John Carona

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John Joseph Carona
Member of the Texas Senate
from the 16th district
In office
May 1996 – January 2015
Preceded by
Succeeded byDon Huffines
Member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 109
In office
1991–1993
Preceded byBill Hammond
Succeeded byHelen Giddings
Member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 108
In office
1993–1996
Preceded byAl Granoff
Succeeded byCarolyn Galloway
Personal details
Born (1955-12-14) December 14, 1955 (age 65)
Texas City, Texas, USA
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Helen Carona
ChildrenFive children
ResidenceDallas, Texas
Alma materBryan Adams High School
University of Texas at Austin
OccupationTexas State Senator and director, CEO, and president of Associations, Inc., aka "Associa"
ProfessionBusinessman
Websitewww.associaonline.com/

John Joseph Carona (born 14 December 1955)[1] is a former Republican member of the Texas Senate from District 16 in Dallas County, Texas.

Texas State Senate[]

First elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1990, Carona thereafter won a special election to the state Senate held on May 4, 1996 to succeed the Republican , who resigned early in his last term.[2] Carona remains a senator until January 2015.

In the 2013 legislative session, Carona chaired the Senate Committee on Business and Commerce. He was also a member of the Senate Criminal Justice, Education, Jurisprudence and Redistricting committees.

In May 2012, acrimony between Carona and colleague Dan Patrick of Houston, a fellow Republican and Baptist, was widely reported throughout the state.[3][4][5][6] In an email exchange, Patrick accused Carona of spreading false rumors about Patrick's marriage; Carona denied having questioned Patrick's marriage or having made comments about Patrick's sexuality.[3][4][6] Carona further said to Patrick: "I've never been shy about sharing my dislike and distrust of you. Put bluntly, I believe you are a snake oil salesman, a narcissist that would say anything to draw attention to himself."[3][6]

News reports suggested that the feud was partly motivated by positioning in 2012 to succeed David Dewhurst as lieutenant governor, should Dewhurst have been elected to the United States Senate.[3][4] Instead Dewhurst lost the Senate runoff election to fellow Republican Ted Cruz. Had Dewhurst left the lieutenant governorship early in 2013, the state senators themselves would have chosen one of their own as the acting lieutenant governor to serve through January 2015.

In 2014, Patrick was himself a runoff candidate against Dewhurst, who after losing to Cruz was seeking a fourth term as lieutenant governor. While Patrick led a four-candidate field for lieutenant governor, with Dewhurst a distant second, in the primary election held on March 4, 2014, Carona was himself very narrowly unseated for his state Senate seat by Dallas businessman Don Huffines (born c. 1958), 25,136 (50.6%) to 24,501 (49.4%).[7] Patrick ultimately defeated Dewhurst in a runoff election on May 27, 2014.

Carona, along with colleagues Bob Deuell of Greenville, Robert L. Duncan of Lubbock, Kevin Eltife of Tyler, and Kel Seliger of Amarillo, is considered one of the most liberal of the nineteen (as of 2013) Texas Senate Republicans, according to an analysis by Mark P. Jones of the Political Science Department at Rice University in Houston. Jones also found that these Republicans saw passage of 90 percent of the bills for which they had voted.[8] In addition to Carona's narrow primary defeat, Deuell was forced into runoff contest with another Republican, Bob Hall,[9] which he lost.

Business[]

Carona is director, CEO, and president of Associations, Inc. aka "Associa". Associa is a holding company for one of the largest collections of HOA management companies and related businesses in the United States. Carona has come under scrutiny for his business practices and his legislative activity including authoring, voting on, and modifying legislation that benefited his Associa organization.[10][11][12]

Personal life[]

Born in Texas City, Texas, Carona was a resident of East Dallas since early childhood, but now lives in Preston Hollow. He was educated in the Dallas Independent School District and graduated from Bryan Adams High School. In 1978, he received two Bachelor of Business Administration degrees in insurance and real estate from the University of Texas at Austin in 1978.

Election history[]

Senate election history of Carona from 1998.[13]

Most recent elections[]

2014[]

: Senate District 16[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Don Huffines 25,141 50.63
Republican John Carona (Incumbent) 24,509 49.36
Turnout 49,650

Previous elections[]

2012[]

: Senate District 16[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican John Carona (Incumbent) 181,746 100.00
Turnout 181,746

2008[]

: Senate District 16[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican John Carona (Incumbent) 121,928 56.25 -43.75
Democratic 89,000 41.06 +41.06
Libertarian 5,806 2.67 +2.67
Turnout 216,734
Republican hold

2004[]

: Senate District 16[17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican John Carona (Incumbent) 142,542 100.00 +35.93
Majority 142,542 100.00 +69.95
Turnout 142,542 -4.72
Republican hold

2002[]

Texas general election, 2002: Senate District 16[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican John Carona (Incumbent) 95,853 67.07 -35.93
Democratic 50,895 34.02 +34.02
Libertarian 2,857 1.91 +1.91
Majority 44,958 30.05 -69.95
Turnout 149,605 +85.15
Republican hold

1998[]

: Senate District 16[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican John Carona (Incumbent)[20] 80,802 100.00
Majority 80,802 100.00
Turnout 80,802
Republican hold


References[]

  1. ^ Office of the Secretary of State (Texas) (2002-09-13). "State Senate Candidates for 2002 General Election". Archived from the original on 2008-02-13. Retrieved 2006-12-26.
  2. ^ "John Carona's Biography". votesmart.org. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Mile Ward (May 8, 2012). "Emails provide rare glimpse inside Senate politics". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c Peggy Fikac (May 7, 2012). "Senators' nasty emails refer to personal lives". San Antonio Express News. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
  5. ^ Peggy Fikac (May 7, 2012). "Senators Patrick, Carona make it personal in email spat". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b c Jason Heid (May 7, 2012). "Gossip Wars: Sens. John Carona and Dan Patrick". D Magazine. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
  7. ^ "Republican primary election returns, March 4, 2014". team1.sos.state.tx.us. Archived from the original on March 5, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  8. ^ "Enrique Rangel, "Why state Sen. Kel Seliger has a Republican primary challenger," February 24, 2014". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  9. ^ "Republican primary election returns, March 4, 2014". team1.sos.state.tx.us. Archived from the original on March 5, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  10. ^ Coffey, Chris. "7 On Your Side (November 21-22, 2006)". Fox News 7 News, Austin Texas. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
  11. ^ Shipp, Brett. "Sen. John Carona defends controversial HOA rule". WFAA. Archived from the original on 28 January 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
  12. ^ Snyder, Mike (10 August 2009). "DA Looks into Channelview Complaints: Harris County DA investigating homeowners' claim that their former management company mishandled things". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
  13. ^ Uncontested primary elections are not shown.
  14. ^ "2014 Republican Party Primary Election". Office of the Secretary of State (Texas). Archived from the original on 2014-01-09. Retrieved 2014-03-04.
  15. ^ "2012 Republican Party Primary Election". Office of the Secretary of State (Texas). Archived from the original on 2014-01-09. Retrieved 2014-03-04.
  16. ^ "2008 General Election". Office of the Secretary of State (Texas). Archived from the original on 2014-01-09. Retrieved 2008-11-12.
  17. ^ "2004 General Election". Office of the Secretary of State (Texas). Archived from the original on 2014-01-09. Retrieved 2007-01-04.
  18. ^ "2002 General Election". Office of the Secretary of State (Texas). Archived from the original on 2014-01-09. Retrieved 2007-01-04.
  19. ^ "1998 General Election". Office of the Secretary of State (Texas). Archived from the original on 2014-01-09. Retrieved 2007-01-04.
  20. ^ Carona was elected to fill the unexpired term of Leedom. The election was probably held in 1996, but the information is not online at the Secretary of State website Archived 2014-01-09 at the Wayback Machine.

External links[]

Texas House of Representatives
Preceded by
 Member of the Texas House of Representatives
from  (Dallas)
1991–1993 		Succeeded by
Helen Giddings
Preceded by
 Member of the Texas House of Representatives
from  (Dallas)
1993–1996 		Succeeded by
Texas Senate
Preceded by
 Texas State Senator
from District 16 (Dallas)(1)
1996-2014 		Succeeded by
Don Huffines
Notes and references
1. For the 76th through the 77th Legislatures, Carona’s home city was Garland
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