Marc Veasey | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 2016 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromTexas's33rd district | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Member of theTexas House of Representatives from the 95th district | |
| In office January 11, 2005 – January 3, 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Glenn Lewis |
| Succeeded by | Nicole Collier |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Marc Allison Veasey (1971-01-03)January 3, 1971 (age 54) Fort Worth, Texas, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Tonya Jackson |
| Children | 1 |
| Education | Texas Wesleyan University (BA) |
| Signature |  |
| Website | House website Campaign website |
Marc Allison Veasey (/ˈviːsɪ/; born January 3, 1971) is an American politician serving as aDemocratic member of theUnited States House of Representatives forTexas's 33rd congressional district since 2013. From 2005 to 2013, he was a member of theTexas House of Representatives, where he served as chair pro tempore of the House Democratic Caucus.
Veasey was born on January 3, 1971,[1] to Connie and Joseph Veasey. With his parents and brother, Ryan, Veasey and his family lived in numerous rental houses in theStop Six neighborhood ofFort Worth, Texas. When he was ten years old, his parents divorced, and Marc, Ryan and their mother moved in with their maternal grandmother in theComo neighborhood of Fort Worth.[2]
Veasey attendedArlington Heights High School in Fort Worth.[3] He graduated fromTexas Wesleyan University with aBachelor of Arts degree inmass communications.[2][4]
Veasey worked as asubstitute teacher andsportswriter, as well as writing scripts for an advertising agency. One summer, he volunteered for U.S. RepresentativeMartin Frost, and was hired as a field representative.[2] Veasey worked for Frost for five years.[5][6]
As a result of the2003 Texas redistricting, Frost lost his reelection effort in 2004 toPete Sessions. In 2004, Veasey challenged Democratic State RepresentativeGlenn Lewis for Texas's 95th House district.[5] He defeated Lewis 54%-46% in the primary[7] and won the general election unopposed. He was reelected in 2006 (91%), 2008 (96%), and 2010 (100%).[2][8]
Veasey represented Texas House District 95 from 2005 to 2013.[9] He was the chair pro tempore of the House Democratic Caucus.[10] He sponsored measures to create career and technology training in high schools, and authored HB 62, which honoredTim Cole, aTexas Tech University studentwrongly convicted of raping a fellow student in 1985. Veasey also authored a bill requiring a study to lead to greater enforcement of theJames Byrd Jr.hate crime bill.[11]
Veasey declared his candidacy forTexas's 33rd congressional district, a new congressional district for theUnited States House of Representatives that was created by reapportionment following the2010 United States census. The district is based inTarrant andDallas counties.[13] It is heavily Democratic: theCook Partisan Voting Index (PVI) was D+14. It is also highly diverse: 66% Hispanic and 17% African American.[14]
Eleven candidates filed to run in the Democratic primary. Veasey finished first, with 37% of the vote, less than the 50% needed to win the primary outright. State RepresentativeDomingo García ranked second with 25% of the vote, qualifying for the runoff election. Veasey won Tarrant with 49% of the vote, while Garcia won Dallas with 44% of the vote.[15] In the runoff, Veasey defeated Garcia, 53%-47%. He carried Tarrant with a 68% of the vote, as opposed to Garcia's 70% in Dallas.[16] In the general election, he defeatedRepublican Chuck Bradley, 73%-26%. He won Tarrant with 78% of the vote and Dallas with 66% of the vote.[17][18] Veasey is the first African-American U.S. Representative elected fromTarrant County.[19]
Veasey won re-nomination in the March 4 primary, defeating Tom Sanchez, 13,285 votes (73.5%) to 4,797 (26.5%).[20] He faced no Republican opponent in the general election but Jason Reeves qualified for the ballot as aLibertarian.[21]
Veasey won re-nomination in the March 1 primary against activist Carlos Quintanilla with 63% of the vote. He lost Dallas County but won Tarrant County. He defeated Republican M. Mark Mitchell in the general election, 74% to 26%. Veasey spent $1.5 million on his campaign.
Veasey again defeated Quintanilla in the primary, with 70% of the vote. In the general election he defeated Republican Willie Billups and Libertarian Jason Reeves with 76%.
Veasey defeated Sean Segura in the primary, 64% to 36%. He was endorsed by theDallas Morning News, which claimed Segura "lacks a cohesive knowledge of the district’s public policy needs."[22]
In the general election, Veasey beat Republican Fabian Cordova Vasquez and three minor candidates, including Quintanilla, with 67% of the vote, his weakest showing to date, largely due to Quintanilla's independent candidacy.[23]
Veasey voted with PresidentJoe Biden's stated position 100% of the time in the117th Congress, according to aFiveThirtyEight analysis.[24]
On July 19, 2024, Veasey called for Joe Biden to withdraw from the2024 United States presidential election.[25]
Veasey is asupporter of a woman's right toabortion.[26]
Veasey voted for theViolence Against Women Act and was rated the "preferred" candidate in 2020 byFeminist Majority Foundation.[27] He co-sponsored theStudent Non-Discrimination Act.[27]
Veasey has agreed withThe Heritage Foundation and opposed theSierra Club onOffshore oil and gas in the Gulf of Mexico.[28]
Veasey defended Texas oil and interests in February 2021 when PresidentJoe Biden canceled theKeystone XL pipeline and issued a moratorium on new oil and gas leases on federal lands and waters.[29]
Veasey is married to Tonya Jackson, a formerTexas Senate aide.[41] They have a son.[42] Veasey's uncle, Robert James English, was a television reporter and worked forJim Wright, a formerSpeaker of the United States House of Representatives.[2]
| Election results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Office | Election | Subject | Party | Votes | % | Opponent | Party | Votes | % | Opponent | Party | Votes | % | ||||||||||||||
| 2004 | State Representative | Primary | Marc Veasey | Democratic | 4,880 | 54.29% | Glenn Lewis (i) | Democratic | 4,109 | 45.71% | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2004 | State Representative | General | Marc Veasey | Democratic | 33,769 | 100.00% | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006 | State Representative | General | Marc Veasey (i) | Democratic | 18,259 | 90.53% | John Paul Robinson | Libertarian | 1,909 | 9.47% | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2008 | State Representative | General | Marc Veasey (i) | Democratic | 39,150 | 95.52% | Hy Siegel | Libertarian | 1,838 | 4.48% | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2010 | State Representative | General | Marc Veasey (i) | Democratic | 19,835 | 100.00% | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2012 | U.S. Representative | Primary | Marc Veasey | Democratic | 6,938 | 36.77% | Domingo Garcia | Democratic | 4,715 | 24.99% | Kathleen Hicks | Democratic | 2,372 | 12.57% | ||||||||||||||
| David Alameel | Democratic | 2,064 | 10.94% | Manuel Valdez | Democratic | 884 | 4.69% | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Steve Salazar | Democratic | 482 | 2.56% | Chrysta Castaneda | Democratic | 395 | 2.09% | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Jason E. Roberts | Democratic | 342 | 1.81% | Carlos Quintanilla | Democratic | 286 | 1.52% | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Kyev P. Tatum, Sr. | Democratic | 201 | 1.07% | J. R. Molina | Democratic | 189 | 1.00% | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 2012 | U.S. Representative | Primary Runoff | Marc Veasey | Democratic | 10,766 | 52.73% | Domingo Garcia | Democratic | 9,653 | 47.27% | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2012 | U.S. Representative | General | Marc Veasey | Democratic | 85,114 | 72.51% | Chuck Bradley | Republican | 30,252 | 25.77% | Ed Lindsay | Green | 2,009 | 1.71% | ||||||||||||||
| 2014 | U.S. Representative | Primary | Marc Veasey (i) | Democratic | 13,292 | 73.48% | Tom Sanchez | Democratic | 4,798 | 26.52% | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2014 | U.S. Representative | General | Marc Veasey (i) | Democratic | 43,769 | 86.51% | Jason Reeves | Libertarian | 6,823 | 13.49% | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2016 | U.S. Representative | Primary | Marc Veasey (i) | Democratic | 20,526 | 63.41% | Carlos Quintanilla | Democratic | 11,846 | 36.59% | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2016 | U.S. Representative | General | Marc Veasey (i) | Democratic | 93,147 | 73.71% | M. Mark Mitchell | Republican | 33,222 | 26.29% | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2018 | U.S. Representative | Primary | Marc Veasey (i) | Democratic | 15,175 | 70.32% | Carlos Quintanilla | Democratic | 6,405 | 29.68% | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2018 | U.S. Representative | General[43] | Marc Veasey (i) | Democratic | 90,805 | 76.16% | Willie Billups | Republican | 26,120 | 21.91% | Jason Reeves | Libertarian | 2,299 | 1.93% | ||||||||||||||
| 2020 | U.S. Representative | Primary[44] | Marc Veasey (i) | Democratic | 23,869 | 63.57% | Sean Paul Segura | Democratic | 13,678 | 36.43% | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2020 | U.S. Representative | General[45] | Marc Veasey (i) | Democratic | 105,317 | 66.82% | Fabian Cordova Vasquez | Republican | 39,638 | 25.15% | Carlos Quintanilla | Independent | 8,071 | 5.12% | Jason Reeves | Libertarian | 2,586 | 1.64% | Rene Wilton | Independent | 1,994 | 1.27% | ||||||
| 2022 | U.S. Representative | Primary[46] | Marc Veasey (i) | Democratic | 16,806 | 69.51% | Carlos Quintanilla | Democratic | 7,373 | 30.49% | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | U.S. Representative | General[47] | Marc Veasey (i) | Democratic | 82,081 | 71.98% | Patrick David Gillespie | Republican | 29,203 | 25.61% | Ken Ashby | Libertarian | 2,746 | 2.41% | ||||||||||||||
| 2024 | U.S. Representative | Primary[48] | Marc Veasey (i) | Democratic | 15,313 | 68.32% | Carlos Quintanilla | Democratic | 7,102 | 31.68% | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | U.S. Representative | General[49] | Marc Veasey (i) | Democratic | 114,289 | 68.79% | Patrick David Gillespie | Republican | 51,864 | 31.21% | ||||||||||||||||||
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| New constituency | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromTexas's 33rd congressional district 2013–present | Incumbent |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded by | United States representatives by seniority 118th | Succeeded by |
| People | |
|---|---|
| Other | |
