Jim Landtroop
Encyclopedia
James Franklin Landtroop, Jr., known as Jim Landtroop (born January 16, 1968), is a business
man from Plainview, Texas
, who is an in incoming Republican
member of the Texas House of Representatives
from District 85 in the South Plains
. In the general election
held on November 2, 2010, Landtroop handily unseated two-term Democratic
incumbent
Joseph P. Heflin
of Crosbyton
, 17,426 votes (61.6 percent) to 10,853 (38.4 percent). Landtroop won fifteen of the sixteen counties in the district, losing only in Heflin's own Crosby County. He secured comfortable margins in two of the larger counties in the district, his own Hale County
and Howard County, which includes Big Spring
.
in Eastland County
east of Abilene
. Landtroop's biography does not include his place of birth, childhood information, or high school attended. He enrolled at Texas Wesleyan University
in Fort Worth
, where from 1986-1988 he played basketball
and was a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes
. He obtained his Bachelor of Science
degree in 1991 from Texas A&M University
in College Station
, where he majored in business management. He was a member of Sigma Iota Epsilon
, the national management honor society. Having formerly been employed in Dallas
, Texas, by State Farm
, Landtroop now owns an insurance
company in Plainview, the seat of Hale County, located north of Lubbock
. His agency handles the accounts of some 1,400 clients, with $2.5 million in annual sales. Landtroop is a member of the Lions Club, Chamber of Commerce
, United Way, and the American Cancer Society
. He is a founding member of the Plainview Bible Church (established 1999) and serves as the boys' varsity basketball coach at Plainview Christian Academy, where his team went to the state semi-finals in 2009.
, a former Texas House Speaker
and an interparty favorite of U.S. President George W. Bush
. Heflin received 14,323 votes (49 percent) to Landtroop's 14,106 votes (48.3 percent) and David K. Schumacher (born 1946) of Anson
, nominee of the Libertarian Party
, who polled 793 critical ballots, or 2.7 percent.
Landtroop said that he re-entered the state legislative race in 2010 after his 2006 defeat because he is "tired of our big-spending, over-reaching government." He vows to "cut spending, reduce taxes, create jobs, protect our ballot box through voter identification, and tell Washington, D.C., that Texans can govern themselves."Texas Attorney General
Greg Abbott
came to Plainview to campaign for Landtroop, citing their mutual opposition to the "Affordable Health Care Act" signed into law in March 2010 by President Barack Obama
. Abbott and several other states' attorneys general have filed suit to challenge the constitutionality of the measure.
Landtroop declares himself a "conservative voice for West Texas". He added, "The people in this district are remarkably conservative, and my opponent has shown, over his two [terms] in there, that he doesn't vote in a way that matches up with those conservative values."
In victory, Landtroop said that "God
has just blessed us with this victory, and we look forward to representing the people of this district in this next session. . . . The mood of the people, you know, they had now four years to see what happens when Democrats are in control [nationally], and I think people realize that's not such a good idea — at least if you are a true conservative."
In addition to Crosby, Hale, and Howard, the 85th District includes these thirteen other counties (listed alphabetically): Borden
, Fisher, Floyd, Garza
, Glasscock, Irion, Jones
, Kent, Lynn, Reagan
, Sterling
, Stonewall, and Terry.
A then youthful supporter of the late President Ronald W. Reagan, Landtroop is a recipient of the 2004 "Ronald Reagan Republican Gold Medal Award." He has worked in the campaigns of his friend, U.S. Representative Randy Neugebauer
, a Lubbock Republican who first won Texas' 19th congressional district seat in a special election in 2003. He was the congressman's Hale County co-chairman in 2004 and has since served on the Neugebauer campaign finance board. Neugebauer endorsed Landtroop's legislative candidacy. In 2009, Governor
Rick Perry
appointed Landtroop to the Brazos River
Authority Board.
Landtroop joins three other newly elected conservative state legislators from West Texas and the Panhandle, Four Price
of Amarillo
and John Frullo
and Charles Perry
, both of Lubbock.
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
man from Plainview, Texas
Plainview, Texas
Plainview is a city in and the county seat of Hale County, Texas, United States. The population was 22,336 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Plainview is located at ....
, who is an in incoming Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
member of the Texas House of Representatives
Texas House of Representatives
The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Texas Legislature. The House is composed of 150 members elected from single-member districts across the state. The average district has about 150,000 people. Representatives are elected to two-year terms with no term limits...
from District 85 in the South Plains
South Plains
South Plains is a vernacular term that refers to a region in West Texas consisting of the portion of the Llano Estacado extending south of the Texas Panhandle, centered at Lubbock. While prominent in the area of petroleum production, the South Plains is mainly an agricultural region, producing a...
. In the general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
held on November 2, 2010, Landtroop handily unseated two-term Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
incumbent
Incumbent
The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
Joseph P. Heflin
Joseph P. Heflin
Joseph Paul Heflin, known as Joe Heflin , is a departing Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 85 in the South Plains...
of Crosbyton
Crosbyton, Texas
Crosbyton is a city in and the county seat of Crosby County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,874 at the 2000 census. Crosbyton is part of the Lubbock Metropolitan Statistical Area....
, 17,426 votes (61.6 percent) to 10,853 (38.4 percent). Landtroop won fifteen of the sixteen counties in the district, losing only in Heflin's own Crosby County. He secured comfortable margins in two of the larger counties in the district, his own Hale County
Hale County, Texas
Hale County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 36,602. It was organized in 1888, and is named for Lt. John C. Hale, a hero of the Battle of San Jacinto. The seat of the county is Plainview. It is home of the noted former Hale County Judge, Judge Bill...
and Howard County, which includes Big Spring
Big Spring, Texas
Big Spring is a city in and the county seat of Howard County, Texas, United States, at the crossroads of U.S. Highway 87 and Interstate 20. With a population of 25,233 at the 2000 census, it is the largest city between Midland to the west, Abilene to the east, Lubbock to the north, and San Angelo...
.
Background
Landtroop is a fifth generation Texan. His parents are James, Sr., and Bobbie Landtroop (both born ca. 1940) of RangerRanger, Texas
Ranger is a city in Eastland County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,584 at the 2000 census. Ranger College, a community college, is the second largest employer in the community....
in Eastland County
Eastland County, Texas
*Carbon*Cisco*Desdemona, a ghost town*Eastland*Gorman*Mangum*Olden*Ranger*Rising Star*Romney-See also:*National Register of Historic Places listings in Eastland County, Texas*Santa Claus Bank Robbery-External links:** at the University of Texas*...
east of Abilene
Abilene, Texas
Abilene is a city in Taylor and Jones counties in west central Texas. The population was 117,063 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Abilene Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a 2006 estimated population of 158,063. It is the county seat of Taylor County...
. Landtroop's biography does not include his place of birth, childhood information, or high school attended. He enrolled at Texas Wesleyan University
Texas Wesleyan University
Texas Wesleyan University is a private, coeducational, liberal arts university founded by the United Methodist Church in 1890. The main campus is located in the Polytechnic Heights Neighborhood of Fort Worth, Texas, with branch campuses in Burleson and downtown Fort Worth.-History:Texas Wesleyan...
in Fort Worth
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
, where from 1986-1988 he played basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
and was a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes
Fellowship of Christian Athletes
The Fellowship of Christian Athletes is a non-profit interdenominational Christian organization founded in 1954 and that has been based in Kansas City, Missouri since 1956. It falls within the tradition of Muscular Christianity. Although established by evangelical Protestants, the concept has...
. He obtained his Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
degree in 1991 from Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
in College Station
College Station, Texas
College Station is a city in Brazos County, Texas, situated in East Central Texas in the heart of the Brazos Valley. The city is located within the most populated region of Texas, near three of the 10 largest cities in the United States - Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio...
, where he majored in business management. He was a member of Sigma Iota Epsilon
Sigma Iota Epsilon
Sigma Iota Epsilon is a National Honorary and Professional Management Fraternity. The stated goals of Sigma Iota Epsilon are;*To stimulate interest and achievement in the field of management;*To stimulate scholarship in management;...
, the national management honor society. Having formerly been employed in Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, Texas, by State Farm
State farm
State farm can refer to:*Sovkhoz, a type of state-owned farm in the Soviet Union*Volkseigenes Gut, a type of state-owned farm in East Germany*Państwowe Gospodarstwo Rolne, a type of state-owned farm in People's Republic of Poland...
, Landtroop now owns an insurance
Insurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
company in Plainview, the seat of Hale County, located north of Lubbock
Lubbock, Texas
Lubbock is a city in and the county seat of Lubbock County, Texas, United States. The city is located in the northwestern part of the state, a region known historically as the Llano Estacado, and the home of Texas Tech University and Lubbock Christian University...
. His agency handles the accounts of some 1,400 clients, with $2.5 million in annual sales. Landtroop is a member of the Lions Club, Chamber of Commerce
Chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...
, United Way, and the American Cancer Society
American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society is the "nationwide community-based voluntary health organization" dedicated, in their own words, "to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and...
. He is a founding member of the Plainview Bible Church (established 1999) and serves as the boys' varsity basketball coach at Plainview Christian Academy, where his team went to the state semi-finals in 2009.
Legislative races
In 2006, Heflin defeated Landtroop by 217 votes to claim the seat vacated by James "Pete" LaneyPete Laney
James E. "Pete" Laney is a U.S. Democratic Party politician from West Texas. He was a member of the Texas House of Representatives for 34 years from Hale Center . Laney served as Speaker for ten years from 1993 to 2003, a record matching that set by his predecessor, fellow Democrat Gibson D...
, a former Texas House Speaker
Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives
The Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the Texas House of Representatives. The Speaker's main duties are to conduct meetings of the House, appoint committees, and enforce the Rules of the House...
and an interparty favorite of U.S. President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
. Heflin received 14,323 votes (49 percent) to Landtroop's 14,106 votes (48.3 percent) and David K. Schumacher (born 1946) of Anson
Anson, Texas
Anson is a city in and the county seat of Jones County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,556 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Abilene, Texas Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, nominee of the Libertarian Party
Libertarian Party (United States)
The Libertarian Party is the third largest and fastest growing political party in the United States. The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects its brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration...
, who polled 793 critical ballots, or 2.7 percent.
Landtroop said that he re-entered the state legislative race in 2010 after his 2006 defeat because he is "tired of our big-spending, over-reaching government." He vows to "cut spending, reduce taxes, create jobs, protect our ballot box through voter identification, and tell Washington, D.C., that Texans can govern themselves."Texas Attorney General
Texas Attorney General
The Texas Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the State of Texas.The department has offices at the William P. Clements State Office Building at 300 West 15th Street in Austin.-History:...
Greg Abbott
Greg Abbott
Gregory Wayne "Greg" Abbott is the Texas Attorney General, and is the second Republican since Reconstruction to serve in that role. Abbott was sworn in on December 2, 2002, following John Cornyn's election to the U.S. Senate...
came to Plainview to campaign for Landtroop, citing their mutual opposition to the "Affordable Health Care Act" signed into law in March 2010 by President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
. Abbott and several other states' attorneys general have filed suit to challenge the constitutionality of the measure.
Landtroop declares himself a "conservative voice for West Texas". He added, "The people in this district are remarkably conservative, and my opponent has shown, over his two [terms] in there, that he doesn't vote in a way that matches up with those conservative values."
In victory, Landtroop said that "God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
has just blessed us with this victory, and we look forward to representing the people of this district in this next session. . . . The mood of the people, you know, they had now four years to see what happens when Democrats are in control [nationally], and I think people realize that's not such a good idea — at least if you are a true conservative."
In addition to Crosby, Hale, and Howard, the 85th District includes these thirteen other counties (listed alphabetically): Borden
Borden County, Texas
Borden County is a rural county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 729. Its county seat is Gail. Gail and Borden County are named for Gail Borden, Jr., businessman, publisher, surveyor, and inventor of condensed milk...
, Fisher, Floyd, Garza
Garza County, Texas
Garza County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas southeast of Lubbock. In 2000, its population was 4,872. Its county seat is Post. Garza is named for a pioneer Bexar County family, as it was once a part of that county....
, Glasscock, Irion, Jones
Jones County, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 20,785 people, 6,140 households, and 4,525 families residing in the county. The population density was 22 people per square mile . There were 7,236 housing units at an average density of 8 per square mile...
, Kent, Lynn, Reagan
Reagan County, Texas
Reagan County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 3,326. The seat of the county is Big Lake. It is named in honor of John Henninger Reagan , who served as postmaster general of the Confederate States of America and also as a U.S....
, Sterling
Sterling County, Texas
Sterling County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 1,393. Its county seat is Sterling City. The county is named for W. S. Sterling, an early settler in the area. Sterling County is one of 30 prohibition, or entirely dry, counties in...
, Stonewall, and Terry.
A then youthful supporter of the late President Ronald W. Reagan, Landtroop is a recipient of the 2004 "Ronald Reagan Republican Gold Medal Award." He has worked in the campaigns of his friend, U.S. Representative Randy Neugebauer
Randy Neugebauer
Robert Randolph "Randy" Neugebauer is the U.S. Representative for , serving since a special election in 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district includes a large swath of West Texas, including Lubbock and Abilene...
, a Lubbock Republican who first won Texas' 19th congressional district seat in a special election in 2003. He was the congressman's Hale County co-chairman in 2004 and has since served on the Neugebauer campaign finance board. Neugebauer endorsed Landtroop's legislative candidacy. In 2009, Governor
Governor of Texas
The governor of Texas is the head of the executive branch of Texas's government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Texas Legislature, and to convene the legislature...
Rick Perry
Rick Perry
James Richard "Rick" Perry is the 47th and current Governor of Texas. A Republican, Perry was elected Lieutenant Governor of Texas in 1998 and assumed the governorship in December 2000 when then-governor George W. Bush resigned to become President of the United States. Perry was elected to full...
appointed Landtroop to the Brazos River
Brazos River
The Brazos River, called the Rio de los Brazos de Dios by early Spanish explorers , is the longest river in Texas and the 11th longest river in the United States at from its source at the head of Blackwater Draw, Curry County, New Mexico to its mouth at the Gulf of Mexico with a drainage...
Authority Board.
Landtroop joins three other newly elected conservative state legislators from West Texas and the Panhandle, Four Price
Four Price
Walter Thomas Price, IV, , known as Four Price because he is the fourth generation in his family to bear the name Walter Thomas Price, is an attorney from Amarillo, Texas, who is the Republican state representative from District 87 in the Texas Panhandle...
of Amarillo
Amarillo, Texas
Amarillo is the 14th-largest city, by population, in the state of Texas, the largest in the Texas Panhandle, and the seat of Potter County. A portion of the city extends into Randall County. The population was 190,695 at the 2010 census...
and John Frullo
John Frullo
John Frullo is a businessman from Lubbock, Texas, who is a conservative Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 84, and a member of the Tea Party Caucus. Since 1993, Frullo has owned Midtown Printing Company in Lubbock...
and Charles Perry
Charles Perry (Texas politician)
Charles Lee Perry is a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 83 based in Lubbock, Texas. A certified public accountant, Perry unseated incumbent Representative Delwin L. Jones, the oldest current member of the Texas House, in the April 13, 2010, runoff election. He...
, both of Lubbock.