Joseph Edward Moody (born January 9, 1981) is a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solicit ...

from El Paso,

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 was

Speaker Pro Tempore A president pro tempore or speaker pro tempore is a constitutionally recognized officer of a legislative body who presides over the chamber in the absence of the normal presiding officer. The phrase ''pro tempore'' is Latin "for the time being". ...

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 ...

. He has represented District 78, based entirely in El Paso County, since 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Moody previously represented District 78 for the single term from 2009 to 2011. In 2012, he unseated the

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 ...

Dee Margo Donald "Dee" Margo (born February 4, 1952) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 51st mayor of El Paso, Texas from 2017 to 2021. Early life and education Margo graduated from Huntsville High School in Huntsville, Alabama. H ...

Mayor of El Paso The following is a list of people who have served as mayors of the city of El Paso in the U.S state of Texas. List of Mayors of El Paso References {{Reflist, 33em El Paso, Texas * ...

from 2017 to 2021. Moody defeated Margo 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 ( ...

s of both 2008 and 2012, but Margo prevailed in the 2010 contest, with lowered turnout in a mid-term election. Moody won his fifth nonconsecutive term in the House in the general election held on November 6, 2018. With 31,361 votes (65.2 percent) and buoyed by the U.S. Senate candidacy of

Beto O'Rourke Robert Francis "Beto" O'Rourke ( , ; ; born September 26, 1972) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2013 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, O'Rourke was the party's nominee for the U.S. Senat ...

, also an El Paso native, Moody overwhelmed the Republican candidate, Jeffrey Lane, who finished with 16,741 votes (34.8 percent). After Moody and other Democrats left the state in protest of Republican legislation on July 12, 2021, Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan removed Moody from the Speaker Pro Tempore position in the 87th Legislature on July 15.Garrett, Robert T
Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan strips absent Democratic ally of chamber’s No. 2 post
''

Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...

'', July 15, 2021.

References

External links

*
Biography
at

Ballotpedia Ballotpedia is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the United States. The website was founded in 2007. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Bur ...

Legislative page
, - , - 1981 births 21st-century American politicians Living people Democratic Party members of the Texas House of Representatives New Mexico State University alumni Politicians from El Paso, Texas Texas lawyers Texas Tech University alumni {{Texas-politician-stub