Big Jolly Politics

politics in Harris County and Texas

CD-36 candidate Chuck Meyer will not represent Harris County

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As I’ve said in the intro to all of the video interviews in the race to replace Rep. Steve Stockman in CD-36, the district is geographically very large and includes deep East Texas and the Clear Lake area. The population is very diverse and I’ve asked each of the candidates that I’ve talked to about the differences between voters in Clear Lake and those in Woodville/Jasper because it seemed to me that there are little similarities.

So this quote of candidate Chuck Meyer in the Texas Tribune in an article by Aman Batheja caught my eye:

Near the end of the forum, candidates were asked how they would represent a district that includes part of urban Harris County and stretches across several rural counties. While some candidates spoke about the importance of balancing the needs of the district’s urban and rural residents, Meyer took a different approach.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I want to represent southeast Texas in Washington, D.C. I don’t want to represent Harris County,” Meyer said. “Harris County is in the district, unfortunately, but they have plenty of representatives there to represent that part of the district.”

After reading that, I noted on Facebook that Chuck Meyer had lost my vote. Meyer objected, saying that the quote was taken out of context. So I contacted the reporter, Aman Batheja, to see if Meyer was correct. Batheja did change a couple of words in after listening again to the audio recording of the forum and updated the article, which now reads:

“Ladies and gentlemen, I want to represent southeast Texas in Washington, D.C. I don’t want to represent Harris County,” Meyer said. “Harris County is in the district, unfortunately, but they have plenty of congressmen down there to represent the interests of that district.”

As you can see, instead of “representatives there” the correct quote is “congressmen down there”. That is such a minor difference it isn’t worth noting.

Batheja also sent me the audio recording of Meyer’s statement and if you listen to it, it clearly confirms that Meyer said he does not want to represent the Harris County part of the district. In fact, he repeats the idea a couple of times. Take a listen:

 

At about the 2:16 mark, this is what Meyer says:

This seat does not  belong in the hands of someone from Harris County. Sorry, ladies and gentlemen, it does not. There are plenty of congressmen and congresswomen down in Harris County to take care of the needs of Harris County.

Meyer then talks about the needs of Southeast Texas and ends that line of reasoning by saying those needs are very different from those of Seabrook (I happen to live next door to Seabrook).  And then he says, “Ladies and gentlemen, I want to represent Southeast Texas”.  Those are his words, not the reporter’s and not mine. And the reporter got the context completely accurate. It is clear that Meyer thinks that “Southeast Texas” doesn’t include Harris County.

So folks, if you want to vote for someone that says publicly he isn’t going to represent you, that is your right. I want to vote for someone that will represent the entire district and understands that from a federal perspective, the issues of “Southeast Texas” and “Seabrook” are one and the same. I want smaller government, freedom from government, and a restoration of the 10th amendment. When I interviewed Chuck, I was impressed – he has a diverse background and seemed to know the issues. But after finding out he wants to leave my portion of the district out of his plans, I’ll find another candidate.

 

2014 Primary: Chuck Meyer, CD-36

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tx-36

Continuing our series of interviews with candidates in the 2014 Texas Republican Party Primary, David Jennings talks with Chuck Meyer. Chuck is one of twelve candidates that filed to replace Rep. Steve Stockman in Texas Congressional District 36.

Information about Chuck Meyer:

Website: MeyerforCongress.com (under construction as of 12/31/13)

Facebook: ElectChuckMeyer

Twitter: ElectChuckMeyer

Bio provided by the Chuck Meyer campaign:

Chuck Meyer is an Assistant District Attorney for Hardin County, Texas (part-time) for Appeals and Writs. He is also a Registered Patent Attorney and a Partner with the national law firm of FisherBroyles, LLP, a “Law Firm 2.0®” law firm. He has represented a number of small businesses in Lumberton and throughout the Congressional District, many on a pro bono basis. When Chuck is not on the campaign trail, he spends most of his time in Lumberton, Texas, and is a frequent commentator on governance matters. He has a slew of ideas on how to reform Congress. In 2013, the Lone Star Republicans elected him as their first President. He is the former Chief Legal Officer of Research In Motion (now BlackBerry®) and also served on the business side of that technology firm as the Vice President, Europe for several years in England. 

He is a member of the Federal Relations subcommittee of the Greater Houston Partnership and is an active member of several community, professional and political organizations, including the Hardin County Rotary Club, the Lumberton Chamber of Commerce (as an Ambassador), the Houston Maritime Arbitration Association, the Houston International Arbitrators Club, the Republican National Lawyers Association (RNLA) and the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA). He is a former visiting assistant professor of intellectual property law at the University of Houston Law Center and at the University of Pittsburgh Law School.

Chuck began his professional career as an electronics engineer with the Department of Defense in the Pentagon. After a few years, he transferred to the US Patent and Trademark Office to become a patent examiner in the software-implemented inventions unit. While a patent examiner, Chuck put himself through law school at night at the American University’s Washington College of Law. After graduation, Chuck became a judicial law clerk for a Reagan-appointed United States District Court Judge in Honolulu, Hawaii. Two years later, Chuck was appointed as a judicial law clerk to a Republican Justice on the Ohio Supreme Court.

In 2005, he earned a graduate degree in law from the University of Oxford, having earlier obtained a B.S. in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia, an M.S. degree in Operations Research from George Washington University and a JD degree from the Washington College of Law of the American University. He has had a varied and successful career as an engineer, a patent examiner, a judicial law clerk, a lawyer in both private practice and in-house with two corporations (Compaq and RIM), a business leader in a publicly-traded company, and more recently as a Registered Patent Attorney and Partner with a national entrepreneurial law firm, FisherBroyles, LLP, and as a part-time Assistant District Attorney for Hardin County.

Chuck has been married for over thirty years to Monika Voigt Meyer, and is the proud father of three daughters, Kathryn (21) Emily (18) and Laura (15). His Christian faith — the faith of his fathers — is Roman Catholic.