Mike Conaway
Encyclopedia
Kenneth Michael "Mike" Conaway, (born June 11, 1948) is the U.S. Representative
for , serving since 2005. He is a member of the Republican Party
. The district is located in West Texas
and includes Midland
, Odessa
, San Angelo
, Brownwood
and Fredericksburg
.
in the Texas Panhandle
northeast of Amarillo
. He graduated in 1966 from Permian High School
in Odessa
in Ector County. He is a 1970 graduate of East Texas State University (since renamed Texas A&M University–Commerce
). He is married to Suzanne Conaway and has four children.
Conaway served in the United States Army from 1970 to 1972, was an accountant
and became a Certified Public Accountant
in 1974, chief financial officer at a bank, and from 1981 to 1986 was the chief financial officer of Arbusto Energy
Inc, an oil and gas exploration firm operated by George W. Bush
.
Soon after Bush was elected governor of Texas
, he appointed Conaway to the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy, which regulates accountancy in Texas. He served on the board as a volunteer for seven years, the last five as chairman.
. By January 28, 2008, Conaway had uncovered a fraud, where hundreds of thousands of dollars were missing from NRCC bank accounts, and supposed annual audits on the NRCC books had actually not been performed since 2001.
Conaway is one of the few Certified Public Accountant
s in Congress.
stepped down shortly after winning a 10th term. Conaway lost by 587 votes to fellow Republican Randy Neugebauer
. A few months later, the Texas Legislature
redrew the state's districts
in an effort engineered by then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay
. Three brand-new districts were created, one of them being the 11th, which was based in Midland. Previously, Midland had been part of the Lubbock
-based 19th District. DeLay was particularly keen to draw a district based in Midland, Odessa and the oil-rich Permian Basin in part because Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick
was from that area. This district is heavily Republican — by some accounts, the most Republican district in Texas. Republican candidates usually garner 70 percent or more of the vote in this area (Glasscock County had voted 93.1 percent for Bush in 2000, the highest percentage of any county in the nation). The race was essentially over when Conaway announced his candidacy. He won in November with 77 percent of the vote, one of the largest percentages by anyone facing major-party opposition. He was reelected unopposed in 2006 and faced no major-party opposition in 2008.
Conaway endorsed former Massachusetts
Governor
Mitt Romney
for president in 2008.
, and the two mixed in many of the same social circles in Midland.
Conaway served on the Midland Independent School District Board from 1985 to 1988.
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
for , serving since 2005. He is a member of the Republican Party
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...
. The district is located in West Texas
West Texas
West Texas is a vernacular term applied to a region in the southwestern quadrant of the United States that primarily encompasses the arid and semi-arid lands in the western portion of the state of Texas....
and includes Midland
Midland, Texas
Midland is a city in and the county seat of Midland County, Texas, United States, on the Southern Plains of the state's western area. A small portion of the city extends into Martin County. As of 2010, the population of Midland was 111,147. It is the principal city of the Midland, Texas...
, Odessa
Odessa, Texas
Odessa is a city in and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, United States. It is located primarily in Ector County, although a small portion of the city extends into Midland County. Odessa's population was 99,940 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Odessa, Texas Metropolitan...
, San Angelo
San Angelo, Texas
San Angelo is a city in the state of Texas. Located in West Central Texas it is the county seat of Tom Green County. As of 2010 according to the United States Census Bureau, the city had a total population of 93,200...
, Brownwood
Brownwood, Texas
Brownwood is a city in and the county seat of Brown County, Texas, United States. The population was 18,813 at the 2000 census.-History:The original site of the Brown County seat of Brownwood was on the east of Pecan Bayou. A dispute arose over land and water rights, and the settlers were forced...
and Fredericksburg
Fredericksburg, Texas
Fredericksburg is the seat of Gillespie County, in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 Census estimate, the city had a population of 10, 530...
.
Early life, education and career
Conaway was born in BorgerBorger, Texas
Borger is the largest city in Hutchinson County, Texas, United States. The population was 14,302 at the 2000 census. Borger is named for businessman Asa Philip "Ace" Borger, who also established the Hutchinson County seat of Stinnett and several other small towns in Texas and Oklahoma.- History...
in the Texas Panhandle
Texas Panhandle
The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a rectangular area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east...
northeast 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...
. He graduated in 1966 from Permian High School
Permian High School
Permian High School is a public high school located in Odessa, Texas and is part of the Ector County Independent School District. It was the subject of the book Friday Night Lights which in turn inspired a movie and TV series of the same name.-History:...
in Odessa
Odessa, Texas
Odessa is a city in and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, United States. It is located primarily in Ector County, although a small portion of the city extends into Midland County. Odessa's population was 99,940 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Odessa, Texas Metropolitan...
in Ector County. He is a 1970 graduate of East Texas State University (since renamed Texas A&M University–Commerce
Texas A&M University–Commerce
Texas A&M University–Commerce is a state university located in Commerce, Texas and a member of the Texas A&M University System, the second largest university within the system behind Texas A&M University in College Station....
). He is married to Suzanne Conaway and has four children.
Conaway served in the United States Army from 1970 to 1972, was an accountant
Accountant
An accountant is a practitioner of accountancy or accounting , which is the measurement, disclosure or provision of assurance about financial information that helps managers, investors, tax authorities and others make decisions about allocating resources.The Big Four auditors are the largest...
and became a Certified Public Accountant
Certified Public Accountant
Certified Public Accountant is the statutory title of qualified accountants in the United States who have passed the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination and have met additional state education and experience requirements for certification as a CPA...
in 1974, chief financial officer at a bank, and from 1981 to 1986 was the chief financial officer of Arbusto Energy
Arbusto Energy
Arbusto Energy was a petroleum and energy company formed in Midland, Texas, in 1977, for former US President George W. Bush by a group of investors which included Dorothy Bush, Lewis Lehrman, William Henry Draper III, Bill Gammell, and James R. Bath. The company's chief financial officer was K...
Inc, an oil and gas exploration firm operated by 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....
.
Soon after Bush was elected governor of Texas
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...
, he appointed Conaway to the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy, which regulates accountancy in Texas. He served on the board as a volunteer for seven years, the last five as chairman.
Committee assignments
- Committee on AgricultureUnited States House Committee on AgricultureThe U.S. House Committee on Agriculture, or Agriculture Committee is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. The House Committee on Agriculture has general jurisdiction over federal agriculture policy and oversight of some federal agencies, and it can recommend funding...
- Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk ManagementUnited States House Agriculture Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk ManagementThe House Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management is a subcommittee within the House Agriculture Committee. The subcommittee oversees program and markets for major commercial crops, such as cotton, cottonseed, wheat, feed grains , soybeans, oilseeds, rice, dry beans, peas, and...
(Chairman) - Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and PoultryUnited States House Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and PoultryThe House Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry is a subcommittee within the House Agriculture Committee. It oversees all issues relating to livestock, dairy, poultry, meat, seafood and seafood products including federal inspection, marketing, and promotion of these commodities...
- Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management
- Committee on Armed ServicesUnited States House Committee on Armed Servicesthumb|United States House Committee on Armed Services emblemThe U.S. House Committee on Armed Services, commonly known as the House Armed Services Committee, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives...
- Subcommittee on Oversight and InvestigationsUnited States House Armed Services Subcommittee on Oversight and InvestigationsHouse Armed Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations is a subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee in the United States House of Representatives.-Jurisdiction:...
- Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities
- Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
- Committee on Ethics
- Permanent Select Committee on IntelligenceUnited States House Permanent Select Committee on IntelligenceThe United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence is a committee of the United States House of Representatives, currently chaired by Mike Rogers. It is the primary committee in the U.S...
Caucus memberships
- CPA Caucus (Founder)
- International Conservation CaucusUnited States Congressional International Conservation CaucusThe U.S. Congressional International Conservation Caucus is a bipartisan congressional organization that was founded in September 2003 with the conviction that “the United States of America has the opportunity, the obligation and the interests to advance the conservation of natural resources for...
- Reliable Energy Caucus
- Sportsmen's Caucus
Party leadership
In January 2007, Conaway began chairing the three-member audit committee for the National Republican Congressional CommitteeNational Republican Congressional Committee
The National Republican Congressional Committee is the Republican Hill committee which works to elect Republicans to the United States House of Representatives....
. By January 28, 2008, Conaway had uncovered a fraud, where hundreds of thousands of dollars were missing from NRCC bank accounts, and supposed annual audits on the NRCC books had actually not been performed since 2001.
Conaway is one of the few Certified Public Accountant
Certified Public Accountant
Certified Public Accountant is the statutory title of qualified accountants in the United States who have passed the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination and have met additional state education and experience requirements for certification as a CPA...
s in Congress.
Farm subsidies
From 2003 through 2005, $14.7 billion in crop subsidies went to the congressional districts of members on the House Committee on Agriculture, an analysis by the non-partisan Environmental Working Group found. That was 42.4% of the total subsidies. Conaway is reported to have brought $322 million to his district.Political campaigns
Conaway first ran for elective office in 2003, when he ran in a special election for the 19th Congressional District, which came open after 18-year Republican incumbent Larry CombestLarry Combest
Larry Ed Combest is a retired Texas Republican U.S. politician who was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1985 to 2003.-Early life:...
stepped down shortly after winning a 10th term. Conaway lost by 587 votes to fellow Republican 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 few months later, the Texas Legislature
Texas Legislature
The Legislature of the state of Texas is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Texas. The legislature is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The Legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin...
redrew the state's districts
2003 Texas redistricting
The 2003 Texas redistricting refers to a controversial mid-decade congressional redistricting plan appealed to the United States Supreme Court in League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry...
in an effort engineered by then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay
Tom DeLay
Thomas Dale "Tom" DeLay is a former member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1984 until 2006. He was Republican Party House Majority Leader from 2003 to 2005, when he resigned because of criminal money laundering charges in...
. Three brand-new districts were created, one of them being the 11th, which was based in Midland. Previously, Midland had been part of the 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...
-based 19th District. DeLay was particularly keen to draw a district based in Midland, Odessa and the oil-rich Permian Basin in part because Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick
Tom Craddick
Thomas Russell Craddick, known as Tom Craddick , was the first Republican to have served as Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives since Reconstruction. Craddick wielded the Speaker's gavel from 2003-2009...
was from that area. This district is heavily Republican — by some accounts, the most Republican district in Texas. Republican candidates usually garner 70 percent or more of the vote in this area (Glasscock County had voted 93.1 percent for Bush in 2000, the highest percentage of any county in the nation). The race was essentially over when Conaway announced his candidacy. He won in November with 77 percent of the vote, one of the largest percentages by anyone facing major-party opposition. He was reelected unopposed in 2006 and faced no major-party opposition in 2008.
Conaway endorsed former Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
Governor
Governor of Massachusetts
The Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the executive magistrate of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The current governor is Democrat Deval Patrick.-Constitutional role:...
Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.The son of George W...
for president in 2008.
Personal life
Conaway has long been friends with George W. BushGeorge 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....
, and the two mixed in many of the same social circles in Midland.
Conaway served on the Midland Independent School District Board from 1985 to 1988.
External links
- U.S. Congressman Mike Conaway official U.S. House site
- Mike Conaway for U.S. Congress official campaign site
- Profile at SourceWatchSourceWatchSourceWatch is an internet wiki site that is a collaborative project of the liberal Center for Media and Democracy...
- Mike Conaway - Lessons Learned at Odessa Permian Five Part Series