Continuing in the series on 2014 Primary candidates, I had an opportunity to sit and chat with Dave Norman. Dave is one of the dozen candidates running in CD-36 to replace Rep. Steve Stockman, who decided at the last minute to run for U.S. Senate.
Norman was born in England and became a naturalized US citizen at the age of 22. His family emigrated from England when Dave was four years old and settled in Clear Lake. He graduated from Clear Lake High School and then received a B.S. in Biology from Stephen F. Austin University. He and his wife Bonnie will celebrate their 30th anniversary this August. The couple has two daughters, Emily and Anne Marie.
After college, Norman was commissioned as a US Army officer. He spent the bulk of his active duty in Germany during the height of the Cold War as a pilot flying attack Cobra helicopters. He told me that the troops that served on the front lines in Germany were referred to as “DIPS”, meaning that the Army brass knew that they would “die in place” and thus there were no contingency plans to rescue them. Tough life! After leaving active duty, Dave served in the Reserves and once again entered the danger zone in Operation Desert Storm flying attack Apache helicopters. He finally left the Reserves after a combined 24 years of duty, retiring with the rank of Major.
Norman is no stranger to politics. He worked on Jerry Patterson’s first campaign in 1984 and his family has a long history of involvement in Republican politics in Harris County. He ran for the State Senate in SD-11 in 2012, coming in second place to Larry Taylor. As an insurance executive, he has worked very closely with local legislators on TWIA and Biggert-Waters and helped author Rep. Steve Stockman’s bill that attempted to fix Biggert-Waters. He also worked closely with legislators to pass the Stolen Valor Act, which penalizes people that impersonate military veterans.
One of the more interesting things we talked about was the economic condition of Orange County. Dave told me that the boom in Texas has mostly bypassed that county. The county budget is $5 million in the red and the children are like kids in the former Eastern bloc countries. I had no idea – perhaps one of the larger media outlets with enough resources can head over to Orange and report on this. Dave’s perception is that the federal government is hindering the growth of the county and that it could grow if the federal permitting regulations were more efficient.
Obviously, Biggert-Waters and the overall flood insurance issue is a big concern of Dave’s and he listed it as the number one concern in the district. After that, he sees NASA funding, the EPA permitting process, and port dredging as other areas to focus on. He said that there are plenty of people fighting to overturn Obamacare, so he wants to focus on these issues and represent the district. As well, he wants to reduce the overall federal footprint and is a big advocate of restoring the 10th Amendment powers to the states.
Find out more about Dave Norman:
Website: DaveNormanForCongress.com
Facebook: DaveNormanForCongress
Twitter: Norman4Congress