Dan Crenshaw | |
---|---|
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 2nd district | |
Assumed office January 3, 2019 | |
Preceded by | Ted Poe |
Personal details | |
Born | Daniel Reed Crenshaw March 14, 1984 Aberdeen, Scotland, UK |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse |
Tara Blake (m. 2013) |
Education | Tufts University (BA) Harvard University (MPA) |
Website | House website |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United States |
Branch/service | United States Navy |
Years of service | 2006–2016 |
Rank | Lieutenant Commander |
Battles/wars | War in Afghanistan (WIA) |
Awards | Bronze Star (2) Purple Heart Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with valor |
Daniel Reed Crenshaw[1] (born March 14, 1984)[2] is an American politician and former United States Navy SEAL officer serving as the U.S. Representative for Texas's 2nd congressional district since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected in the 2018 midterms.[3]
Born to American parents in Aberdeen, Scotland,[4] Crenshaw grew up in Katy, Texas.[5] His mother died of cancer when he was ten years old.[6] While his father worked in the oil industry, Crenshaw spent some time growing up in Ecuador and Colombia, gaining a proficiency in Spanish.[7] Crenshaw graduated from a high school in Bogota, Colombia named Colegio Nueva Granada in June 2002.[7]
Crenshaw graduated from Tufts University in 2006.[8] He earned a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government in 2018[9] and worked as a military legislative assistant for Congressman Pete Sessions.[8][10]
While at Tufts, he joined the Reserve Officers' Training Corps and was commissioned in the U.S. Navy after his graduation.[11] He served in the Navy SEALs for ten years, including three tours of duty, reaching the rank of lieutenant commander.[9] Crenshaw was a member of SEAL Team Three;[12] and was based out of Naval Amphibious Base Coronado in Coronado, California.[13]
While serving in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan in 2012, he was injured by the detonation of an improvised explosive device; he lost his right eye and required surgery to save the vision in his left eye.[14] After the injury, he was deployed to Bahrain and South Korea.[14] As a Navy SEAL, he earned two Bronze Star Medals, the Purple Heart, and the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with valor. He medically retired from military service in 2016.[14]
In the 2018 elections, Crenshaw ran for the United States House of Representatives in Texas's 2nd congressional district to succeed the retiring Ted Poe.[15] He announced his candidacy for Congress in November 2017.[16] Crenshaw credited national security analyst John Noonan for encouraging him to run for Congress.[17] During an interview in February 2018, he stated that border security and immigration reform would be two of his primary issues.[18]
Crenshaw and Kevin Roberts advanced from the nine-candidate first round of the Republican Party primary election to face each other in a runoff election;[19] Crenshaw received about 155 votes more than Kathaleen Wall, a candidate who launched her campaign with an event featuring a performance from Lee Greenwood and who had major backings from Senator Ted Cruz and Governor Greg Abbott. Wall spent six million dollars on her campaign and early returns led to projections that she was in a solid position to secure a spot in the run-off.[20][21][22][23][24][25][26]
The lead up to the runoff election was contentious.[27] A super PAC, funded by Roberts' brother-in-law, Mark Lanier, focused on Crenshaw's 2015 statements that were critical of presidential candidate Donald Trump, despite his opponent being critical of Trump as president. The ads also compared Crenshaw's policy proposals to the likes of President Obama and Senator Bernie Sanders.[28][29][30] Gaining the endorsement of Senator Tom Cotton, Crenshaw received national attention, appearing in print and television, including on Laura Ingraham's show on Fox Business.[31]
The Link Letter mailer by Terry Lowry received much push back after it revealed that Crenshaw was unemployed and lived with his parents. Dr. Hotze's robo call regarding Crenshaw's faith was poorly received as well.[32][33][34][35]
Crenshaw won the runoff to advance to the November general election.[36][37] In August it was reported that Crenshaw and four other candidates for Congress were current or former admins of a conservative Facebook group called "Tea Party" that stated debunked conspiracy theories.[38] Crenshaw has refuted this, stating he was unaware of the group's content and that he had been made administrator without consent. Crenshaw responded that he had shared the same campaign content to many other local and national groups without prior investigating their backgrounds.[39][40] On November 6, Crenshaw was elected, defeating Democrat Todd Litton.[41]
Following the election, Crenshaw called for de-politicization of comedy and sports, and wanted political rhetoric to be toned down.[42]
On the November 3 episode of Saturday Night Live, comedian Pete Davidson joked about Republican candidates' appearances, and described Crenshaw as looking like a "hit man in a porno movie" while adding that he lost his eye in "war or whatever." The joke received significant criticism,[43][44] and on the following episode, Davidson and Crenshaw appeared on air together. Davidson offered an apology, which Crenshaw accepted.[6][44] Crenshaw and others have speculated that the joke may have helped him win.[45][46]
In 2018, Crenshaw said that climate change is real but that there is a "very reasonable debate going on" about the extent to which human activity contributes to it, "whether it's 100 percent or whether it's 1 percent" (the scientific consensus on climate change is that human activity is a primary contributor to climate change).[50] During his 2018 election campaign, Crenshaw's website made brief mention of climate change, applauding President Trump for withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accords.[51] Crenshaw described the Paris Agreement as "costly and meaningless."[51]
In 2019, Crenshaw voiced opposition to HR 1, legislation introduced by Democrats to make voting easier. Crenshaw said the bill would "limit free speech drastically" and use taxpayer money to "legalize" the kind of electoral fraud that occurred in the 2018 North Carolina's 9th congressional district election.[52] PolitiFact found Crenshaw's assertion to be false.[52]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Dan Crenshaw | 139,012 | 52.9% | |
Democratic | Todd Litton | 119,708 | 45.5% | |
Libertarian | Patrick Gunnels | 2,371 | 0.9% | |
Independent | Scott Cubbler | 1,833 | 0.7% | |
Total votes | 262,924 | 100.00% | ||
Turnout | 262,924 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Dan Crenshaw | 20,392 | 69.84 | |
Republican | Kevin Roberts | 8,808 | 30.16 | |
Total votes | 29,200 | 100.0% |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Kevin Roberts | 15,236 | 33.02 | |
Republican | Dan Crenshaw | 12,644 | 27.40 | |
Republican | Kathaleen Wall | 12,499 | 27.09 | |
Republican | Rick Walker | 3,315 | 7.18 | |
Republican | Johnny Havens | 934 | 2.02 | |
Republican | Justin Lurie | 425 | 0.92 | |
Republican | Jon Spiers | 417 | 0.90 | |
Republican | David Balat | 348 | 0.75 | |
Republican | Malcolm Whittaker | 322 | 0.70 | |
Total votes | 46,140 | 100 |
Crenshaw married Tara Blake in 2013.[6]