Tommy Merritt
| Thomas Charles "Tommy" Merritt | |
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| Member of the Texas House of Representatives from the 7th district |
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In office January 14, 1997 – January 11, 2011 |
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| Preceded by | Jerry Yost |
| Succeeded by | David Simpson |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
February 27, 1948 Kilgore, Texas, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Janet Merritt |
| Children | Missy, Meredith, Thomas |
| Residence | Kilgore, Texas |
| Alma mater | Texas Christian University (BBA, 1970) |
| Profession | Businessman |
| Website | www |
Thomas Charles "Tommy" Merritt (born February 27, 1948) is an American businessman from Longview, Texas and a Republican former member of the Texas House of Representatives. Merritt represented District 7 from January 1997 until January 2011. In March 2010, he lost the Republican nomination to David Simpson.
Seeking another political comeback, Merritt finished second in the March 4, 2014 Republican primary for the statewide position of Texas Commissioner of Agriculture. He polled 248,568 (21 percent) of the ballots cast. In the runoff election on May 27, Merritt was defeated by a former House colleague, Sid Miller of Stephenville, 362,573 votes (53.1 percent) to 320,434 (46.9 percent). In the primary, Miller had also led Merritt, 35 to 21 percent. The three eliminated candidates, Eric Opiela of Karnes City, Joe Cotten of Frisco, and Mayor J. Allen Carnes of Uvalde, held a combined 44 percent of the primary ballots, critical to the outcome of the runoff contest in which turnout dropped sharply.
Merritt is a native East Texan born in Kilgore. After graduating from high school, he attended Kilgore College and then graduated in 1970 with a Bachelor of Business Administration from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. He and his wife, Janet, have three children, Missy, Meredith, and Thomas. Tommy Merritt is a devout Christian and member of Kilgore First Baptist Church, the Businessmen's Bible Club at the First Baptist Church in Longview, and he also attends the BarNone Cowboy Church in Tatum, Texas.
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Wikipedia