Van Taylor

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For the soccer player and coach, see Eugene Van Taylor.
Van Taylor
File:Van Taylor, official portrait, 116th Congress.jpg
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 3rd district
Assumed office
January 3, 2019
Preceded by Sam Johnson
Member of the Texas Senate
from the 8th district
In office
January 13, 2015 – January 3, 2019
Preceded by Ken Paxton
Succeeded by Angela Paxton
Member of the Texas House of Representatives
from the 66th district
In office
April 20, 2010 – January 13, 2015
Preceded by Brian McCall
Succeeded by Matt Shaheen
Personal details
Born Nicholas Van Campen Taylor
(1972-08-01) August 1, 1972 (age 51)
Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Anne Coolidge (m. 2004)
Children 3
Education Harvard University (BA, MBA)
Website House website
Military service
Allegiance  United States
Service/branch  United States Marine Corps
Rank US-O4 insignia.svg Major
Battles/wars Iraq War

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 member of the Republican Party, he represented the 8th district in the Texas Senate from 2015 to 2019. He also previously served in the Texas House of Representatives for the 66th district in southwestern Collin County. On March 2, 2022, Taylor announced that he would be suspending his re-election campaign and retiring at the end of the 117th Congress amidst allegations of infidelity.[2]

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.[3][4] 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 earned a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School in 2001.[5][6]

From January 2002 to December 2018, Taylor worked for Churchill Capital Company,[7] a real estate investment banking and principal investment firm,[8] as a real estate investment banker.[9] He previously worked for McKinsey & Company and Trammell Crow Company.[10]

Taylor married Anne Coolidge, a real estate investment manager, in 2004.[11]

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 31 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

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Main article: 2006 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas § District 17

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.[12]

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.[13] On November 30, 2009, incumbent representative Brian McCall announced that he would not run for reelection.[14] 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 successor.

The candidates in the March 2 Republican primary were Wayne Richards, Jackson, and Taylor. While Jackson earned the largest number of votes (41%) in the primary, she was shy of the 50% plus one vote required to win the nomination outright.[15] Richards promptly endorsed 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.[16]

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]

Juneteenth

Taylor was one of two House Republicans to cosponsor the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act.[20]

Foreign policy

Taylor was among 129 Republicans to oppose President Donald Trump's withdrawal from Syria.[21]

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2018

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See also: 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas § District 3

In August 2017, Taylor announced his candidacy 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,[22] and With Honor, a cross-partisan political group supporting next-generation military veterans.[23] Taylor secured the nomination after easily winning the March 6 primary.[24] He won the November 6 general election with 54.3% of the vote.[25]

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% mark.

Tenure

On May 19, 2021, Taylor was one of 35 Republicans to join all Democrats in voting for legislation to establish the January 6 commission meant to investigate the storming of the U.S. Capitol.[26]

2022 campaign and allegations of infidelity

On March 2, 2022, just one day after finishing first in the Republican primary, Taylor announced that he would be suspending his reelection campaign amidst allegations of an affair with British native Tania Joya, the widow of John Georgelas, an American who gained notoriety for joining ISIS in 2013. In an email to supporters, Taylor wrote that "About a year ago, I made a horrible mistake that has caused deep hurt and pain among those I love most in this world. I had an affair, it was wrong, and it was the greatest failure of my life. I want to apologize for the pain I have caused with my indiscretion, most of all to my wife Anne and our three daughters".

Taylor won 49% of the vote in the five-way race, just missing the cutoff to win outright, and was thus set to face off against runner-up Keith Self, a former Collin County judge, in a May 24 runoff election.[27]

Just before the primary, the National File, a right-wing news outlet, revealed details of Taylor’s affair. Joya had initially contacted Republican candidate Suzanne Harp, hoping that Harp could help her confront Taylor privately and persuade him to end his campaign and resign from Congress. Joya was then interviewed about the affair by a supporter of Harp, a recording of which was then published by the National File.

Joya said that she and Taylor were “very close” and that the pair had initially sexted each other before beginning an intimate, physical relationship lasting for about eight months. Taylor initially met Joya through her work to "reprogram" extremists, which she had begun after returning to the US from Syria. Taylor eventually gave Joya about $5,000 to pay some of her personal bills, contingent upon her keeping the affair secret.[28]

Committee assignment

Caucus memberships

Electoral history

Republican primary results[33]
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[34]
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
Texas's 3rd congressional district, 2020[35]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Van Taylor (incumbent) 230,512 55.1
Democratic Lulu Seikaly 179,458 42.9
Libertarian Christopher Claytor 8,621 2.1
Total votes 418,591 100.0
Republican hold

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Texas Birth Index, 1903–1997.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Vote Smart Bio: Van Taylor
  7. ↑ Linkedin Bio: Van Taylor
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ [1][dead link]
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Elena Mejia Lutz, "Improper relations at school targeted", San Antonio Express-News, February 24, 2017, p. A5.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ https://www.khou.com/article/news/politics/inside-politics/2022-texas-primary-van-taylor-resigns/287-69c41b7b-935c-4692-9b9b-878bb7a80600?fbclid=IwAR2_7EY2FUMSDwuFwkH1rF3NbkvHiIqxbW1513our8cRdV9fZcJNjBLQLn4
  28. ↑ https://nypost.com/2022/03/02/texas-rep-van-taylor-drops-reelection-bid-over-affair-with-isis-bride
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Texas Senate
Preceded by 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
United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the United States House of Representatives
from Texas's 3rd congressional district
2019–present		 Incumbent
United States order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by United States representatives by seniority
354th		 Succeeded by
William Timmons

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116th
Senate: ▌J. Cornyn (R) · ▌T. Cruz (R)
House:
117th
Senate: ▌J. Cornyn (R) · ▌T. Cruz (R)
House:

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