Bryan Slaton

Bryan Lee Slaton (born February 2, 1978)[1] is a former pastor and American politician. He has represented the 2nd District in the Texas House of Representatives since 2021. A member of the Republican Party, Slaton also works for his brother's financial service business.

Bryan Slaton
Slaton at the 2022 Hazlitt Summit hosted by Young Americans for Liberty Foundation
Member of the Texas House of Representatives
from the 2nd district
Assumed office
January 12, 2021
Preceded byDan Flynn
Personal details
Born (1978-02-02) February 2, 1978
Mineola, Texas, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseSharmen
Children1
Residence(s)Royse City, Texas, U.S.
Alma materOuachita Baptist University (BA)
University of North Texas (BA)
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (M.Div.)
OccupationPastor; Financial Services
Websitehttps://bryanslaton.com/

Early life, education, and career

Born in Mineola, Texas.[2] He attended Ouachita Baptist University, where he received a BA in youth ministry and speech communication. He then attended University of North Texas and earned a degree in accounting.[2] Slaton later earned a Master of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.[2] He served in the ministry as a youth and family minister for 13 years, for three of those years at River Hills Baptist Church in Corpus Christi, Texas.[2] Bryan works for his brother's small business, Slaton Financial Services.[2]

Career

In 2016, Slaton filed to run against incumbent state representative Dan Flynn. On March 1, 2016, Slaton narrowly lost to the incumbent in the Republican primary. Flynn polled 14,917 votes (51 percent) to Slaton's 14,336 (49 percent).[3] In 2018, Slaton decided to take on the incumbent again. In the 2018 primary election, Flynn defeated Slaton again, 11,803 (51.7 percent) to 11,013 (48.3 percent).

However, on July 14, 2020, Slaton defeated Flynn by a 22-point margin in the Republican primary runoff, forcing the incumbent into a runoff election.[4][5] Slaton ran to Flynn's right.[6] Slaton criticized Flynn for unnecessary and superfluous spending.[7] He sent out mail which pointed out Flynn's campaign-funded lifestyle expenses such as nearly $14,000 in spending on cookies and using his campaign fund to pay for a Netflix subscription.[7] Slaton campaigned on abolishing property taxes, ending overly broad laws that give government excess power during emergencies, and pledging to oppose any tax increase.[7]

In March 2021, Slaton introduced a bill that would abolish abortion and make it a criminal act, whereby women and physicians who received and performed abortions, respectively, could receive the death penalty. The bill made no exceptions for rape or incest; it did provide exemptions for ectopic pregnancies that threaten the life of the woman "when a reasonable alternative to save the lives of both the mother and the unborn child is unavailable."[8]

In June 2022, Slaton said in a social media post that he planned to introduce legislation in the 2023 legislative session that would ban minors from drag shows in Texas.[9]

Slaton supports a ban on Democrats being given committee chairmanships as long as the Republicans hold the majority of seats in the Texas House.[10] On December 6, 2022, Slaton proposed a rule change to the Texas House Administration Committee that would end Democrats receiving committee chairmanships. These chairmanships enable them to kill conservative priority legislation.[11]

On February 27, 2023, Slaton introduced HB 2889, which would allow a tax credit for married residents of Texas that would increase as the number of children increases, either by procreation or adoption.[12]

On March 6, 2023, Slaton introduced HB 3596, the "Texas Independence Referendum Act" (TEXIT),[13] which would allow for a referendum to investigate the secession of Texas from the U.S. The U.S. Supreme Court case Texas v. White ruled in 1869 that the Constitution did not permit states to unilaterally secede from the United States.[14]

References
  1. "Bryan Slaton's Biography". votesmart.org. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
  2. About Bryan, Bryan Slaton for Texas campaign. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  3. "Republican primary returns". Texas Secretary of State. March 1, 2016. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  4. Pollock, Cassandra & Reese Oxner. Three Texas House incumbents — Bryan Slaton, Anna Eastman and J.D. Sheffield — lose in primary runoffs, Texas Tribune, July 14, 2020. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  5. Rowen, Ben. Roundup: Texas Primary Runoffs 2020, Texas Monthly, July 15, 2020.
  6. Haslet, Mark. Dan Flynn, Bryan Slaton Compete In July 14 GOP Primary Runoff, Texas Standard, July 9, 2020.
  7. Waltens, Brandon. Runoff Review: Incumbent Dan Flynn Faces Bryan Slaton Head-To-Head, Texas Scorecard, May 2, 2020.
  8. Najmabadi, Shannon (March 11, 2021). "Another Texas GOP Lawmaker Is Attempting to Make Abortion Punishable by the Death Penalty". News 19/WLTX. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
  9. Will DuPree, Nexstar Media Wire (June 6, 2022). "Texas lawmaker proposes banning drag shows in presence of minors". The Hill. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
  10. Johnson, Brad. The Back Mic: Legislators Opposed to Democratic Chairs Listed, Rep. Moody Quells DA Appointment Rumors, House Rules Discussed, The Texan, December 9, 2022.
  11. Henry, Sydnie. State Rep. Slaton Proposes House Rule to Eliminate Democrat Committee Chairs, Texas Scorecard, December 6, 2022.
  12. HB 2889
  13. Texas House Bill 3596. TX State Legislature page for HB3596. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  14. Ramirez, Nikki McCann (March 6, 2023). "Texas Republican Introduces Bill Calling for Vote on Secession". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.