John Nathan Raney (born April 4, 1947) is a businessman in College Station,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, who is a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

member of the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abo ...

for District 14, which encompasses Brazos County, including Bryan–College Station.

Background

A sixth-generation Texan, Raney was born in

Huntsville Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in th ...

in Walker County and reared for several years on a farm in Madison County, which had been owned by his family for 125 years. In 1950, he moved back to Huntsville. In 1960, he relocated to Bryan, where he graduated in 1965 from the former Stephen F. Austin High School, renamed and consolidated in 1971 as Bryan High School. In 1969, Raney received a

Bachelor of Business Administration Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is a bachelor's degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of business administration and usually including advanced ...

degree from

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M Unive ...

, with a concentration in marketing. In June 1969, after his graduation from TAMU, Raney launched Aggieland Book Store, a business which he still operates. From 1969 to 1975, he was a

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a ...

in the

Texas Army National Guard The Texas Army National Guard is a component of the United States Army, the United States National Guard and the Texas Military Forces (along with the Texas Air National Guard and the Texas State Guard). Texas Army National Guard units are tra ...

Political life

Raney has been active in the Republican party since the early 1970s, including a stint as Chairman of the Republican Party of Brazos County, ;2011 Representative Raney has served in the state House since December 23, 2011, having won with 58 percent of the vote in a special

runoff election The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resu ...

to fill the seat vacated by fellow Republican Fred Brown, whose tenure had extended from 1999 until his resignation in 2011. ;2012 Raney won his first full term in the House on November 6, 2012, 60 to 36 percent, over Democrat Judy Le Unes. The

Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's en ...

candidate, Joshua Baker, received the remaining 4 percent of the ballots cast. ;2014 In 2014, Raney ran against Democrat Andrew Metscher, a Texas A&M student in economics. He defeated Metscher in the general election 68%–28%.State Rep. John Raney, District 14 (R-College Station)

Texas Tribune ''The Texas Tribune'' is a news website headquartered in Austin, Texas. It aims to promote civic engagement through original, explanatory journalism and public events. Its website and content in various delivery platforms serve as an alternati ...

. ;2016 Representative Raney faced a Republican primary opponent in the 2016 election cycle from former College Station City Councilman Jess Fields. Raney defeated Fields 68%-31%. ;2018 Raney won again in the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

held on November 6, 2018. With 26,663 votes (56.4 percent), he defeated his Democratic opponent, Josh Wilkinson, who polled 20,647 votes (43.6 percent). ;2022 Raney won against challenger John Harvey Slocum in the republican primary race on March 1, 2022. https://www.kbtx.com/2022/03/02/raney-defeats-slocum-texas-house-district-14-republican-primary/ Accessed on March 28, 2022.

Policy positions

A member of the House committees on Administration, Appropriations, and Higher Education, Representative Raney supports tuition revenue bonds for public universities, the concealed-carry law in classrooms for the purpose of

self-defense Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force ...

from attackers, and the prohibition of

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...

after twenty weeks of

gestation Gestation is the period of development during the carrying of an embryo, and later fetus, inside viviparous animals (the embryo develops within the parent). It is typical for mammals, but also occurs for some non-mammals. Mammals during pr ...

. Representative Raney authored a bill to allow Texas A&M University to lease and sell land on the main campus in College Station. Representative Raney backed the approved 2013 Texas State Budget and legislation to assist College Station in the establishment of a medical district. He supports legislation to allow Brazos County to earmark specified hotel and motel

sales tax A sales tax is a tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services. Usually laws allow the seller to collect funds for the tax from the consumer at the point of purchase. When a tax on goods or services is paid to a gove ...

es to underwrite part of the costs for renovations to

Kyle Field Kyle Field is the American football stadium located on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, United States. It has been the home to the Texas A&M Aggies football team in rudimentary form since 1904, and as a permanent con ...

at TAMU. Representative Raney supported legislation to increase funding of highways and transportation, securing the border with

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

, and more funding for education at the vocational, technical, and higher levels.

Endorsements

Raney has received endorsements from Life PAC, Texas Alliance for Life, Texas Retailers Association, Texas Municipal Police Association, Texas Association of Business, Texas Association of Manufacturers, Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas, Texas Association of Realtors, National Rifle Association, Texas State Rifle Association, College Station Professional Firefighters Association, Bryan Professional Firefighters Association, National Federation of Business, Conservative Roundtable of Texas, Texans for Lawsuit Reform, Department of Public Safety Officers Association, Independent Bankers Association of Texas, A&M PAC, Texas Medical Association, Texas Farm Bureau, Texas Society of Professional Engineers, and others.

Personal life

Raney met his wife, the former Elizabeth Hodges, at the 1972 Republican State Convention. The couple married in 1974 and have two daughters and sons-in-law, Beth and Grant Hawkins and Laura and Alex Scogin, and eight grandchildren. Raney is affiliated with the

Chamber of Commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to ...

, the

National Federation of Independent Business The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) is an association of small businesses in the United States. It is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, with offices in Washington, D.C., and all 50 state capitals. The goal of NFIB is to a ...

, and the Texas Retailers Association. He is active in the First

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelica ...

in Bryan.

References

External links

Campaign website

State legislative page

John Raney at the Texas Tribune
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raney, John N. 1947 births Living people Republican Party members of the Texas House of Representatives People from Madison County, Texas People from Bryan, Texas People from College Station, Texas Texas A&M University alumni Businesspeople from Texas United States Army officers 21st-century American politicians American United Methodists 20th-century Methodists 21st-century Methodists People from Huntsville, Texas