Lance Gooden

Lance Gooden
Texas State Representative for District 4 (Kaufman and part of Henderson counties)
In office 2011 – January 13, 2015
Preceded by	Betty Brown
Succeeded by	Stuart Spitzer
Texas State Representative for District 4 (Kaufman and part of Henderson counties)
Incumbent
Assumed office January 2017 (pending)
Preceded by	Stuart Spitzer
Personal details
Born	December 1, 1982 Terrell, Kaufman County Texas, USA
Nationality	American
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Engaged to Alexa Calligas
Alma mater	University of Texas at Austin
Occupation	Businessman

Lance Gooden (born December 1, 1982) is a former and incoming Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 4 (Kaufman and a portion of Henderson counties). In the 2010 primary election, Gooden with 50.5 percent of the vote upset the six-term incumbent Republican Representative Betty Brown.^[1] Gooden had formerly been Brown's legislative assistant.

A native of Terrell in Kaufman County, a city east of Dallas, Texas, Gooden graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, from which he received both a Bachelor of Arts in government and a Bachelor of Business Administration. Upon taking office early in 2011, Gooden worked on the state budget in an attempt to eliminate wasteful spending. He served on these House committees: Appropriations, County Affairs, and House Administration, the latter of which handles employment by the House. In 2010, Gooden had no Democratic opponent in his heavily Republican district.^[2][3]

Gooden won renomination to a second term in the Republican primary held on May 29, 2012. He polled 6,385 votes (53.5 percent) to 5,545 (46.5 percent) for his opponent, Stuart Spitzer, a surgeon from Kaufman, who was born and reared in Athens in Henderson County.^[4][5] Gooden was then unopposed for his second term in the general election held on November 6, 2012.

However, on March 4, 2014, Dr. Spitzer, in a second bid for the office, unseated Gooden in the Republican primary. Spitzer polled 8,421 votes (51 percent) to Gooden's 8,079 (49 percent).^[6] Speaker Joe Straus of San Antonio, made a campaign stop for Gooden's behalf in Forney in Kaufman County, a month before the primary election. Accompanying Straus to Forney was State Senator Bob Deuell,^[7]who lost his own seat in the subsequent May 27 runoff election to the Tea Party movement choice, Bob Hall.

In 2016, however, Gooden staged a successful comeback and defeated Spitzer in the March 1 Republican primary, 14,500 votes (51.8 percent) to 13,502 (48.2 percent). He returns to the state House in January 2017.^[8]

On October 1, 2016, Gooden will wed Alexa Calligas, formerly of Shreveport, Louisiana, whom he met in Austin. She is the daughter of journalist George Calligas and his wife, Tina. ^[9]

References

1. ""Gooden upsets Brown"". Athens Review. March 3, 2010. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
2. Dallas News
3. Kaufmann Herald
4. "Republican primary election returns, May 29, 2012". enr.sos.state.tx.us. Retrieved May 30, 2012.
5. "About Stuart Spitzer". stuartspitzer.com. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
6. "Republican primary election returns, March 4, 2014". enr.sos.state.tx.us. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
7. "Denise Bell, "Texas Speaker of the House Straus Visits Forney to Endorse Rep. Gooden," February 4, 2014". The Forney Post. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
8. "Republican primary returns". Texas Secretary of State. March 1, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
9. "Off to Rio". The Shreveport Times. Retrieved May 19, 2016.