Matt Krause

Matthew Haston "Matt" Krause
Texas State Representative from District 93 (part of Tarrant County)
Incumbent
Assumed office January 8, 2013
Preceded by	Barbara Parrish Nash
Personal details
Born	August 19, 1980 Tyler, Smith County, Texas, USA
Nationality	American
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Jennie Sue Napier Krause
Children	Jeremiah, Hannah Sue, and James Reagan Krause
Residence	Fort Worth, Tarrant County Texas
Alma mater	San Diego Christian College Liberty University School of Law
Occupation	Lawyer and political activist
Religion	Southern Baptist

Matthew Haston Krause, known as Matt Krause (born August 19, 1980)^[1] is a lawyer from Fort Worth, Texas, who is a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 93, which encompasses a portion of Tarrant County in suburban Fort Worth.^[2]

Considered one of the most conservative of all current Texas legislators, Krause was first elected in 2012 and ran unopposed for a second two-year term in the November 2014 general election.^[3]

Background

Born in Tyler in Smith County in East Texas, Krause is the son of a Baptist pastor and a schoolteacher mother. He lived for a time as a child in Ranger in Eastland County and Whitehouse in Smith County before his parents moved the family to San Antonio. He attended Thousand Oaks Elementary School and graduated in 1998 from the Castle Hills First Baptist School in suburban Castle Hills, where his mother was a faculty member. In his senior year Krause, who played mostly basketball, was named the "Greater San Antonio Male Athlete of the Year" by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.^[4]

After high school, Krause attended San Diego Christian College in Santee in suburban San Diego, California, where his basketball skills brought his team in his sophomore year to the Final 4 of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. He carried both athletic and academic scholarship by the time he graduated. Thereafter, Krause, who had married the former Jennie Sue Napier while in college, enrolled and subsequently graduated in 2007 in the inaugural class of Jerry Falwell's Liberty University School of Law in Lynchburg, Virginia. Krause worked on the Law Review and the Moot Court program and graduated third in his class.^[4]

The Krauses are members of the Glenview Baptist Church in Fort Worth.^[4]They have three children, Jeremiah (born 2007), Hannah Sue (born 2008), and James Reagan Krause (born 2012).^[3]

Political life

After law school, Krause opened a Texas office of Liberty Counsel, a nonprofit organization devoted to the sanctity of human life, religious liberties, and the traditional family. It was this venture which brought the Krauses to Fort Worth. He became a precinct chairman for the Tarrant County Republican Party and worked to draw voters in both primary and general elections cycles. He is president of the Northwest Tarrant Republican Club. He also works to cement the bond between the Republican Party and the Tea Party movement.^[4]

Krause first ran for the state House in District 99 in the 2010 Republican primary, when he was defeated by the long-term incumbent and still-serving Charlie Geren, 8,037 (57.6 percent) to 5,915 (42.4 percent).^[5]

In the May 29, 2012 Republican primary, Krause ran in his current District 93 against the one-term incumbent Barbara Parrish Nash (born c. 1944), a former school board and city council member in Arlington and a third candidate, Patricia "Pat" Carlson. Krause won the nomination without need for a runoff with 3,098 votes (50.7 percent).^[6] In 2010, Nash had unseated the Democrat Paula Pierson, by 431 votes, 49.3 percent to 47.6 percent.^[7] In the November 6, 2012 general election, Krause defeated the Democrat Shane Hardin and the Libertarian Party Bruce Beckman. He polled 29,527 votes (58.9 percent) to Hardin's 18,797 (37.5 percent), and Beckman's 1,768 (3.5 percent).^[8]

Krause is a member of the House committees of (1) County Affairs and (2) Special Purpose Districts, the same assignments as his District 92 colleague, Jonathan Stickland.^[3]

In March 2015, Krause introduced legislation known as the Unborn Child Due Process Act, which would clarify a legal provision in the Texas Advance Directives Act that forbids anyone from withholding or withdrawing treatment from a pregnant patient. The bill would permit the state to appoint an attorney ad litem to represent the interest of the unborn child in situations where life-sustaining treatment of a pregnant patient is in jeopardy.^[9]

Legislative positions

A pro-life legislator, Krause supported in 2013 the ban on abortion after twenty weeks of gestation; the measure passed the House, 96-49. He co-sponsored companion legislation to increase medical and licensing requirements of abortion providers,^[10] a law that the opponents claim could shut down many abortion clinics. These issues brought forth an unsuccessful filibuster in the Texas State Senate by Wendy R. Davis of Fort Worth, who in 2014 as the Democratic nominee for governor was handily defeated by Republican Greg Abbott.^[11] The Texas Right to Life Committee rated Krause 87 percent favorable.^[12]

Krause voted against the legislation to establish a taxpayer-funded breakfast program for public schools; the measure nevertheless passed the House, 73-58. He co-sponsored legislation to provide marshals for school security as a separate law-enforcement entity. He voted for the extension of the franchise tax exemption to certain businesses, which passed the House 117-24. He voted against the adoption of the biennial 2013 state budget. He voted to require testing for narcotics of those individuals receiving unemployment compensation. Krause voted against the "equal pay for women" measure, which nevertheless passed the House, 78-61.^[10]

Krause sponsored the measure to forbid the state from engaging in the enforcement of federal regulations of firearms. He sponsored related legislation to permit college and university officials to carry concealed weapons in the name of campus security. He voted to reduce the time required to obtain a concealed-carry permit in Texas. He backed the redistricting bills for the state House and Senate and the United States House of Representatives. He voted against term limits for certain state officials. He voted against the bill to prohibit texting while driving. In the name of election integrity, he voted for legislation to forbid one individual from turning in multiple ballots.^[10]

Interest group ratings

In 2013, Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum, managed in Texas by Cathie Adams, a former state chairman of the Texas Republican Party, rated Krause 100 percent favorable; the Young Conservatives of Texas, 95 percent. The Texas League of Conservation Voters rated him 50 percent; a similar group Environment Texas rated him 37 percent. The interest group, Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, founded by Michael Quinn Sullivan, rated him 100 percent. The Texas Association of Business scored Krause 73 percent. The National Rifle Association scored Krause 92 percent, based on candidate statements in 2012.^[12]

Presidential endorsements

He has stated that he supports Ted Cruz in the 2016 presidential election. He has also endorsed conservative David Watts in the District 7 House race. Watts in 2014 had unsuccessfully opposed George P. Bush for Texas Land Commissioner.

References

1. "Rep. Matt Krause (R-TX 93rd District)". Texas Library Association. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
2. "Matt Krause". Texas Legislative Reference Library.
3. "Matt Krause's Biography". votesmart.com. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
4. "State Rep. Matt Krause, District 93 (R-Fort Worth)". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
5. "Republican primary election returns, March 2010 (House District 99)". Texas Secretary of State. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
6. "Republican primary election returns, May 29, 2012 (House District 92)". Texas Secretary of State. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
7. "General election returns, November 2, 2010 (House District 92)". Texas Secretary of State. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
8. "General election returns, November 6, 2012 (House District 93)". Texas Secretary of State. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
9. "Lone Star Politics: Unborn Child Due Process Act". NBC in Dallas-Fort Worth. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
10. "Matt Krause's Voting Records". votesmart.org. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
11. M. Fernandez (June 25, 2013). "Filibuster in Texas Senate Tries to Halt Abortion Bill". The New York Times. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
12. "Matt Krause's Ratings and Endorsements". votesmart.org. Retrieved March 18, 2014.