Charles Schwertner: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 15:36, 8 June 2019
Charles Schwertner | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Texas Senate from the 5th district | |
| Assumed office January 8, 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Steve Ogden |
| Member of the Texas House of Representatives from the 20th district | |
| In office January 11, 2011 – January 8, 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Dan Gattis |
| Succeeded by | Marsha Farney |
| Personal details | |
| Born | May 29, 1970 Tuscaloosa, Alabama |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Belinda |
| Residence(s) | Georgetown Williamson County Texas, USA |
| Alma mater | University of Texas at Austin, B.S., University of Texas Medical Branch-Galveston, MD |
| Occupation | Orthopedic surgeon |
| Website | www |
Charles J. Schwertner (born May 29, 1970)[1] is an American orthopedic surgeon and politician from Georgetown, Texas. He has served in the Texas State Senate since November 6, 2012, after having represented House District 20 in the Texas House of Representatives for a single term beginning in January 2011.[2] He is a Republican.
Texas Senate
As a member of the Texas Senate, Schwertner served as chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services.[3][4] He is currently a member of the Senate Committees on Finance, Administration, Business & Commerce, and State Affairs.[5] Schwertner was named to the Sunset Advisory Commission in 2013.[6]
Schwertner was named one of the "Worst Legislators" by Texas Monthly magazine in 2017.[7]
Schwertner won reelection in 2018 with 182,081 votes (55.4 percent) to 136,232 (41.4 percent) for his Democratic opponent, Meg Walsh. Another 10,446 votes (3.2 percent) went to the Libertarian Party choice, Amy Lyons.[8]
Allegations of lewd texting
In July 2018, Schwertner met a female University of Texas graduate student at a university-affiliated event. The student told the Senator she was interested in working at the Texas Legislature. After the event, Schwertner was accused of sending sexually-explicit texts to said student. On October 8, 2018, the University of Texas at Austin hired Johnny Sutton, a former federal prosecutor, to investigate these claims as such harassment could be a violation of Title IX, a federal civil rights law.[9]
A message from Schwertner's LinkedIn account sent to the graduate student said: "Hope you're getting my texts I sent to you." The student responded: "Please stop the inappropriate texts, it is unprofessional." The student also received text messages from a 512 number that matched a business card belonging to Schwertner. These messages included: "Sorry. I really just wanted to fuck you," "This is Charles," "Send a pic?" and "Hello? Want to just use LinkedIn? Or my main cell?" [10]
Schwertner claimed the messages were sent by a third person whom Schwertner had given log-in credentials to. Schwertner refused to identify this third person and no proof was provided for the existence of said person. The messages were sent through Hushed, an app to send messages from a burner phone. Government watchdogs say the case exposes the threat private message apps pose to government transparency.[11]
A university report based on available evidence could not reach a conclusion on the matter. The two-page executive summary says that Schwertner "refused to meet with" the investigating attorney and that "[Schwertner] has access to information that could allow a more definitive conclusion to this matter, but [Schwertner] is unwilling to share that information, and the University lacks authority to compel him to cooperate more fully.”[12]
Ross Ramey of the Texas Tribune wrote of the case: "The problem is that the investigation at UT didn’t reach any final conclusions. The investigator couldn’t prove Schwertner was at fault, but also couldn’t prove he was not. There is no evidence here to clear his name. In that way, it’s as though no investigation had taken place; Schwertner is in the same fix he was in after the allegations were known and before Johnny Sutton, a former U.S. attorney who is now in private practice, started digging around." [13]
In January 2019, in a letter to Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, Schwertner announced his resignation as the chairman of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.[14]
Election history
2012
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Charles J. Schwertner | 182,554 | 77.14 | ||
| Libertarian | Jeffery Fox | 54,107 | 22.86 | ||
| Majority | 128,447 | 54.28 | |||
| Turnout | 236,661 | ||||
| Republican hold | |||||
2010
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Charles J. Schwertner | 44,901 | 82.55 | ||
| Libertarian | David Floyd | 9,490 | 17.45 | ||
| Majority | 35,411 | 65.1 | |||
| Turnout | 54,391 | ||||
| Republican hold | |||||
References
- ^ "State Senator Charles J. Schwertner's Statistics". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved 2013-05-29.
- ^ "Senator Charles J. Schwertner's Biography". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved 2013-05-29.
- ^ Services, Texas Senate Media. "The Texas State Senate: Senate Committee on Health & Human Services". www.senate.state.tx.us. Retrieved 2016-10-18.
- ^ Services, Texas Senate Media. "The Texas State Senate: District 5". www.schwertner.senate.state.tx.us. Retrieved 2016-10-18.
- ^ Services, Texas Senate Media. "The Texas State Senate: District 5". www.schwertner.senate.state.tx.us. Retrieved 2016-10-18.
- ^ "Texas Sunset Commission". www.sunset.texas.gov. Retrieved 2016-10-18.
- ^ Ratcliffe, RG (July 1, 2017). "The Best and Worst Legislators 2017". Texas Monthly. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
- ^ "Election Returns". Texas Secretary of State. November 6, 2018. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
- ^ Walsh, Sean (October 8, 2018). "Confirmed: University of Texas investigating if Sen. Charles Schwertner sent lewd image". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
- ^ Najmabadi, Shannon (December 18, 2018). "Confirmed: UT-Austin says evidence "does not support a finding" that Charles Schwertner violated Title IX by sending lewd texts". Texas Tribune. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
- ^ Prazan, Phil (December 19, 2018). "Why was a Texas Senator using the burner app Hushed?". KXAN. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
- ^ Will Racke. "University of Texas concludes probe of state senator accused of sending lewd texts to student". Newsweek.com. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
- ^ Ross Ramey. "Analysis: More questions after #MeToo investigation of Texas Sen. Charles Schwertner". Texas Tribune. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
- ^ "After scandal, Georgetown senator gives up leadership role". Kxan.com. January 4, 2019. Retrieved April 26, 2019.
- ^ "2012 General Election Results". followthemoney.org. Retrieved 2013-05-29.
- ^ "2010 General Election Results". followthemoney.org. Retrieved 2013-05-29.
Members of the Texas Senate | ||
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88th Texas Legislature (2023)
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