Daniel Frederick Chittenden Soucek (born April 22, 1969) is a Republican former member of the

North Carolina Senate The North Carolina Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly, which along with the North Carolina House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprises the state legislature of North Carolina. The Senate ...

, who represented the State's 45th district. During his time in office, the 45th District included

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

, Ashe, Watauga and Wilkes counties (2011 - 2012) and after redistricting, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery,

Caldwell Caldwell may refer to: People * Caldwell (surname) * Caldwell (given name) * Caldwell First Nation, a federally recognized First Nation in southern Ontario, Canada Places Great Britain * Caldwell, Derbyshire, a hamlet * Caldwell, Ea ...

and Watauga counties. On April 8, 2016, Soucek announced his immediate resignation. In December 2015 he had said he would not seek re-election, citing the desire to spend more time with his family. He served three terms in the North Carolina Senate.

Background

Dan Soucek was born in Westfield, New Jersey in 1969. He graduated from the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

in 1991 and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in Army Aviation. He was on active duty for over eight years and served in a variety of leadership positions including Company Commander of the International Student Office at

Fort Rucker Fort Rucker is a United States Army post located primarily in Dale County, Alabama, United States. It was formerly named in honor of Chief Warrant Officer Michael J. Novosel, an Army aviator and Medal of Honor recipient. It was previously nam ...

in Alabama. After resigning his commission in 1999 he moved to

Boone, North Carolina Boone is a town in and the county seat of Watauga County, North Carolina, United States. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, Boone is the home of Appalachian State University and the headquarters of the disaster and me ...

to assume the role of

Young Life Young Life is a global Christian parachurch organization reaching out to middle school, high school, and college-aged young people based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Young Life's mission statement is "Introducing adolescents to Jesus Christ and ...

Area Director for Watauga, Ashe, and Avery Counties. In 2004, he began working as the Asia Regional Director for Operation Christmas Child at

Samaritan's Purse Samaritan's Purse is an evangelical Christian humanitarian aid organization that provides aid to people in physical need as a key part of its Christian missionary work. The organization's president is Franklin Graham, son of Christian evangelis ...

. He was first elected to the North Carolina State Senate in 2010 and won re-election in 2012 and 2014. He was a primary sponsor of the North Carolina Marriage Amendment, which was adopted by referendum in May 2012 but ruled unconstitutional in October 2014. His achievements include: *Qualification in the

Bell AH-1 Cobra The Bell AH-1 Cobra is a single-engined attack helicopter developed and manufactured by the American rotorcraft manufacturer Bell Helicopter. A member of the prolific Huey family, the AH-1 is also referred to as the HueyCobra or Snake. The ...

helicopter *Qualification in the

Bell UH-1 Iroquois The Bell UH-1 Iroquois (nicknamed "Huey") is a utility military helicopter designed and produced by the American aerospace company Bell Helicopter. It is the first member of the prolific Huey family, as well as the first turbine-powered hel ...

"Huey" helicopter * Airborne and

Air Assault Air assault is the movement of ground-based military forces by vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft, such as helicopters, to seize and hold key terrain that has not been fully secured, and to directly engage enemy forces behind enemy l ...

qualified *AH-1 Top Gun Award recipient *Iron Aviator triathlon champion His duties and assignments have allowed him to work with the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...

general officers A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED Online. Ma ...

and religious leaders from many countries, international business leaders, and governments at all levels from customs officials to Governors, a Prime Minister, and a King. He has also served as a cross country and track coach at Watauga High School, coached youth soccer and served as an adult and high school Sunday school teacher at Alliance Bible Fellowship. In February 2013, Dan joined the

North Carolina National Guard The North Carolina National Guard (NCNG), commonly known as the North Carolina guard, is the National Guard (United States), National Guard component of the state of North Carolina. It is composed of North Carolina Army National Guard and North C ...

as a citizen soldier, while continuing to serve in the NC Senate.

Political positions

Conservatism *Received 100% scores from the

American Conservative Union The American Conservative Union (ACU) is an American political organization that advocates for Conservatism in the United States, conservative policies, ranks politicians based on their level of conservatism, and organizes the Conservative Poli ...

in 2011 and 2013. *Received a 98% score from Civitas Action in 2011 and a 94% score in 2013.

Pro-life Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in response to the lega ...

*Endorsed by the North Carolina Right to Life organization. Pro

Second Amendment The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...

*Received a 4 star rating from Grassroots North Carolina, an organization created to preserve second amendment rights. *The

NRA Political Victory Fund The Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF) is the political action committee (PAC) of the National Rifle Association of America (NRA). Founded in 1976, the Fund endorses political candidates on behalf of the NRA and contributes money to those candidate's ...

gave Soucek consistent "A" grades. Pro Business *Endorsed by 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 stated goal of NFIB ...

. Environmental Issues *Received a 3% lifetime rating from the North Carolina League of Conservation Voters in 2013. *Received a rating of 0% from Environment North Carolina in 2011 and 2013 and a 5% rating in 2015. Endorsements *Grass Roots North Carolina *National Federation of Independent Business *National Rifle Association *State Employees' Association of North Carolina

Committee assignments

''2015-2016 Session''

References

External links

ncleg.net

votesmart.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soucek, Dan 1969 births Living people Politicians from Westfield, New Jersey Republican Party North Carolina state senators United States Military Academy alumni Military personnel from Union County, New Jersey 21st-century members of the North Carolina General Assembly