Bryan Slaton

Bryan Lee Slaton
Texas State Representative for District 2 (Hopkins, Hunt, and Van Zandt counties)
In office January 2021 – May 9, 2023 (expulsion by the House)
Preceded by	Dan Flynn
Born	February 2, 1978 Mineola, Wood County, Texas
Nationality	American
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	one prior marriage (reason for ending not known), Sharmen Slaton (married 2017)
Children	one son
Residence	Royce City, Hunt County, Texas
Alma mater	North Mesquite (Texas) High School Ouachita Baptist University (Arkadelphia, Arkansas) Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (Fort Worth) University of North Texas (Denton)
Occupation	Businessman, Clergyman
Religion	Southern Baptist

Bryan Lee Slaton (born February 2, 1978) is a businessman and a Baptist clergyman who is the former state representative for Texas House District 2, which encompasses Hopkins, Hunt, and Van Zandt counties in the northeastern portion of Texas. He has been the financial administrator at the Arapaho Road Baptist Church in Garland, Texas.

On July 14, 2020, in his third attempt to be elected to the state House, Slaton unseated incumbent Representative Dan Flynn by a 22-point margin in the Republican primary runoff.. On November 3, 2020, he defeated Democrat Bill Brannon in the general election, 62,903 votes (81 percent) to 14,410 (19 percent). He won re-election in 2022 in the very Republican district he represented.

Slaton resides in the portion of Royce City in Hunt County with his second wife, Sharman, and their son.

During his brief House tenure, most of his legislation was generally meaningless and never even got as far as a committee hearing. As such, the liberal magazine Texas Monthly named him "Cockroach" for both the 2021 (a rarity for any first-term legislator) and 2023 sessions (the latter being punctuated with "Exterminated" after his expulsion).

In March 2021, Representative Slaton, a conservative, proposed that Texas establish a fund to pay for border security that would include completion of the wall on the southern border.

During the 88th Legislative Session (2023), Slaton filed over 60 bills and amendments, primarily on such useless issues as naming county morgues after President Joe Biden (though he did reintroduce the Texit bill). Outside of commemorative resolutions, none of his proposed legislation ever made it to as much as a committee hearing (and upon reports of misconduct, even his resolutions were not considered).

In April 2023, the Texas House Committee on General Investigating (which oversees all complaints against House Members) began an investigation into Slaton after reports surfaced that he had an "inappropriate relationship" with a 19-year-old intern (by getting her drunk, then having unprotected sexual relations). On May 6, the Committee published its report on the matter and determined that the reports were true, that Slaton showed no remorse or regret for his actions (claiming that the committee had no jurisdiction since his actions took place at his personal residence), and unanimously recommended that Slaton be expelled from the House. The Committee then submitted a resolution calling for his expulsion, signed by all five members. Slaton abruptly resigned from the House on May 8, making no apology to either his victims or any of his colleagues. However, citing Texas law that stated Slaton would be eligible for salary and benefits until his successor was elected and qualified, the House voted unanimously to expel Slaton on May 9. Slaton's expulsion was the first one in the House since 1927, when two members were expelled for bribery.