Changes

|image=Tim Kleinschmidt of TX.jpg

|image=Tim Kleinschmidt of TX.jpg

||nationality=[[United States|American]]

||nationality=[[United States|American]]

|office=[[Texas]] State Representative for<br> District 17 (Bastrop, Caldwell, Gonzales, Karnes, and Lee counties)]

|office=[[Texas]] State Representative for<br> District 17 (Bastrop, Caldwell, Gonzales, Karnes, and Lee counties)

|party=[[Republican Party|Republican]]

|party=[[Republican Party|Republican]]

|term_start=January 2009

|term_start=January 2009

==Political life==

==Political life==

When the [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] Representative Robert L. "Robby" Cook, III, of Eagle Lake in Colorado County, then located in District 17, declined to seek a seventh term in 2008,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/legeLeaders/members/memberDisplay.cfm?memberID=166&searchparams=chamber=H~city=~countyID=0~RcountyID=~district=~first=Robby~gender=~last=Cook~leaderNote=~leg=~party=~roleDesc=~Committee=|title=Robert "Robby" Cook|publisher=Legislative Reference Library|accessdate=September 21, 2000}}</ref> Unopposed for his Republican nomination, Kleinschmidt then won the general election, 32,238 votes (54 percent) to the Democrat Donnie Dippel's 25,583 votes (42.9 percent).<ref>Texas Secretary of State, General Election Returns, November 4, 2008.</ref>

When the [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] Representative Robert L. "Robby" Cook, III, of Eagle Lake in Colorado County, then located in District 17, declined to seek a seventh term in 2008,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/legeLeaders/members/memberDisplay.cfm?memberID=166&searchparams=chamber=H~city=~countyID=0~RcountyID=~district=~first=Robby~gender=~last=Cook~leaderNote=~leg=~party=~roleDesc=~Committee=|title=Robert "Robby" Cook|publisher=Legislative Reference Library|accessdate=September 21, 2020}}</ref> Unopposed for his Republican nomination, Kleinschmidt then won the general election, 32,238 votes (54 percent) to the Democrat Donnie Dippel's 25,583 votes (42.9 percent).<ref>Texas Secretary of State, General Election Returns, November 4, 2008.</ref>

Representative Kleinschmidt is a member of the House committees on (1) Agriculture and Livestock and (2) Homeland Defense and Public Safety. He is the chairman of the House Republican Caucus Policy Committee.<ref name=timbio/>

Representative Kleinschmidt is a member of the House committees on (1) Agriculture and Livestock and (2) Homeland Defense and Public Safety. He is the chairman of the House Republican Caucus Policy Committee.<ref name=timbio/>

In 2013, [[Phyllis Schlafly]]'s [[Eagle Forum]], then managed in Texas by [[Cathie Adams]], a former state chairman of the Texas Republican Party, rated Kleinschmidt 85 percent favorable. The Young Conservatives of Texas rated him a cumulative career score of 74 percent. He ranked 66 percent from the Texas League of Conservation Voters and 33 percent from the [[Sierra Club]]. The [[interest group]], Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, founded by Michael Quinn Sullivan, rated him 66 percent in 2013 and 50 percent in 2011. Both the Texas Association of Business and the National Rifle Association rated him 100 percent.<ref name=ratings>{{cite web|url=http://votesmart.org/candidate/evaluations/56621/tim-kleinschmidt#.Uwy0hMuPIfg|title=Tim Kleinschmidt's Ratings and Endorsements|publisher=votesmart.org|accessdate=September 21, 2020}}</ref>

In 2013, [[Phyllis Schlafly]]'s [[Eagle Forum]], then managed in Texas by [[Cathie Adams]], a former state chairman of the Texas Republican Party, rated Kleinschmidt 85 percent favorable. The Young Conservatives of Texas rated him a cumulative career score of 74 percent. He ranked 66 percent from the Texas League of Conservation Voters and 33 percent from the [[Sierra Club]]. The [[interest group]], Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, founded by Michael Quinn Sullivan, rated him 66 percent in 2013 and 50 percent in 2011. Both the Texas Association of Business and the National Rifle Association rated him 100 percent.<ref name=ratings>{{cite web|url=http://votesmart.org/candidate/evaluations/56621/tim-kleinschmidt#.Uwy0hMuPIfg|title=Tim Kleinschmidt's Ratings and Endorsements|publisher=votesmart.org|accessdate=September 21, 2020}}</ref>

In April 2013, Kleinschmidt suspended his legislative chief of staff, John Higgins, Jr., after Higgins was [[Indictment|indicted]] on twelve [[felony]] charges stemming from allegedly falsifying travel reimbursements. Rosemary Lehmberg, the district attorney of Travis County in [[Austin]], said that Higgins was released from custody after he posted a $10,000 bond. He was charged by a Travis County [[grand jury]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.texastribune.org/2013/04/12/top-texas-house-aide-indicted-lawyer/|title=Jay Root, "Legislator Suspends Aide Who is Facing Charges"|date=April 12, 2013|publisher=''The Texas Tribune''|accessdate=February 25, 2014}}</ref>

In April 2013, Kleinschmidt suspended his legislative chief of staff, John Higgins, Jr., after Higgins was [[Indictment|indicted]] on twelve [[felony]] charges stemming from allegedly falsifying travel reimbursements. Rosemary Lehmberg, the district attorney of Travis County in [[Austin]], said that Higgins was released from custody after he posted a $10,000 bond. He was charged by a Travis County [[grand jury]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.texastribune.org/2013/04/12/top-texas-house-aide-indicted-lawyer/|author=Jay Root|title=Legislator Suspends Aide Who is Facing Charges|date=April 12, 2013|publisher=''The Texas Tribune''|accessdate=September 21, 2020}}</ref>

Kleinschmidt defeated Democrat Carolyn Banks for re-election in 2014, but he resigned two months later in January 2015 to serve as general counsel in the Department of Agriculture.<ref>{{cite web|url=

Kleinschmidt defeated Democrat Carolyn Banks for re-election in 2014, but he resigned two months later in January 2015 to serve as general counsel in the Department of Agriculture.<ref>{{cite web|url=

[[Category:Ranchers]]

[[Category:Ranchers]]

[[Category:Politicians]]

[[Category:Politicians]]

[[Category:Republicans]]

[[Category:Republicans]]

[[Category:Southern Baptists]]

[[Category:Southern Baptists]]