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Matthew Haston Krause (born August 19, 1980) is an American attorney and politician. A Republican, he is a 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 abou ...
from the 93rd district.


Early life and education

Krause was born in
Tyler, Texas Tyler is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the largest city and county seat of Smith County, Texas, Smith County. It is also the largest city in Northeast Texas. With a 2020 census population of 105,995, Tyler was the List of cities in Texa ...
, and raised in
San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...
. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and social sciences from
San Diego Christian College San Diego Christian College (SDCC) is a private, evangelical college in Santee, California, a suburb of San Diego. Founded in 1970, SDCC offers traditional, non-traditional, and graduate programs. History In January 1970, Tim F. LaHaye, pastor ...
and a
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 Liberty University School of Law.


Career

From 2007 to 2012, Krause worked as an attorney for Liberty Counsel. Since December 2017, Krause has also worked as a business development officer for Vista Bank.


Texas House of Representatives

He was elected to 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 abou ...
in November 2012 and assumed office in 2013. He was reelected to four additional terms. Throughout his tenure in the House, Krause has been ranked one of the most
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
members of the
Texas Legislature The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the US state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a powerful a ...
. In the 2021–2022 legislative session, Krause is chair of the House General Investigating Committee. In 2017, Krause was one of the dozen Republicans who founded the Texas Freedom Caucus, a group of hardline conservatives modeled after the
Freedom Caucus The Freedom Caucus, also known as the House Freedom Caucus, is a congressional caucus consisting of conservative Republican members of the United States House of Representatives. It is generally considered to be the most conservative and fart ...
. Krause is among the most
anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respo ...
members of the Texas Legislature. In 2015, Krause sponsored legislation to make it more difficult for pregnant teenage girls to obtain abortions using the
judicial bypass Many jurisdictions have laws applying to minors and abortion. These parental involvement laws require that one or more parents consent or be informed before their minor daughter may legally have an abortion. Minors and abortion in law Australia ...
procedure. In 2015, following the
death of Marlise Muñoz Marlise Nicole Muñoz (August 20, 1980 – November 28, 2013) was an American woman at the center of a medical ethics controversy between November 2013 and January 2014. She suffered a suspected pulmonary embolism and was declared brain dead. Be ...
, Krause introduced legislation that would require Texas hospitals to keep brain-dead pregnant women on life support, and appoint legal counsel for the fetus to represent the fetus in court. In 2019, after a spate of
mass shootings There is a lack of consensus on how to define a mass shooting. Most terms define a minimum of three or four victims of gun violence (not including the shooter or in an inner city) in a short period of time, although an Australian study from 200 ...
in Texas, Krause said that he would support Democratic members' calls for a
special session In a legislature, a special session (also extraordinary session) is a period when the body convenes outside of the normal legislative session. This most frequently occurs in order to complete unfinished tasks for the year (often delayed by confli ...
on
gun violence Gun-related violence is violence committed with the use of a firearm. Gun-related violence may or may not be considered criminal. Criminal violence includes homicide (except when and where ruled justifiable), assault with a deadly weapon, an ...
only if anti-abortion legislation was also on the agenda. Krause sponsored the House version of Senate Bill 8, which passed and enacted the
Texas Heartbeat Act The Texas Heartbeat Act, Senate Bill 8 (SB 8), is an Statute, act of the Texas Legislature that bans abortion after the Six-week abortion ban, detection of embryonic or fetal cardiac activity, which normally occurs after about six weeks of p ...
. The Act protected fetuses at around six weeks gestation from abortion on demand. This was later challenged in the courts. In 2017, Krause proposed legislation to end
no-fault divorce In a no-fault divorce the dissolution of a marriage does not require a showing of wrongdoing by either party. Laws providing for no-fault divorce allow a family court to grant a divorce in response to a petition by either party of the marriage ...
in Texas and to require couples to live separately for three years before obtaining a divorce, except in cases of abuse, adultery, or other issues. In 2019, despite a recent measles outbreak, Krause introduced a bill to make it easier for parents to opt-out their children from school vaccination requirements. In 2019, Krause was one of 13 House Republicans who joined Democrats to pass a bill, 77–66, to make defendants with severe mental illness ineligible for the death penalty. Later that year, Krause was part of a bipartisan group of Texas legislators who urged a delay in the execution of Rodney Reed, a Texas death-row inmate, over questions about Reed's guilt. In August 2021, after Texas House Democrats left the state to prevent Republicans from obtaining a quorum to pass legislation to restrict voting Krause voted in favor of a Republican measure to issue civil arrest warrants to compel the missing members to return to the Capitol to appear for the special session. In October 2021, Krause, as chair of the House Committee on General Investigating, launched an investigation into Texas school boards, asking them whether a list of 850 books on subjects of race and sexuality were in Texas libraries and classrooms. The list included Pulitzer Prize-winning novels, best sellers, and other award-winning works of literature, many of them written by women, people of color, or LGBTQ authors. This list included
William Styron William Clark Styron Jr. (June 11, 1925 – November 1, 2006) was an American novelist and essayist who won major literary awards for his work. Styron was best known for his novels, including: * '' Lie Down in Darkness'' (1951), his acclaimed f ...
's '' The Confessions of Nat Turner'',
Ta-Nehisi Coates Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates ( ; born September 30, 1975) is an American author and journalist. He gained a wide readership during his time as national correspondent at ''The Atlantic'', where he wrote about cultural, social, and political issues, parti ...
's '' Between the World and Me'', and Isabel Wilkerson's '' Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents''.Cassandra Pollock & Brian Lopez
Texas lawmaker keeping mum on inquiry into what books students can access as school districts grapple with how to respond
Texas Tribune (October 29, 2021).
The
Texas State Teachers Association Texas State Teachers Association, or TSTA, is the oldest education organization in Texas, affiliated with the National Education Association (NEA). TSTA is led by a full-time state president and vice president, a board of directors, and a democrat ...
described Krause's investigation as a politically motivated "
witch hunt A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America took place in the Early Modern per ...
" and Texas Democrats denounced it. Krause refused to explain how the list of 850 books was created, which school districts received the letter, or why he was seeking this information. Seven Texas school districts confirmed receiving the letter from Krause, and several indicated that they would decline to respond.


2022 Texas attorney general election

In September 2021, Krause announced a challenge to incumbent Texas Attorney General
Ken Paxton Warren Kenneth Paxton Jr. (born December 23, 1962) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the Attorney General of Texas since January 2015. Paxton has described himself as a Tea Party conservative. Paxton was re-elected to a ...
in the 2022 Republican primary. Though previously a long-time ally of Paxton, Krause has alleged that Paxton is "distracted" and unable to pay sufficient attention to his role as Attorney General, in light of a pending criminal case against him and allegations by former staff members that Paxton abused his office to benefit a campaign contributor. Krause was the third major challenger to announce against Paxton, following George P. Bush and
Eva Guzman Eva Martinez Guzman (born January 12, 1961) is an American attorney, politician, and jurist who served as a Republican member of the Texas Supreme Court from 2009 to 2021. Justice Guzman is a Shareholder at Chamberlain Hrdlicka in the Houston and ...
in summer 2021. Krause has said that his decision to run was triggered by the inability of Bush and Guzman to build a strong connection with rank-and-file conservatives in Texas.GOP's Matt Krause joins race against Texas AG Ken Paxton
Associated Press (September 16, 2021).
In November 2021, Krause dropped out of the election and instead announced he would run for Tarrant County District Attorney. He endorsed U.S. Representative
Louie Gohmert Louis Buller Gohmert Jr. (; born August 18, 1953) is an American attorney, politician, and former jurist serving as the U.S. representative from Texas's 1st congressional district since 2005. Gohmert is a Republican and was part of the Tea Part ...
for Attorney General.


References


External links


Campaign website

State legislative page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krause, Matt 1980 births Living people People from Tyler, Texas Politicians from San Antonio San Diego Christian College alumni Liberty University School of Law alumni Republican Party members of the Texas House of Representatives People from Haslet, Texas Lawyers from San Antonio