Jared Woodfill

Last updated

During the 2020 election, Woodfill represented Republican and conservative activists who sued Harris County, Texas, in an attempt to block the use of drive-through voting in Harris County. [24] [25] Woodfill also represented Republican officials and activists (including Hotze, Texas Republican Party chair Allen West, and Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller) in an attempt to block Governor Greg Abbott's extension of the early voting period. [26] Both measures were adopted due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Postal Service crisis, and were aimed at increasing voter turnout. [24] [26] Woodfill's bid to invalidate 127,000 votes cast through drive-through voting was rejected by both the Texas Supreme Court [27] and the federal courts. [25] Woodfill described the suit as an attempt to prevent Donald Trump from losing Texas, which he said would occur if "Harris County goes against Trump in large enough numbers." [25] Woodfill subsequently supported legislation by Texas Republican legislators to ban drive-through voting. [24]

Anti-vaccine litigation

In 2021, Woodfill filed an anti-vaccination lawsuit on behalf of a group of employees of Houston Methodist Hospital who refused to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, as required by the hospital. Of Houston Methodist's 26,000 staffers, 99% had received the vaccine, but 178 employees (including some receptionists, technicians, administrative workers, and nurses) refused and were suspended without pay as a result; of these, 117 employees represented by Woodfill sued the hospital system. [28] [29] [30] The plaintiffs' complaint falsely characterized the COVID-19 vaccines as "experimental" and mRNA vaccines as "gene modification"; in fact, the COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective, received emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and do not modify genes. [28] Woodfill's lawsuit was dismissed; in rejecting the suit, U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes wrote that the plaintiffs' claim that the COVID-19 vaccines were "experimental and dangerous" was false and irrelevant and that the plaintiffs' comparison of the hospital's vaccine requirement to Nazi human experimentation during the Holocaust was "reprehensible." [30] Woodfill unsuccessfully appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which in 2022 affirmed the judgment of the district court. [31]

2024 campaign for state House

In 2023, Woodfill announced his run for state House in the 138th district, challenging incumbent incumbent Republican Lacey Hull. [7] The district includes Jersey Village and other portions of the Cypress-Fairbanks (Cy-Fair) area. [32] Although Hull is among the chamber's most conservative members, [4] Woodfill accused her of being insufficiently conservative. [4] [7] Woodfill said that, if elected, he planned to run for House speaker. [7]

Woodfill's primary challenge was backed by Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. [4] In 2023, when Paxton was impeached and faced removal from office, Woodfill rallied behind Paxton, and raised money for his defense. [4] During his 2024 campaign, Woodfill criticized Hull for voting to impeach Paxton. [4] In the March 2024 Republican primary, Hull defeated Woodfill. [33] Hull received 8,835 votes (61.15%) and Woodfill 5,613 votes (38.85%). [34]

Related Research Articles

The Republican Party of Texas (RPT) is the affiliate of the United States Republican Party in the state of Texas. It is currently chaired by Abraham George, succeeding Matt Rinaldi who finished his term in 2024. The party is headquartered in Austin, and is legally considered to be a political action committee. It is currently the state's ruling party, controlling the majority of Texas's U.S. House seats, both U.S. Senate seats, both houses of the state legislature, and all statewide elected offices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Straus</span> American politician

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eva Guzman</span> American judge (born 1961)

Eva Martinez Guzman is an American attorney, politician, and jurist who served as a member of the Texas Supreme Court from 2009 to 2021. In 2022, she became a partner at Wright Close & Barger, LLP in Houston, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Munisteri</span> American lawyer (born 1957)

Stephen Peter Munisteri is an American attorney who served as the chairman of the Republican Party of Texas from 2010 to 2015. In 2017, Munisteri was appointed to the White House staff as deputy assistant to the president and principal deputy director of the Office of Public Liaison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bryan Hughes (politician)</span> Texas politician

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.

Herman Paul Pressler III was an American politician and judge who was a justice of the Texas 14th Circuit Court of Appeals in his native Houston, Texas. Pressler was a key figure in the conservative resurgence of the Southern Baptist Convention, which he initiated in 1978. He was accused of sexual misconduct or assault by at least seven men, some of whom were underage at the time of the alleged activity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Toth</span> Businessman and Texas state legislator

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dade Phelan</span> American businessman and politician

Matthew McDade Phelan is an American real estate developer and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he serves in Texas House of Representatives representing District 21, which includes most of Jefferson and all of Orange and Jasper counties in the southeast corner of the state. He has been Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives since January 2021. He has been censured by the Texas Republican Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Rinaldi</span> American politician

Matthew Daniel Rinaldi is an American attorney and politician who served as chairman of the Republican Party of Texas from 2021 to 2024. Rinaldi was a member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 115 in Dallas County from 2015 to 2019 when he was defeated by Democrat Julie Johnson.

Thomas Richard Mechler, is an American engineer and entrepreneur as well as volunteer political organizer who served as the chairman of the Republican Party of Texas.

Proposition 1 was a referendum held on November 3, 2015, on the anti-discrimination ordinance known as the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO). The ordinance was intended to improve anti-discrimination coverage based on sexual orientation and gender identity in Houston, specifically in areas such as housing and occupation where no anti-discrimination policy existed. Proposition 1 asked voters whether they approved HERO. Houston voters rejected Proposal 1 by a vote of 61% to 39%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 United States presidential election in Texas</span>

The 2020 United States presidential election in Texas was held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, as part of the 2020 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Texas voters chose 38 electors to represent them in the Electoral College. In a popular vote the Republican Party's nominee, incumbent President Donald Trump, and running mate Vice President Mike Pence won all the electors against the Democratic Party's nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his running mate California Senator Kamala Harris.

Widespread sexual abuse cases in Southern Baptist churches were reported by the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News on February 10, 2019. The report found roughly 380 clergy, lay leaders and volunteers had faced allegations of sexual misconduct, leaving behind over 700 victims since 1998. The extent of misconduct is further complicated by work within the Southern Baptist Convention to move sex offenders to other communities and resist attempts to address the culture of abuse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Dickey (Texas politician)</span> American businessperson and politician

James Roy Dickey is an American executive from Austin, Texas and the former chairman of the Republican Party of Texas. He was elected by the 64-member Republican State Executive Committee meeting in Austin on June 3, 2017, and re-elected at the state convention on June 15, 2018. In his third campaign he was defeated by Allen West on July 20, 2020.

Jared Lynn Patterson is an American politician from Texas. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected to the Texas House of Representatives from the 106th district in November 2018, he assumed office on January 8, 2019. An analysis of votes in the 2023 regular session found that Patterson was the most right-wing of 85 Republican members of the Texas House.

Cathie Louise Adams is a Texas politician. She served as party chair of the Republican Party of Texas from October 2009 to June 2010.

Steven Forrest Hotze is an American conservative talk radio host, conspiracy theorist, physician, Republican activist and megadonor in Texas.

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.

Cody Thane Vasut is an American politician. He has represented the 25th District in the Texas House of Representatives since 2021. A member of the Republican Party, Vasut also works as an attorney.

Christian Dashaun Menefee is an American attorney and politician who currently serves as County Attorney for Harris County, Texas. Elected in 2020, Menefee is the youngest person and first African-American to serve as chief civil lawyer for the largest county in Texas.

References

  1. ↑ Jackie Welch. Woodfill guest speaker at San Jacinto Republican Women's meeting, Pasadena Citizen (July 22, 2013).
  2. 1 2 Robert Downen, Lawsuit against ex-judge, Southern Baptist churches drawing to a close, Houston Chronicle (February 6, 2019).
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Robert Downen, Houston GOP activist knew for years of child sex abuse claims against Southern Baptist leader, law partner, Texas Tribune (March 27, 2023).
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Robert Downen, Email sheds new light on Texas House candidate Jared Woodfill's role in Southern Baptist leader's sex abuse scandal, Texas Tribune (January 23, 2024).
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Law Enforcement Raids Office Of Jared Woodfill, Ex Harris County GOP Chairman". Houston Public Media. November 13, 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 Robert Downen; Lise Olsen (November 13, 2018). "Theft, money laundering allegations sparked raid at Woodfill law office". Houston Chronicle.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Downen, Robert (November 17, 2023). "Prominent anti-LGBTQ+ activist Jared Woodfill running for Texas House". The Texas Tribune.
  8. 1 2 Ball, Neena Satija, Andrea. "DA Kim Ogg quietly dropped a theft case against a GOP activist. Her explanation is full of holes". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2024-05-13.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ↑ Downen, By Robert (2024-02-07). "Federal investigators asked to reopen fraud case against Texas House candidate Jared Woodfill". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved 2024-05-13.
  10. 1 2 3 Kiah Collier. "Challenger wins GOP chair race, March 4, 2014". Houston Chronicle . Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  11. ↑ Moran, Chris (December 18, 2009). "Claims of missing cash fuel race for Harris GOP chair". The Houston Chronicle.
  12. ↑ Joe Holley, Woodfill faces likely runoff with Hubbard for GOP chairman, Houston Chronicle (March 2, 2010).
  13. ↑ Joe Holley, Lawsuit alleges GOP chairman on the hook for $30 million, Houston Chronicle (June 24, 2012).
  14. ↑ Kiah Collier (February 26, 2014). "UPDATED: Paul Bettencourt says he predicted Emmett's whopper donation". The Houston Chronicle. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  15. 1 2 3 Justin Wm. Moyer, Why Houston's gay rights ordinance failed: Fear of men in women’s bathrooms, Washington Post (November 4, 2015).
  16. ↑ Jared Woodfill (March 9, 2017). "Joe, Let the Peoples Representatives Vote on SB 6". Conservative Republicans of Texas News. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Call for Conservative Christian candidates to Rise Up and Replace Republican Representatives Who Refuse to Support SB6, "No Men in Women's Bathrooms!"". crtxnews.com. May 3, 2017. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
  18. ↑ Emma Platoff, Houston judge tosses same-sex marriage benefits challenge, but plaintiffs pledge to appeal, Texas Tribune (February 21, 2019).
  19. 1 2 Brian M. Rosenthal (March 8, 2015). "Tom Mechler elected new leader of Texas Republican Party". The Houston Chronicle.
  20. ↑ Christopher Hooks (December 2020). "How Did a Florida Man Become the Face of the Texas Republican Party?". Texas Monthly.
  21. 1 2 Patrick Svitek, Mechler, Woodfill Square Off Again to Lead GOP, Texas Tribune (February 17, 2016).
  22. ↑ Gary M. Polland. "You Can Judge a Candidate By the Company He Keeps". Texas Conservative Review. Retrieved April 17, 2016.
  23. 1 2 Gromer Jeffers Jr. (May 13, 2016). "Tom Mechler easily retains chairmanship of Texas GOP". Dallas Morning News . Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  24. 1 2 3 Mike Snyder, Record Turnout Helped Texas Republicans, So Why Are They Still Pushing to Make It Harder to Vote?, Texas Monthly (November 23, 2020).
  25. 1 2 3 Nomaan Merchant, rejects GOP effort to throw out 127,000 Houston votes, Associated Press (November 3, 2020).
  26. 1 2 Patrick Svitek, Texas Republicans sue to stop Gov. Greg Abbott's extension of early voting period during the pandemic, Texas Tribune (September 23, 2020).
  27. ↑ Jay Bleiberg, Texas high court denies GOP effort to reject Houston votes, Associated Press (November 1, 2020).
  28. 1 2 Derek Hawkins, 117 staffers sue over Houston hospital's vaccine mandate, saying they don't want to be 'guinea pigs', Washington Post (May 29, 2021).
  29. ↑ Bill Chappell, The Clock's Ticking For 178 Hospital Workers Suspended For Not Getting Vaccinated, NPR (June 10, 2021).
  30. 1 2 Judge tosses hospital workers' vaccine requirement challenge, Associated Press (June 13, 2021).
  31. ↑ Kelly Gooch, Former Houston Methodist employees lose appeal in vaccination mandate case, Becker's Hospital Review (June 15, 2022).
  32. ↑ Jovanna Aguilar, Q&A: Meet the Republican primary candidates running to represent State House District 138, Community Impact (January 24, 2024).
  33. ↑ Downen, Robert (2024-03-06). "Houston Rep. Lacey Hull defeats Paxton-backed Jared Woodfill in GOP primary". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved 2024-05-13.
  34. ↑ Results: 2024 MARCH 5TH REPUBLICAN PRIMARY: STATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 138,
Jared Woodfill
Jared-Headshot.png
Chairman of the Republican Party of
Harris County (Houston), Texas
In office
2002–2014
Preceded by
Gary M. Polland
 Harris County Republican chairman
2002–2014		Succeeded by
Paul Simpson
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.