Filemón Bartolomé Vela Jr. ( ; born February 13, 1963) is an American lobbyist, lawyer and politician who served as the

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

for from 2013 until his resignation in 2022. He is a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. Vela was also vice chair of the

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing body of the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well ...

, having been nominated by President Joe Biden. In March 2022, Vela resigned in the middle of his term to work at

Akin Gump Akin may refer to: People * Akin (given name), a list of people * Akin (surname), a list of people * Akın, a list of people with the Turkish given name or surname Places *Akin, Illinois, a town in the United States * Akin, Aksaray, a village i ...

, the largest lobbying firm in the U.S.

Early life and education

Vela was born in Harlingen, Texas, and raised in nearby Brownsville. His father,

Filemon Vela Sr. Filemón Bartolomé Vela (May 1, 1935 – April 13, 2004) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Education and career Born in Harlingen, Texas, Vela was a private in the Unit ...

, was a long-serving United States federal judge. The Reynaldo G. Garza–Filemon B. Vela United States Courthouse in Brownsville is named in Judge Vela's honor. His mother, Blanca Sanchez Vela, served as Brownsville's first female mayor from 1999 to 2003.vela.house.gov Filemon attended Saint Joseph Academy in Brownsville, and earned his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

in 1985. During his time at Georgetown, he served as an intern at the

Federal Judicial Center The Federal Judicial Center is the education and research agency of the United States federal courts. It was established by in 1967, at the recommendation of the Judicial Conference of the United States. According to , the main areas of resp ...

, the research and education agency of the federal judicial system. He also served as an intern in Solomon P. Ortiz's office in Washington, D.C. Vela earned his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...

from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law in 1987.

Career

In '' Edinburg School District v. Landmark'', Vela represented Edinburg to fight for more funding. In ''Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District v. Landmark'', he represented the district in fighting contractors accused of building a poorly constructed school facility.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2012

Vela ran in the newly created 34th congressional district as a Democrat. In the May 29 primary, he ranked first in an eight-candidate field with 40% of the vote. In the July 31 runoff, Vela defeated Denise Saenz Blanchard, 67% to 33%. In the general election, Vela defeated Republican Jessica Bradshaw, 62% to 36%.

Tenure

In July 2013, Vela quit the

Congressional Hispanic Caucus The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) is an organization of 38 Democratic members of the United States Congress of Hispanic and Latino descent. The Caucus focuses on issues affecting Hispanics and Latinos in the United States. The CHC was fou ...

because of his opposition to the Hoeven-

Corker Corker is an occupational surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bob Corker, American politician *Matt Corker * Thomas Corker * Stephen A. Corker *James Corker * John Corker, American football player *Maurus Corker Maurus Corker (ba ...

Amendment that tied border security to a pathway to citizenship. He said "erecting more border fence drives a wedge between border communities which are culturally united". On March 22, 2021, Vela announced that he would not seek reelection in the

2022 United States House of Representatives elections The 2022 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 8, 2022, as part of the 2022 United States elections during incumbent president Joe Biden's term. The elections were held to elect representatives from all 435 ...

. In August 2021, Vela joined a group of conservative Democrats, dubbed "The Unbreakable Nine", who threatened to derail the

Biden administration Joe Biden's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 46th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Joe Biden, his inauguration on January 20, 2021. Biden, a Democratic Party (United States), Democrat from Delaw ...

's $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package meant to tackle the nation's infrastructure. On March 24, 2022, Vela confirmed that he would resign early from Congress to take a job at

, a lobbying and law firm. His resignation officially went into effect before midnight on March 31.

Committee assignments

* Committee on Agriculture ** Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management ** Subcommittee on Livestock, Rural Development, and Credit * Committee on Armed Services ** Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces ** Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces.

Caucus memberships

Congressional NextGen 9-1-1 Caucus The Congressional NextGen 9-1-1 Caucus, a United States Congress caucus, works to improve the 9-1-1 phone system and emergency response systems.Veterinary Medicine Caucus * U.S.-Japan Caucus

Personal life

Vela's wife, Rose, was a Republican justice on Texas's 13th

Court of Appeals A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much ...

from 2007 to 2012.

References

External links

* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Vela, Filemon Jr. 1963 births 21st-century American politicians American lobbyists American politicians of Mexican descent Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas Georgetown University alumni Hispanic and Latino American members of the United States Congress Living people People from Harlingen, Texas Texas lawyers University of Texas School of Law alumni