Block, Upload, Automoderated users, edit, move, protect, rollback
57,799
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Created page with "'''David Anthony Swinford''' (born June 28, 1941) is an agricultural consultant from the Texas Panhandle and a former member of the Texas House of Representatives.<ref>{{cite new..."
'''David Anthony Swinford''' (born June 28, 1941) is an agricultural consultant from the Texas Panhandle and a former member of the Texas House of Representatives.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/pdf/biodata.pdf | title=David Swinford Biography |publisher=[[Texas House of Representatives]] | year=2008 | first= | last= | accessdate = 2007-01-18 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20061208151705/http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/pdf/biodata.pdf |archivedate = 2006-12-08}}</ref> He represented District 88 from 1991 to 1993 and then District 87, which currently icludes [[Carson County, Texas|Carson]], [[Moore County, Texas|Moore]], and [[Sherman County, Texas|Sherman]], and [[Potter County, Texas|Potter]] counties.
Swinford did not seek an eleventh term in the state House in the [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[primary election]] held on March 2, 2010. His successor, fellow Republican [[Four Price|Walter Thomas Price, IV]], known as Four Price, is a [[attorney at law (United States)|attorney]] from [[Amarillo, Texas|Amarillo]]. Before winning the [[general election]] held on November 2, 2010, Price had defeated an intraparty rival, Victor Leal, an Amarillo restaurateur and the former [[mayor]] of Muleshoe, the seat of Bailey County, Texas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://enr.sos.state.tx.us/enr/results/mar02_148_state.htm?x=0&y=18482&id=272|title=Republican primary election returns, March 2, 2010|publisher=sos.state.tx.us|accessdate=March 6, 2010}}</ref>
==Background==
Swinford was born to the late Oley Earl and Hazel Alene Swinford, formerly of Wichita Falls, Texas. His brother, Jerry Swinford (1936–2011), a former field representative for the Texas Commission on Fire Protection, was at the time of his death the president of the Lubbock Retired Fire Fighters' Association in Lubbock, Texas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lubbockonline.com/obituaries/2011-04-19/jerry-swinford?v=1303176653|title=Jerry Swinford|publisher=''[[Lubbock Avalanche-Journal]]''|accessdate=April 19, 2011}}</ref> Swinford obtained a [[Bachelor of Science]] degree in agricultural education from [[Texas Tech University]] in Lubbock. He is married to the former Joyce McCoy (born 1943). They have a son, David C. Swinford (born 1965) of Lubbock, and a daughter, Melissa Rae Swinford (born 1967) of Dumas. Swinford has a nephew, Van Swinford of Dumas, the son of Jerry Swinford. Another brother, Sammy Allen Swinford, is deceased, as is Swinford's niece, Sheila Swinford Wright (1951–2008) of Lubbock, the daughter of Sammy Swinford.<ref>http://lubbockonline.com/stories/072708/obi_310190962.shtml</ref>
==Political career==
Swinford was first elected to the Texas House in 1990 to succeed fellow Republican [[Dick Waterfield]], a rancher from Canadian in Hemphill County,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/legeLeaders/members/memberDisplay.cfm?memberID=409&searchparams=chamber=H~city=~countyID=0~RcountyID=~district=88~first=~gender=~last=Waterfield~leaderNote=~leg=70~party=~roleDesc=~Committee=|title=Legislative Reference Library: Richard Waterfield|publisher=lrl.state.tx.us|accessdate=October 29, 2011}}</ref> who ran unsuccessfully as his party's nominee for the [[United States House of Representatives]], having been defeated by the incumbent Democrat [[Bill Sarpalius]] of [[Amarillo, Texas|Amarillo]].
In 1992, Swinford won his second state House election by having defeated the Democrat Bonnie Schomp, 17,897 (54.9 percent) to 14,720 (45.1 percent). The two candidates virtually tied in Potter County, but Swinford's home base in Moore County put him over the top. In [[2002]], Swinford defeated the Democrat Jesse Quackenbush, 17,086 (65.8 percent) to 8,872 (34.2 percent). He was unopposed in 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2004, and 2006.
Swinford chaired the House State Affairs Committee. [[Leo Berman]], a Tyler Republican, complained publicly in May 2007 that Swinford had refused to consider any of a series of [[immigration]] restriction bills that he had offered. He claimed that illegal immigration costs Texas taxpayers $3.5 billion per year and creates havoc in hospital emergency rooms.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://digdeepertexas.com/category/leo-berman/|title=Oh, my, Berman had quite a little tantrum, it seems|publisher=digdeepertexas.com|accessdate=July 4, 2010}}</ref>
Swinford previously headed the Texas House Agriculture and Livestock Committee. An advocate of rural development, Swinford was first elected to the Texas House in 1990. The Panhandle is a heavily Republican section of Texas: only one Democrat in the Texas House, Joseph P. Heflin of Crosbyton, represented West Texas in the chamber, and he was unseated in 2010 by the Republican [[Jim Landtroop]].
Swinford resides in [[Dumas, Texas|Dumas]], the seat of Moore County, some fifty miles north of Amarillo.
==Issues==
Though he was generally considered a [[conservative]] in the legislature through his support of [[right-to-life]] measures and home schooling — his grandchildren have been educated at home — Swinford announced in 2006 that he no longer supports the construction of a border fence to separate Texas from [[Mexico]]. Swinford went to the [[Rio Grande River]] to confer with local officials and observe conditions. He reported that the longstanding free flow of goods and services across the border would be hampered by a fence, which he otherwise claimed would not particularly enhance security.
Other conservatives, such as those in the interest group known as Americans for Prosperity, quarreled with Swinford in 2007, when he failed to get out of his State Affairs Committee House Bill 1753, which would have barred such groups as the Texas Association of Counties and the Texas Municipal League from lobbying the legislature with taxpayer dollars.
In 1999, Swinford received the Knapp-Porter Award, the highest honor given by the Texas Agricultural Extension Service. The award was presented at [[Texas A&M University]] in College Station to honor Swinford for his support of the Extension Service, which handles the 4-H program.
Swinford resigned his House seat on August 31, 2010, prior to the expiration of his term. This necessitated a [[special election]] held in conjunction with the November 2 general election. Four Price also prevailed in the special election for the few remaining weeks of Swinford's term.
== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swinford, David}}
[[Category:Texas]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
Swinford did not seek an eleventh term in the state House in the [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[primary election]] held on March 2, 2010. His successor, fellow Republican [[Four Price|Walter Thomas Price, IV]], known as Four Price, is a [[attorney at law (United States)|attorney]] from [[Amarillo, Texas|Amarillo]]. Before winning the [[general election]] held on November 2, 2010, Price had defeated an intraparty rival, Victor Leal, an Amarillo restaurateur and the former [[mayor]] of Muleshoe, the seat of Bailey County, Texas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://enr.sos.state.tx.us/enr/results/mar02_148_state.htm?x=0&y=18482&id=272|title=Republican primary election returns, March 2, 2010|publisher=sos.state.tx.us|accessdate=March 6, 2010}}</ref>
==Background==
Swinford was born to the late Oley Earl and Hazel Alene Swinford, formerly of Wichita Falls, Texas. His brother, Jerry Swinford (1936–2011), a former field representative for the Texas Commission on Fire Protection, was at the time of his death the president of the Lubbock Retired Fire Fighters' Association in Lubbock, Texas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lubbockonline.com/obituaries/2011-04-19/jerry-swinford?v=1303176653|title=Jerry Swinford|publisher=''[[Lubbock Avalanche-Journal]]''|accessdate=April 19, 2011}}</ref> Swinford obtained a [[Bachelor of Science]] degree in agricultural education from [[Texas Tech University]] in Lubbock. He is married to the former Joyce McCoy (born 1943). They have a son, David C. Swinford (born 1965) of Lubbock, and a daughter, Melissa Rae Swinford (born 1967) of Dumas. Swinford has a nephew, Van Swinford of Dumas, the son of Jerry Swinford. Another brother, Sammy Allen Swinford, is deceased, as is Swinford's niece, Sheila Swinford Wright (1951–2008) of Lubbock, the daughter of Sammy Swinford.<ref>http://lubbockonline.com/stories/072708/obi_310190962.shtml</ref>
==Political career==
Swinford was first elected to the Texas House in 1990 to succeed fellow Republican [[Dick Waterfield]], a rancher from Canadian in Hemphill County,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/legeLeaders/members/memberDisplay.cfm?memberID=409&searchparams=chamber=H~city=~countyID=0~RcountyID=~district=88~first=~gender=~last=Waterfield~leaderNote=~leg=70~party=~roleDesc=~Committee=|title=Legislative Reference Library: Richard Waterfield|publisher=lrl.state.tx.us|accessdate=October 29, 2011}}</ref> who ran unsuccessfully as his party's nominee for the [[United States House of Representatives]], having been defeated by the incumbent Democrat [[Bill Sarpalius]] of [[Amarillo, Texas|Amarillo]].
In 1992, Swinford won his second state House election by having defeated the Democrat Bonnie Schomp, 17,897 (54.9 percent) to 14,720 (45.1 percent). The two candidates virtually tied in Potter County, but Swinford's home base in Moore County put him over the top. In [[2002]], Swinford defeated the Democrat Jesse Quackenbush, 17,086 (65.8 percent) to 8,872 (34.2 percent). He was unopposed in 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2004, and 2006.
Swinford chaired the House State Affairs Committee. [[Leo Berman]], a Tyler Republican, complained publicly in May 2007 that Swinford had refused to consider any of a series of [[immigration]] restriction bills that he had offered. He claimed that illegal immigration costs Texas taxpayers $3.5 billion per year and creates havoc in hospital emergency rooms.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://digdeepertexas.com/category/leo-berman/|title=Oh, my, Berman had quite a little tantrum, it seems|publisher=digdeepertexas.com|accessdate=July 4, 2010}}</ref>
Swinford previously headed the Texas House Agriculture and Livestock Committee. An advocate of rural development, Swinford was first elected to the Texas House in 1990. The Panhandle is a heavily Republican section of Texas: only one Democrat in the Texas House, Joseph P. Heflin of Crosbyton, represented West Texas in the chamber, and he was unseated in 2010 by the Republican [[Jim Landtroop]].
Swinford resides in [[Dumas, Texas|Dumas]], the seat of Moore County, some fifty miles north of Amarillo.
==Issues==
Though he was generally considered a [[conservative]] in the legislature through his support of [[right-to-life]] measures and home schooling — his grandchildren have been educated at home — Swinford announced in 2006 that he no longer supports the construction of a border fence to separate Texas from [[Mexico]]. Swinford went to the [[Rio Grande River]] to confer with local officials and observe conditions. He reported that the longstanding free flow of goods and services across the border would be hampered by a fence, which he otherwise claimed would not particularly enhance security.
Other conservatives, such as those in the interest group known as Americans for Prosperity, quarreled with Swinford in 2007, when he failed to get out of his State Affairs Committee House Bill 1753, which would have barred such groups as the Texas Association of Counties and the Texas Municipal League from lobbying the legislature with taxpayer dollars.
In 1999, Swinford received the Knapp-Porter Award, the highest honor given by the Texas Agricultural Extension Service. The award was presented at [[Texas A&M University]] in College Station to honor Swinford for his support of the Extension Service, which handles the 4-H program.
Swinford resigned his House seat on August 31, 2010, prior to the expiration of his term. This necessitated a [[special election]] held in conjunction with the November 2 general election. Four Price also prevailed in the special election for the few remaining weeks of Swinford's term.
== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swinford, David}}
[[Category:Texas]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Republicans]]