Lawrence A. Phillips, known as Larry Phillips (born April 5, 1966), is an attorney from Sherman

Sherman, Texas

Sherman is a city in and the county seat of Grayson County, Texas, United States. The city's estimated population as of 2009 was 38,407. It is also one of two principal cities in the Sherman-Denison Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, who is a 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 62 (Fannin

Fannin County, Texas

As of the census of 2000, there were 31,242 people, 11,105 households, and 7,984 families residing in the county. The population density was 35 people per square mile . There were 12,887 housing units at an average density of 14 per square mile...

 and Grayson

Grayson County, Texas

As of the census of 2000, there were 110,595 people, 42,849 households, and 30,208 families residing in the county. The population density was 118 people per square mile . There were 48,315 housing units at an average density of 52 per square mile...

 counties).

Phillips received a Bachelor of Business Administration

Bachelor of Business Administration

The Bachelor of Business Administration is a bachelor's degree in Commerce and business administration. In most universities, the degree is conferred upon a student after four years of full-time study in one or more areas of business concentrations; see below...

 degree from Baptist

Baptist

Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...

-affiliated Baylor University

Baylor University

Baylor University is a private, Christian university located in Waco, Texas. Founded in 1845, Baylor is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.-History:...

 in Waco

Waco, Texas

Waco is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas. Situated along the Brazos River and on the I-35 corridor, halfway between Dallas and Austin, it is the economic, cultural, and academic center of the 'Heart of Texas' region....

. He then procured his Juris Doctor

Juris Doctor

Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...

 from the University of Houston Law Center

University of Houston Law Center

The University of Houston Law Center is a law school located in Houston, Texas. It is accredited by the American Bar Association and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools. Founded in 1947, the Law Center is one of 12 academic colleges of the University of Houston...

 in Houston

Houston, Texas

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

.

Phillips initially won his seat in 2003 in a special runoff election with nearly 66 percent of the vote; his defeated opponent was the Democrat

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...

 Donnie Jarvis, also of Sherman. The vacancy appeared when 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....

 appointed Republican State Representative Ronald H. Clark

Ron Clark (judge)

Ron Clark is a United States federal judge.Born in Caripito, Venezuela, Clark received a B.A. from the University of Connecticut in 1973 and an M.A. from the University of Connecticut in 1974. He was in the United States Army from 1974 to 1976. In 1979, he received a J.D. from the University of...

 of Sherman as a judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas is the Federal district court with jurisdiction over the eastern part of Texas and is a part of the Fifth Circuit. The court's headquarters are in Tyler, Texas and has five subdivision offices in Beaumont, Lufkin, Marshall,...

, based in the branch court at Beaumont

Beaumont, Texas

Beaumont is a city in and county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, United States, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's population was 118,296 at the 2010 census. With Port Arthur and Orange, it forms the Golden Triangle, a major industrial area on the...

 in southeastern Texas. Clark had held the state House seat since 1997.

Phillips is the chairman of the House Transportation Committee and a member of the committees on (1) Ethics, (2) Redistricting, and (3) Border and Intergovernmental Affairs. Phillips secured his latest full term in 2010 with nearly 88 percent of the ballots cast over the Libertarian

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...

 Kenneth Myers. No Democrat sought the seat. Phillips has also been a member of numerous committees to date:
82nd legislature

• Border & Intergovernmental Affairs
• General Investigating & Ethics
• Oversight of Criminal Justice
• Redistricting
• Transportation (Chair)

81st Legislature

• Culture, Recreation & Tourism
• General Investigating & Ethics (Vice Chair)
• Oversight of Criminal Justice
• Transportation (Vice Chair)
• Transportation Funding, Select (Chair)

80th Legislature

• Culture, Recreation, & Tourism
• General Investigating & Ethics (Chair)
• Intermediate Care Facility Services, Select (Chair)
• Operation & Management of the Texas Youth Commission
• Private Participation in Toll Projects
• Transportation (Vice Chair)

79th Legislature

• Culture, Recreation, & Tourism
• Election Contests, Select
• Transportation (Vice Chair)

78th Legislature

• Construction-Related Workers' Comp, Select
• Election Contests, Select
• State Cultural and Recreational Resources
• Transportation (Vice Chair)

In November 2010, State Representative Bryan Hughes

Bryan Hughes (Texas politician)

Douglas Bryan Hughes, known as Bryan Hughes , is an attorney in Mineola, Texas, who has been since 2003 a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 5, which includes Camp, Harrison, Upshur, and Wood counties in the northeastern section of his state.-Background:Hughes...

, an attorney from Mineola

Mineola, Texas

Mineola is a city in Wood County, Texas, United States. It lies at the junction of U.S. highways 69 and 80, eighty miles east of Dallas in southwestern Wood County...

 in Wood County

Wood County, Texas

As of the census of 2000, there were 36,752 people, 14,583 households, and 10,645 families residing in the county. The population density was 56 people per square mile . There were 17,939 housing units at an average density of 28 per square mile...

 in east Texas, withdrew his support for a second term for moderate Republican Joe Straus

Joe Straus

Joseph R. Straus, III, known as Joe Straus , is the current Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives. He represents District 121, which comprises northeastern Bexar County, including part of San Antonio, Texas, and several surrounding communities...

  of San Antonio

San Antonio, Texas

San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...

 as Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives

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...

. Hughes charged that Straus was punishing intraparty conservative opponents with unfair redistricting

Redistricting

Redistricting is the process of drawing United States electoral district boundaries, often in response to population changes determined by the results of the decennial census. In 36 states, the state legislature has primary responsibility for creating a redistricting plan, in many cases subject to...

. Hughes based his claime on a conversation with one of Straus' staffers. Hughes said that Phillips told him that two East Texas members were being especially earmarked through redistricting, then Representative-elect Erwin Cain

Erwin Cain

Erwin Alfred Cain is an attorney and businessman from Sulphur Springs, Texas, who is a freshman Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 3 Erwin Alfred Cain (born March 15, 1960) is an attorney and businessman from Sulphur Springs, Texas, who is a freshman Republican...

 of Sulphur Springs

Sulphur Springs, Texas

Sulphur Springs is a city in Hopkins County, Texas, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 14,551. It is the county seat of Hopkins County.-Geography:Sulphur Springs is located at ....

 and Dan Flynn of Van

Van, Texas

Van is a city in Van Zandt County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,362 at the 2000 census. According to a 2006 estimate from the U.S...

. Representative Chuck Hopson

Chuck Hopson

Charles L. Hopson, II, known as Chuck Hopson , is a pharmacist and businessman in Jacksonville, Texas, who has been since 2001 a member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 11, which includes Cherokee, Houston, Panola and Rusk counties in the northeastern portion of his...

 of Jacksonville

Jacksonville, Texas

Jacksonville is located in Cherokee County, Texas, United States. The population was 13,868 at the 2000 census. It is the principal city of the Jacksonville Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Cherokee County and part of the larger Tyler-Jacksonville Combined Statistical...

, a Democrat-turned-Republican and chairman of the House Ethics Committee, called upon Hughes to reveal the name of the informant. Under oath at his own request, Hughes identified the informant as Representative Phillips. Before the Ethics Committee, Phillips removed himself as a member for the duration of the hearing and denied Hughes's accusation. The phone conversation between Hughes and Phillips was not recorded. The committee hence did not reach a judgment because of the lack of corroborating witnesses.