in Austin.
The Texas Senate is the upper house of the Texas Legislature, with the Texas House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, they compose the state legislature of the state of Texas.
Kevin Paul Eltife is an American businessman and former politician from Tyler, Texas. A Republican, served in the Texas Senate from 2004 through 2017. He was sworn in on August 15, 2004, after winning a special election to represent District 1. He declined to seek re-election in 2016 and was succeeded in office by fellow Republican Bryan Hughes.
Dan Goeb Patrick is an American radio talk show host, television broadcaster, and politician. He has been serving as the 42nd lieutenant governor of Texas since January 2015, under Greg Abbott.
Thomas Russell Craddick is a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives representing the 82nd district. Craddick was Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives from January 2003 to January 2009. He was the first Republican to serve as Speaker since Reconstruction.
Lyle Thomas Larson is an American politician and businessman who served as a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives for the 122nd district from 2011 to 2023. He was first elected to the state House in 2010 to succeed fellow Republican Frank Corte Jr.
Daniel Alan Webster is an American businessman and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Florida's 11th congressional district since 2017. A member of the Republican Party, he first entered Congress in 2011. He represented Florida's 10th congressional district from 2011 to 2017. Before his congressional service, he served 28 years in the Florida legislature, and was the first Republican Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives since Reconstruction.
The 81st Texas Legislature began meeting in regular session on January 11, 2009. The regular session adjourned sine die on June 1, 2009.
Joseph Richard Straus III is an American politician who served as the Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives from 2009 to 2019. A Republican, he represented District 121, which comprises northeastern Bexar County, including parts of San Antonio and several surrounding communities, from his first election to the House in 2005 until his retirement in 2019. He chose not to seek re-election to the state House in 2018.
Thomas Charles Merritt is an American businessman from Longview, Texas and a Republican former member of the Texas House of Representatives. Merritt represented District 7 from January 1997 until January 2011. In March 2010, he lost the Republican nomination to David Simpson.
Douglas Bryan Hughes is an American attorney and politician who is a Republican member of the Texas State Senate for District 1. He was first elected to the Texas Senate in November 2016. Previously, Hughes was a member of the Texas House of Representatives from 2003 through January 2017 as state representative for District 5, which includes Camp, Harrison, Upshur, and Wood counties in northeastern Texas. Senator Hughes authored some of the more significant legislation to come out of the 87th Session of the Texas Legislature. His bills on abortion, voting reform, and social media censorship prompted significant debate but were passed by both houses of the legislature and signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott.
Anna M. Rivers is an American politician and educator serving as a Republican member of the Washington State Senate from when she was appointed to represent the 18th district in 2012, upon the resignation of Joe Zarelli. Prior to this she was a member of the Washington House of Representatives. In her first full term, a Majority Coalition Caucus was formed, taking control away from the Democrats in the state senate. Rivers was appointed to be majority whip for the session, a rare appointment for a freshman senator. She won re-election for another four-year term in 2012, with 67% of the vote against 32% for her opponent, Ralph Schmidt.
Jason Villalba is an American politician and attorney who is a Republican former member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 114 in Dallas County. He works for the law firm Frost Brown Todd.
Jonathan Spence Stickland is a former Texas politician. From 2013 to 2021 he served as a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 92, which includes a portion of Tarrant County in suburban Fort Worth. He was re-elected in 2018. He did not seek re-election in 2020.
Richard Wayne Smith, commonly known as Wayne Smith, is a former seven-term Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 128. He was first elected in November 2002 and served until January 2017. On May 24, 2016, Smith was unseated by 23 votes in the Republican runoff election by Briscoe Cain, 3,050 (50.2%) to 3,027 (49.8%).
James Wallace "Jay" Dean is an American politician. A Republican, he has been the member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 7, which encompasses Gregg and Upshur counties in East Texas, since 2017.
David Mayes Middleton II is an American businessman and politician serving as a member of the Texas Senate for the 11th district. Previously, he served as a Texas House of Representatives for District 23. A member of the Republican Party, Middleton has been in the Texas legislature since January 8, 2019.
Dennis Higgins Bonnen is an American businessman and politician. Bonnen served as Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives from 2019 to 2021. A Republican, Bonnen represented District 25 of the Texas House from 1997 to 2021. In 2013, then-Speaker Joe Straus appointed Bonnen as Speaker Pro Tempore, presiding over the House in the Speaker's absence. In January 2019, Bonnen was elected Speaker. He did not seek re-election in 2020.
