Tom Craddick
| Thomas Russell "Tom" Craddick | |
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| Member of the Texas House of Representatives from the 82nd district |
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Assumed office January 12, 1993 |
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| Preceded by | Frank Kell Cahoon |
| Member of the Texas House of Representatives from the 76th district |
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In office January 11, 1983 – January 12, 1993 |
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| Member of the Texas House of Representatives from the 68th district |
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In office January 9, 1973 – January 11, 1983 |
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| Member of the Texas House of Representatives from the 70th district |
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In office January 14, 1969 – January 9, 1973 |
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| Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives | |
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In office January 14, 2003 – January 13, 2009 |
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| Preceded by | James "Pete" Laney |
| Succeeded by | Joe Straus |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
September 19, 1943 Beloit, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Nadine Nayfa |
| Children |
Thomas R. Craddick, Jr. |
| Residence | Midland, Texas, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Texas Tech University |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Thomas R. Craddick, Jr.
Thomas Russell Craddick, Sr., known as Tom Craddick (born September 19, 1943), is member of the Texas House of Representatives representing the 82nd district. Craddick was Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives from January 2003 to January 2009. He was the first Republican to have served as Speaker since Reconstruction. Craddick resides in Midland, the largest city in his district. Craddick was first elected in 1968 at the age of twenty-five.
On November 6, 2012, when Craddick won his 23rd term in the Texas House, his daughter, Christi Craddick, was easily elected as a Republican to the Texas Railroad Commission, the state's oil and gas regulatory body.
While he was a doctoral student at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Craddick decided to run for the legislature to succeed the incumbent Republican Frank Kell Cahoon of Midland, who was not seeking a third two-year term. According to Craddick's official biography, even his father, businessman R.F. Craddick (1913–1986), warned him: "Texas is run by Democrats. You can't win." Although this part of Texas had become very friendly to Republicans at the national level (portions of this area, for instance, supported Barry M. Goldwater's 1964 presidential run, and Midland itself has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1948), Democrats held most offices at the local level well into the 1980s.
Nonetheless, the Eagle Scout was elected to the Texas House in 1968, one of eight Republicans in the chamber at that time. His victory came on the same day that Richard M. Nixon was elected as U.S. President.
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Wikipedia