Chet Edwards

Thomas Chester Edwards (born November 24, 1951) is an American politician who was a United States representative from Texas, representing a district based in Waco, from 1991 to 2011. Previously, he served in the Texas Senate from 1983 to 1990. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Edwards was on Barack Obama's vice presidential shortlist in 2008.

Early life and education

A Waco resident, Edwards was born in Corpus Christi. He graduated magna cum laude from Texas A&M University in 1974, earning a bachelor's degree in economics. One of his professors was future U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator Phil Gramm. Upon graduation, he received the Earl Rudder Award, which is given to two outstanding seniors. Edwards was the Chairman of the 18th MSC Student Conference on National Affairs Conference, where he helped to bring Vice President Walter Mondale and businessman Ross Perot to campus.

Early career

After graduation, Edwards worked as an aide to Congressman Olin E. Teague for three years. When Teague announced his retirement in 1978, Edwards ran in the Democratic primary to succeed him. He lost by only 115 votes to his former professor, Phil Gramm, who switched to Republican affiliation in 1983.

In 1981, Edwards earned his MBA from Harvard Business School. He then went to work for the Trammell Crow Company as a commercial real estate agent. Later, Edwards purchased several rural radio stations in South Texas.

Texas Senate

Edwards was elected to the Texas Senate in 1983, and served until 1990, representing District 9. He was the youngest member at age 30. In the Texas Senate, Edwards was a member of the Senate Education Committee which oversaw class size reduction in public schools. He was also on the Health and Human Resources Committee, chaired the Senate Nominations Committee, the Texas Sunset Commission, a joint commission which reviews state agencies on a 12-year rotation, and the Texas Election Code Revision Committee. Edwards was also a member of the Committee on Business, Technology, and Education. He received the “Texas Business” award during the 68th Regular Session as one of three outstanding freshman legislators, and was named by Texas Monthly as one of the "Ten Outstanding Legislators" during his tenure.

Political positions

Edwards is a moderate Democrat according to a nonpartisan organization GovTrack. He was also a leader in the House of Representatives.

However, he has stated his opposition to caps on medical malpractice lawsuits. He voted for the Iraq Resolution.

Fiscal policy

Edwards opposed the 2001 federal tax cuts and voted against eliminating the marriage penalty and estate tax. He voted for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

In 2001, he opposed cuts of $100 million to the nuclear non-proliferation budget proposed by the Bush administration. Serving as a member on the Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee, Edwards oversaw homeland defense and university research programs to protect Americans from the threat of nuclear terrorism. Edwards supported the implementation of the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission and, in 2003, helped secure $84 million to install radiological detectors at the busiest foreign ports so nuclear materials could be detected overseas before reaching America.

Edwards is known as a fiscal conservative. The non-partisan Concord Coalition gave him its "Deficit Hawk" Award. His pro-economic, pro-agriculture record also earned him endorsements from both the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Farm Bureau Friends of Agriculture Fund (AGFUND). The U.S. Chamber of Commerce gave him their "Spirit of Enterprise" Award for several years for his support of business. Edwards voted with the NRA 100% on gun rights issues for many years and received the NRA's endorsement. Edwards voted against ending preferential treatment by race in college admissions and received an 83% rating from the NAACP in 2006.

Edwards supported increased access to health care for children of working families under the State Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP). Edwards was honored by the Baptist Joint Committee, and earned the Walter Cronkite Award from the Interfaith Alliance for his principled stand to keep government regulations out of churches and houses of worship. He also received the T.B. Maston Christian Ethics Award.

During the 1990s, like much of rural Texas, the 11th District trended increasingly Republican. Edwards was able to hold onto his seat, though with shrinking margins. In 1996, he was re-elected with 57 percent of the vote against Republican Jay Mathis. He won in 1998 without any Republican opponent. In 2000 he won with 55 percent of the vote over Ramsey Farley; in 2002, he beat Farley again, this time with 52 percent of the vote.

thumb|right|Edwards speaks during the third night of the [[2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado.]]

On February 18, 2008, Edwards officially endorsed Barack Obama in the Texas March 4 Democratic primary. In late June 2008, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi publicly suggested that Edwards would be a great choice as Obama's vice-presidential running mate. Edwards stated that he would accept such an offer from Obama. On August 22, the Associated Press reported that Edwards was on Obama's short-list as a potential running-mate. John McCain carried the 17th with 67 percent of the vote.

2010

Edwards was challenged by Republican nominee Bill Flores, a retired Bryan oil and gas executive.

Edwards was endorsed by the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Nate Silver in the FiveThirtyEight.com New York Times blog predicted that there was a 4.7% chance that Edwards would defeat Flores. Real Clear Politics rated this race "Likely Republican".

On November 2, 2010, Edwards was heavily defeated, taking 37 percent of the vote to Flores's 62 percent. He lost his home county of McLennan. This was the largest margin of defeat for a Democratic incumbent in the 2010 cycle. Edwards's term ended on January 3, 2011.

Personal life

Since leaving Congress in 2011, Edwards has established Edwards, Davis Stover & Associates, LLC with his former chief of staff, Lindsey Davis Stover, and continues to be involved with veterans issues in the Washington, D.C. area through his work on the boards of the Military Child Education Coalition and the Arlington National Cemetery Advisory Commission.