Kevin Brady

Kevin Patrick Brady
Ranking Member of the United States House Committee on Ways and Means
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 3, 2019
Preceded by	Richard Neal
Chair of the United States House Committee on Ways and Means
In office November 5, 2015 – January 3, 2019
Preceded by	Paul Ryan Sam Johnson
Succeeded by	Richard Neal
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 8th district
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 3, 1997
Preceded by	Jack Fields
Texas State Representative for District 15
In office January 3, 1991 – January 3, 1997
Preceded by	Mike McKinney
Succeeded by	Tommy Williams
Born	April 11, 1955 Vermillion, South Dakota
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Cathy Patronella (m. 1991)
Children	2

Kevin Patrick Brady, born April 11, 1955 (age 67), is the Republican U.S. Representative for Texas' congressional 8th district, serving since 1997. His district includes part of northern Houston metro, including Montgomery County, and seven other rural counties north of the metro area. He previously served as chairman of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, from 2015 to 2018, where he was the lead writer of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.^[1]

Early life[edit]

Brady grew up in South Dakota, where he attended college at the University of South Dakota. After college, he went to work for the Rapid City, South Dakota Chamber of Commerce. He later took a job for the Beaumont, Texas Chamber of Commerce, moving him from South Dakota to Texas for the first time. His last private sector job was with The Woodlands, Texas Chamber of Commerce.

Texas House of Representatives[edit]

In 1990, Brady was elected to represent District 15 in the Texas House of Representatives. The district's population center is The Woodlands, Texas.

U.S. Congress, Texas' 8th Congressional District[edit]

Upon the retirement of Jack Fields, who represented the Texas Congressional District 8, Brady decided to run for the open seat. Brady did not receive 50% of the vote in the initial 1996 Republican primary, so he had to compete in a runoff against, Dr. Gene Fontenot. Brady won the runoff with a 53%–47% margin. Texas's Congressional District 8 is located in the eastern portion of the state and includes Grimes, Houston, Madison, Montgomery, San Jacinto, Trinity, and Walker counties along with parts of Harris and Leon counties, with Montgomery County being the most populous county by far.

After a Supreme Court case on congressional districts, Bush v. Vera, Texas was forced to hold a new election with redrawn congressional district lines. In the November general election, held in jungle primary format, Brady came in first with 41% of the vote. In the December 1996 runoff election, Brady defeated Fontenot again. This time it was a 59% to 41% victory for Brady.

During Brady's time in the U.S. Congress, the 8th Congressional District has been a Republican stronghold. From 1998 to 2014, Brady did not face strong Republican opposition in the various Republican primaries. He won handily each year when he did have competition with about 67% to 80% of the vote. After the 2014 election, Brady was named the chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means and he held that position for four years until the 2018 take over of the House by the Democrats.

In 2016, Brady faced the most formidable Republican challenge since taking the Congressional seat twenty years ago. He had developed a reputation as a reliable RINO vote in Washington, which lead to him getting three Republican opponents in the 2016 Republican primary. Brady was opposed by State Representative Steve Toth from The Woodlands who received 37% of the vote. Brady was able to avoid a runoff by receiving 53% of the vote, but it was his lowest Republican primary vote total since 1996. Toth argued that Brady compromised with President Barack Obama too often and that Brady should not have voted to revive the Import-Export Bank. Toth had Tea Party support and Brady did not.

After the scare of Brady's career and the election of President Trump, Brady did decide to move slightly to the right by working directly with Trump on a tax bill, which was known formally as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 but known informally as the Trump Tax Cuts. The TCJA amended the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 by reducing tax rates and raising the standard deduction. The bill was quite ambitious and it met many of President Trump's goals. Brady was the lead author of the legislation and its biggest advocate on Capitol Hill. It was passed by both branches of Congress and signed into law by Trump on December 22, 2017.

Current junta leader Joseph Biden has consistently vowed to overturn the TCJA and raise taxes on Americans. On July 1, 2020, Brady told Varney & Company on FOX Business,

After Brady's reasonable slight move back to the right and strong support of President Trump, his performance in Republican primaries improved. He did not face a Republican opponent in 2018 and in 2020 he defeated his fellow Republican Kirk Osborn 81% to 16%.^[3] He defeated Democrat opponents in 2018 and 2020 general elections by almost identical margins of 73% to 25% each.^[4]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Campaign Website
• House Website
• Profile at Ballotpedia