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{{template|This article is updated from {{{site|Wikipedia}}} but the text was originally written by BHathorn (under the name) and does not include alterations made by others from that site.|background=#aff|category=Copied Articles}}
{{template|This article is updated from {{{site|Wikipedia}}} but the text was originally written by BHathorn (under the name) and does not include alterations made by others from that site.|background=#aff|category=Copied Articles}}
{{Infobox officeholder
{{Infobox officeholder
|name=Lyle Thomas Larson
|name=Lyle Thomas Larson
|image =
|image=Lyle Larson of TX.jpg
|nationality=[[United States|American]]
|nationality=[[United States|American]]
|office=[[Texas]] State Representative for<br> District 122 (Bexar County)
|office=[[Texas]] State Representative for<br> District 122 (Bexar County)
|term_start=January 2011
|term_start=January 2011
|term_end=
|term_end=
|preceded=Frank Corte, Jr.
|preceded=[[Frank Corte, Jr.]]
|succeeded=
|succeeded=
|office2=Member of the Bexar County Commissioners Court for Precinct 3
|office2=Member of the Bexar County Commissioners Court for Precinct 3
|term_start2=1997
|term_start2=1997
|term_end2=2008
|term_end2=2008
|succeeded2=Kevin Wolff
|succeeded2=Kevin Wolff
|office3=Member of the San Antonio City Council
|office3=Member of the San Antonio<br> City Council
|term_start3=1991
|term_start3=1991
|term_end3=1995
|term_end3=1995
|footnotes=
|footnotes=
}}
}}
'''Lyle Thomas Larson''' (born March 25, 1959)<ref name=votesmart/> is a [[business]]man from [[San Antonio]], [[Texas]], who is a [[Republican Party|Republican]] member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 122 in his native northern Bexar County. He was first elected to the state House in 2010 to succeed another Republican, Frank Corte, Jr.
'''Lyle Thomas Larson''' (born March 25, 1959)<ref name=votesmart/> is a [[business]]man from [[San Antonio]], [[Texas]], who is a [[Republican Party|Republican]] member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 122 in his native northern Bexar County. He was first elected to the state House in 2010 to succeed another Republican, [[conservative]] [[Frank Corte, Jr.]]
==Background==
==Background==
during his time while he played defensive end on the [[football]] team at Douglas MacArthur High School in San Antonio, from which he graduated in 1977. In 1981, he obtained a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from [[Texas A&M University]] in College Station, where his father had obtained his veterinary degree. He married and divorced right out of college. Prior to starting his own company, American Consortium, which distributes industrial products for Polaroid, he worked for Nalen Chemical Company and Johnson & Johnson.<ref name=larsonandabbott>Peggy Fikac, "S.A. Rep. Larson is not scared by any governor," ''San Antonio Express-News,'' August 6, 2017, pp. 1, A23.</ref><ref name=larsonbio>{{cite web|url=http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/scanned/members/bios/5699.pdf|title=Lyle Larson Biography|publisher=Legislative Reference Library of Texas|accessdate=October 26, 2013}}</ref>
during his time while he played defensive end on the [[football]] team at Douglas MacArthur High School in San Antonio, from which he graduated in 1977. In 1981, he obtained a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from [[Texas A&M University]] in College Station, where his father had obtained his veterinary degree. He married and divorced right out of college. Prior to starting his own company, American Consortium, which distributes industrial products for Polaroid, he worked for Nalen Chemical Company and Johnson & Johnson.<ref name=larsonandabbott>Peggy Fikac, "S.A. Rep. Larson is not scared by any governor," ''San Antonio Express-News,'' August 6, 2017, pp. 1, A23.</ref><ref name=larsonbio>{{cite web|url=http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/scanned/members/bios/5699.pdf|title=Lyle Larson Biography|publisher=Legislative Reference Library of Texas|accessdate=October 26, 2013}}</ref>
Larson is a member of the [[United Methodist Church]] denomination.<ref name=votesmart>{{cite web|url=http://votesmart.org/candidate/key-votes/98049/lyle-larson#.Umw-AhUo4fQ|title=Representative Lyle Larson's Voting Records|publisher=votesmart.org|accessdate=October 26, 2013}}</ref> He is a quail hunter and bass fisherman. San Antonio International Ag Promotions, which he founded, hosts such trade expositions as the San Antonio International Farm and Ranch Show and the Texas Hunting and Outdoor Classic.<ref name=larsonbio/> He takes an annual fishing trip to [[Lake Michigan]] with friends from high school and college.<ref name=larsonandabbott/>
Larson is a member of the [[United Methodist Church]] denomination.<ref name=votesmart>{{cite web|url=https://votesmart.org/candidate/key-votes/98049/lyle-larson#.Umw-AhUo4fQ|title=Representative Lyle Larson's Voting Records|publisher=votesmart.org|accessdate=October 26, 2013}}</ref> He is a quail hunter and bass fisherman. San Antonio International Ag Promotions, which he founded, hosts such trade expositions as the San Antonio International Farm and Ranch Show and the Texas Hunting and Outdoor Classic.<ref name=larsonbio/> He takes an annual fishing trip to [[Lake Michigan]] with friends from high school and college.<ref name=larsonandabbott/>
==Political life==
==Political life==
Larson was elected on a nonpartisan ballot in 1991 to the San Antonio City Council, on which he served for District 10 for two two-year terms under then [[Mayor]] Nelson William Woff. In 1996, he was elected to the Bexar County commissioner's court for Precinct 3, a partisan position that he filled from 1997 to 2008. There are only three other commissioners and the county judge, a position held since 2001 by former Mayor Wolff.
Larson was elected on a nonpartisan ballot in 1991 to the San Antonio City Council, on which he served for District 10 for two two-year terms under then [[Mayor]] Nelson William Woff. In 1996, he was elected to the Bexar County commissioner's court for Precinct 3, a partisan position that he filled from 1997 to 2008. There are only three other commissioners and the county judge, a position held since 2001 by former Mayor Wolff.
While on the commissioners court as the lone Republican member, Larson worked to lower [[property tax]] rates seven times during his twelve years in office. In 2005, he pushed the court to freeze property taxes for senior citizens and the disabled. He opposed pay raises for commissioners and refused to accept increases when approved. Larson worked to reduce the impact of the 2005 round of military base closings in San Antonio, which gained a reported 11,000 jobs despite the loss of 1,000 positions on the bases. Larson previously served on the San Antonio - Bexar County Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Alamo Area Council of Governments, and the Greater San Antonio Crime Commission.<ref name=larsonbio/>
While on the commissioners court as the lone Republican member, Larson worked to lower [[property tax]] rates seven times during his twelve years in office. In 2005, he pushed the court to freeze property taxes for senior citizens and the disabled. He opposed pay raises for commissioners and refused to accept increases when approved. Larson worked to reduce the impact of the 2005 round of military base closings in San Antonio, which gained a reported eleven thousand jobs despite the loss of one thousand positions on the bases. Larson previously served on the San Antonio - Bexar County Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Alamo Area Council of Governments, and the Greater San Antonio Crime Commission.<ref name=larsonbio/>
In 2008, Larson ran unsuccessfully for Texas' 23rd congressional district seat once held by the Republican Henry Bonilla of San Antonio. In the Republican [[primary]], Larson defeated [[attorney]] and banker [[Francisco Canseco]], formerly of [[Laredo]]. Larson then lost in the [[general election]] to incumbent [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] [[Ciro Rodriguez]] of San Antonio in the [[Hispanic]]-majority district. The vote was 55.8 percent for Rodriguez and 41.9 percent for Larson, with the remaining ballots held by a [[Libertarian Party]] candidate.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist127_state.htm|title=Election Returns|date-November 7, 2006|publisher=Texas Secretary of State|accessdate=February 16, 2018}}</ref>> In 2010, Rodriguez was unseated by Canseco, who won the Republican nomination that year, but Canseco served only for one term, having been defeated in 2012 by another Democrat, Pete Gallego, a state legislator from Alpine in Brewster County.<ref name=electionreturns>{{cite web|url=http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist.exe |title=Texas general election, November 6, 2012 |publisher=elections.sos.state.tx.us |accessdate=October 26, 2013 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140109062336/http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist.exe |archivedate=January 9, 2014 |df= }}</ref> Gallego lost the seat in 2014 to the [[African-American]] [[Moderate Republican]] Will Hurd, who faces an intra-party challenge on March 6 from the conservative [[Alma Arredondo-Lynch, a [[dentist]] from Uvalde County.
In 2008, Larson ran unsuccessfully for Texas' 23rd congressional district seat once held by the Republican Henry Bonilla of San Antonio. In the Republican [[primary]], Larson defeated [[attorney]] and banker [[Francisco Canseco]], formerly of [[Laredo]]. Larson then lost in the [[general election]] to incumbent [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] [[Ciro Rodriguez]] of San Antonio in the [[Hispanic]]-majority district. The vote was 55.8 percent for Rodriguez and 41.9 percent for Larson, with the remaining ballots held by a [[Libertarian Party]] candidate.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist127_state.htm|title=Election Returns|date=November 7, 2006|publisher=Texas Secretary of State|accessdate=February 16, 2018}}</ref> In 2010, Rodriguez was unseated by Canseco, who won the Republican nomination that year, but Canseco served only for one term, having been defeated in 2012 by another Democrat, Pete Gallego, a state legislator from Alpine in Brewster County.<ref name=electionreturns>{{cite web|url=http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist164_state.htm|title=Election Returns|date=November 6, 2012|publisher=Texas Secretary of State|accessdate=February 16, 2018}}</ref> Gallego lost the seat in 2014 to the [[African-American]] [[Moderate Republican]] Will Hurd, who faces an intra-party challenge on March 6 from the conservative [[Alma Arredondo-Lynch]], a [[dentist]] from Uvalde County.
In 2010, Larson was elected state representative; he polled 56,702 votes (77.4 percent) to 16,576 (22.6 percent) for the Democrat Masarrat Ali.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist154_state.htm|title=Election Returns|date=November 2, 2010|publisher=Texas Secretary of State|accessdate=February 16, 2018}}</ref> Larson's total of nearly 57,000 votes was the greatest number of ballots polled by any candidate for state representative in the entire state of Texas that year.<ref name=larsonbio/> The runner-up, Republican Rob Eissler in District 15, received 52,550 votes.<ref name=electionreturns/>
In 2010, Larson was elected state representative; he polled 56,702 votes (77.4 percent) to 16,576 (22.6 percent) for the Democrat Masarrat Ali.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist154_state.htm|title=Election Returns|date=November 2, 2010|publisher=Texas Secretary of State|accessdate=February 16, 2018}}</ref> Larson's total of nearly 57,000 votes was the greatest number of ballots polled by any candidate for state representative in the entire state of Texas that year.<ref name=larsonbio/> The runner-up, Republican Rob Eissler in District 15, received 52,550 votes.<ref name=electionreturns/>
On the eve of the special legislative session of 2017, Larson continued to express frustration with Governor Abbott: "The reality is, since the governor skipped class for four months, we've got ... summer school with him now to help him learn what we did."<ref>Peggy Fikac, "Curtain is rising on Act iI in Austin: Reputations are on the line in this Legislature drama," ''San Antonio Express-News,'' July 16, 2017, p. 1.</ref> Larson said that he is unlikely to serve in the state House much past 2020: "My ambitions are just to try to do the right thing. ... And then leave everything on the field, then walk away."<ref name=larsonandabbott/>
On the eve of the special legislative session of 2017, Larson continued to express frustration with Governor Abbott: "The reality is, since the governor skipped class for four months, we've got ... summer school with him now to help him learn what we did."<ref>Peggy Fikac, "Curtain is rising on Act iI in Austin: Reputations are on the line in this Legislature drama," ''San Antonio Express-News,'' July 16, 2017, p. 1.</ref> Larson said that he is unlikely to serve in the state House much past 2020: "My ambitions are just to try to do the right thing. ... And then leave everything on the field, then walk away."<ref name=larsonandabbott/>
In the Republican primary scheduled for March 6, 2018, Larson faces a conservative challenge from Christopher Michael "Chris" Fails (born August 12, 1975),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mylife.com/christopher-fails/e214247296710|title=Christopher M. Fails|publisher=MyLife.com|accessdate=February 16, 2018}}</ref>a graduate of [[Robert E. Lee High School]] in San Antonio and the mayor of Hollywood Park in Bexar County. Governor Abbott has endorsed Fails in the showdown. ''The San Antonio Express-News'', a [[liberal]] paper, however, rallied behind Larson's bid for a fifth term and rejected the claim that the lawmaker is not particularly conservative:
In the Republican primary held on March 6, 2018, Larson faced a conservative challenge from Christopher Michael "Chris" Fails (born August 12, 1975),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mylife.com/christopher-fails/e214247296710|title=Christopher M. Fails|publisher=MyLife.com|accessdate=February 16, 2018}}</ref>a graduate of [[Robert E. Lee High School]] in San Antonio and the mayor of Hollywood Park in Bexar County. Governor Abbott endorsed Fails in the showdown, while Straus donated $10,000 to the Larson campaign. ''The San Antonio Express-News'', a [[liberal]] paper, however, rallied behind Larson's bid for a fifth term and rejected the claim that the lawmaker is not particularly conservative:
<block quote>
<blockquote>
As for Larson being insufficiently conservative, it’s a familiar charge also when it comes to Texas Speaker Joe Straus — and just as bogus. Straus, by the way, is backing Larson in this race. And that backing, in our view, speaks louder than Abbott’s criticism.<br>
As for Larson being insufficiently conservative, it’s a familiar charge also when it comes to Texas Speaker Joe Straus — and just as bogus. Straus, by the way, is backing Larson in this race. And that backing, in our view, speaks louder than Abbott’s criticism.<br>
Larson notes that he supported most of the legislation that Abbott favored in the special session last year, but says no voter should expect his or her representative to be totally in lockstep with the governor, lieutenant governor or, for that matter, with such groups as Empower Texans, which has targeted Straus and other legislators for allegedly being insufficiently conservative.<br>
Larson notes that he supported most of the legislation that Abbott favored in the special session last year, but says no voter should expect his or her representative to be totally in lockstep with the governor, lieutenant governor or, for that matter, with such groups as Empower Texans, which has targeted Straus and other legislators for allegedly being insufficiently conservative.<br>
Larson is particularly on point on taxation and public schools. While backing a cap on local jurisdictions’ ability to raise property taxes, he says this will not stop rising property taxes because, even at a 2.5 percent cap, taxes will rise. He correctly points to the Legislature’s failure to adequately fund public schools as the real driver of higher property taxes. He would like the state’s share of funding for public schools to increase from its current 37 percent or so to 50 percent.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lmtonline.com/opinion/editorials/article/Larson-deserves-GOP-nomination-12580290.php?utm_campaign=hptexas|title=Larson deserves GOP nomination|publisher=''Laredo Morning Times'' reporting on ''The San Antonio Express-News'' endorsement of Larson|date=February 11, 2018|accessdate=February 16, 2018}}</ref></blockquote>
Larson is particularly on point on taxation and public schools. While backing a cap on local jurisdictions’ ability to raise property taxes, he says this will not stop rising property taxes because, even at a 2.5 percent cap, taxes will rise. He correctly points to the Legislature’s failure to adequately fund public schools as the real driver of higher property taxes. He would like the state’s share of funding for public schools to increase from its current 37 percent or so to 50 percent.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lmtonline.com/opinion/editorials/article/Larson-deserves-GOP-nomination-12580290.php?utm_campaign=hptexas|title=Larson deserves GOP nomination|publisher=''Laredo Morning Times'' reporting on ''The San Antonio Express-News'' endorsement of Larson|date=February 11, 2018|accessdate=February 16, 2018}}</ref></blockquote>
In the 2018 primary, Larson turned backed the challenge from Chris Fails, 10,874 (59.5 percent) to 6,568 (40.5 percent).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://enrpages.sos.state.tx.us/public/mar06_325_state.htm?x=0&y=1394&id=142|title=Election Returns|date=March 6, 2018|publisher=Texas Secretary of State|accessdate=March 7, 2018}}</ref> He now faces Democratic opposition in the November 6 general election.
After his re-nomination, Larson called upon Abbott to "make amends" with Republican members of the state House whom the governor has offended. "Somewhere, a bunch of humility needs to fall ... He has a few admirers in the House, but the lion's share of the people are not impressed with his leadership style," Larson said.<ref>Peggy Fikac, "Abbott is urged to soothe hard feelings", ''San Antonio Express-News'', March 19, 2018, pp. 1, A2.</ref>
Despite his squabbles with Governor Abbott, Larson emerged from the November 6, 2018, general election with 58,062 votes (62 percent) to 35,577 ballots (38 percent) for his Democratic opponent, Claire Barnett.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://enrpages.sos.state.tx.us/public/nov06_331_state.htm?x=0&y=0&id=545|title=Election Returns|date=November 6, 2018|publisher=Texas Secretary of State|accessdate=November 10, 2018}}</ref>
==References==
==References==
[[Category:Business People]]
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[[Category:Moderate Republicans]]
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[[Category:RINOs]]
[[Category:United Methodists]]
[[Category:United Methodists]]