Michael Cloud

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For the American football player, see Mike Cloud. For the 2002 Libertarian U.S. Senate candidate, see 2002 United States Senate election in Massachusetts.

Michael Cloud
Michael Cloud 115th Congress 2.jpg
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 27th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
July 10, 2018
Preceded byBlake Farenthold
Personal details
Born (1975-05-13) May 13, 1975 (age 46)
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)
Rosel Cloud
​
(m. 1999)​
Children3
EducationOral Roberts University (BS)
WebsiteHouse website

Michael Jonathan Cloud (born May 13, 1975) is an American politician representing Texas's 27th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives since 2018. He is a member of the Republican Party.

Early life and career[]

Cloud graduated from Oral Roberts University in 1997 with a Bachelor of Science in mass media communications.[1] At Oral Roberts, he was on the cross country and track teams.[2] He chaired the Victoria County Republican Party from 2010 to 2017.[3]

U.S. House of Representatives[]

Elections[]

2018 special election[]

Main article: 2018 Texas's 27th congressional district special election

Cloud succeeded Republican Blake Farenthold, who resigned amid controversy due to settling a sexual harassment lawsuit with public money.[4][5] He won the Republican runoff for the regularly scheduled election with help from the Club for Growth and the endorsement of Ron Paul, who had previously represented parts of the district.[6] On June 30, 2018, he won the special election, defeating Democratic nominee Eric Holguin, 55% to 32%.[7]

2018 regular election[]

See also: 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas § District 27

Cloud defeated Holguin again in November, along with independent candidate James Duerr and Libertarian candidate Daniel Tinus, with 60.3% of the vote.

2020[]

See also: 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas § District 27

Cloud defeated Democratic nominee Ricardo "Rick" De La Fuente and Libertarian candidate Phil Gray with 63.1% of the vote.[8]

Tenure[]

Cloud was sworn in on July 10, 2018.[9]

In December 2020, Cloud was one of 126 Republican members of the House of Representatives to sign an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania, a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which Joe Biden defeated[10] incumbent Donald Trump. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked standing under Article III of the Constitution to challenge the results of an election held by another state.[11][12][13]

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a statement that called signing the amicus brief an act of "election subversion." She also reprimanded Cloud and the other House members who supported the lawsuit: "The 126 Republican Members that signed onto this lawsuit brought dishonor to the House. Instead of upholding their oath to support and defend the Constitution, they chose to subvert the Constitution and undermine public trust in our sacred democratic institutions."[14][15] Representative Bill Pascrell, citing section three of the 14th Amendment, called for Pelosi to not seat Cloud and the other Republicans who signed the brief supporting the suit, arguing that "the text of the 14th Amendment expressly forbids Members of Congress from engaging in rebellion against the United States. Trying to overturn a democratic election and install a dictator seems like a pretty clear example of that."[16]

During the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol, Cloud and his colleagues were ushered to a secure location. Later, video footage of him surfaced in which he refused to wear a mask, in violation of House rules.[17][18]

Cloud was one of 12 House Republicans to vote against HR 1085, to award three Congressional Gold Medals to the United States Capitol Police who protected the Capitol on January 6, 2021.[19][20][21] In a statement defending his vote, he said, "I have always stood by and supported our brave law enforcement and still do but this bill was not truly about that, despite its name. Instead of simply being about honoring the Capitol Police who bravely protected the Capitol on January 6th, Speaker Pelosi included damaging language that unnecessarily weighs down the bill. The text refers to the Capitol as the temple of democracy. Simply put, it’s not a temple and Congress should not refer to it as one. The federal government is not a god."[22] In June 2021, Cloud and 20 other House Republicans voted against a similar resolution.[23]

Iraq[]

In June 2021, Cloud was one of 49 House Republicans to vote to repeal the AUMF against Iraq.[24][25]

Committee assignments[]

Caucus memberships[]

  • Freedom Caucus[26]
  • Republican Study Committee[27]

Electoral history[]

Texas' 27th congressional district special election, 2018[28]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Michael Cloud 19,872 54.8
Democratic Eric Holguin 11,599 32.0
Democratic Raul (Roy) Barrera 1,748 4.8
Republican Bech Bruun (withdrawn) 1,571 4.3
Democratic Mike Westergren 858 2.4
Republican Marty Perez 276 0.8
Independent Judith Cutright 172 0.5
Libertarian Daniel Tinus 144 0.4
Independent Christopher Suprun 51 0.1
Total votes 36,268 100.0
Republican hold
Republican primary results[29]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Bech Bruun 15,845 36.1
Republican Michael Cloud 14,866 33.9
Republican Christopher K. Mapp 5,302 12.1
Republican Jerry Hall 3,616 8.2
Republican John Grunwald 3,038 6.9
Republican Eddie Gassman 1,226 2.8
Total votes 43,893 100.0
Republican primary runoff results
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Michael Cloud 15,234 61.0
Republican Bech Bruun 9,723 39.0
Total votes 24,957 100.0
Texas's 27th congressional district election, 2018[30]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Michael Cloud (incumbent) 125,118 60.3
Democratic Eric Holguin 75,929 36.6
Independent James Duerr 4,274 2.1
Libertarian Daniel Tinus 2,100 1.0
Total votes 207,421 100.0
Republican hold
Texas's 27th congressional district election, 2020[31]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Michael Cloud (incumbent) 172,305 63.1
Democratic Ricardo "Rick" De La Fuente 95,446 34.9
Libertarian Phil Gray 5,482 2.0
Total votes 273,253 100.0
Republican hold

References[]

  1. ^ "Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress - Retro Member details". bioguideretro.congress.gov. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  2. ^ Feuchtenberger, Hannah. "ABOUT MICHAEL CLOUD". Cloud for Congress | Michael Cloud. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  3. ^ Svitek, Patrick (June 30, 2018). "Michael Cloud wins special election to fill U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold's seat". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  4. ^ "Lawmaker behind secret $84K sexual harassment settlement unmasked". Politico. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  5. ^ "Republican wins Texas special election for House seat". Washington Post. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  6. ^ "Endorsements". Cloud for Congress | Michael Cloud. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  7. ^ Tribune, The Texas (July 1, 2018). "Michael Cloud wins special election to fill U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold's seat". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  8. ^ Flores, Rebecca (November 3, 2020). "Rep. Michael Cloud wins District 27 again in race against Ricardo De La Fuente". kvue.com. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  9. ^ Tribune, The Texas (July 10, 2018). "Republican Michael Cloud sworn in as Texas' newest congressman". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  10. ^ Blood, Michael R.; Riccardi, Nicholas (December 5, 2020). "Biden officially secures enough electors to become president". AP News. Archived from the original on December 8, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  11. ^ Liptak, Adam (December 11, 2020). "Supreme Court Rejects Texas Suit Seeking to Subvert Election". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  12. ^ "Order in Pending Case" (PDF). Supreme Court of the United States. December 11, 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  13. ^ Diaz, Daniella. "Brief from 126 Republicans supporting Texas lawsuit in Supreme Court". CNN. Archived from the original on December 12, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  14. ^ Smith, David (December 12, 2020). "Supreme court rejects Trump-backed Texas lawsuit aiming to overturn election results". The Guardian. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
  15. ^ "Pelosi Statement on Supreme Court Rejecting GOP Election Sabotage Lawsuit" (Press release). Speaker Nancy Pelosi. December 11, 2020. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
  16. ^ Williams, Jordan (December 11, 2020). "Democrat asks Pelosi to refuse to seat lawmakers supporting Trump's election challenges". TheHill. Archived from the original on December 12, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  17. ^ Keri Enriquez. "Republican members of Congress refuse to wear masks during Capitol insurrection". CNN.
  18. ^ https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/10/lawmakers-may-have-been-exposed-coronavirus-capitol-lockdown-attending-physician-says/
  19. ^ "FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 87". United States House of Representatives. March 17, 2021.
  20. ^ Itkowitz, Colby. "A dozen Republicans voted against Congressional Gold Medals for police who protected them on Jan. 6". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
  21. ^ "H.R.1085 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): To award three congressional gold medals to the United States Capitol Police and those who protected the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021". www.congress.gov. March 16, 2021. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
  22. ^ "Michael Cloud one of three Texas Republicans to vote against resolution on Capitol police". Corpus Christi Caller Times. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
  23. ^ Grayer, Annie; Wilson, Kristin (June 16, 2021). "21 Republicans vote no on bill to award Congressional Gold Medal for January 6 police officers". CNN. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  24. ^ "House votes to repeal 2002 Iraq War authorization".
  25. ^ https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2021/roll172.xml
  26. ^ McPherson, Lindsey (October 31, 2018). "As House Republicans Brace for Losses, Freedom Caucus Prepares for Growth". rollcall.com. Retrieved November 17, 2018. Potential recruits receiving Freedom Fund money this cycle include Chip Roy in Texas’ 21st District, Yvette Herrell in New Mexico’s 2nd District, Mark Harris in North Carolina’s 9th District, Greg Steube in Florida’s 17th District, Denver Riggleman in Virginia’s 5th District, Mark Green in Tennessee’s 7th District, Russ Fulcher in Idaho’s 1st District, Ron Wright in Texas’ 6th District and Ben Cline in Virginia’s 6th District.
  27. ^ "Member List". Republican Study Committee. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  28. ^ "2018 Special Election, US Representative, District 27". Texas Secretary of State. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  29. ^ "2018 Primary Election Official Results". Texas Secretary of State. Archived from the original on March 7, 2018. Retrieved March 8, 2018.
  30. ^ "Texas Election Results". Texas Secretary of State. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  31. ^ "Texas Election Results - Official Results". Texas Secretary of State. Retrieved November 26, 2020.

External links[]

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
Blake Farenthold 		Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 27th congressional district
2018–present 		Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by
Debbie Lesko 		United States representatives by seniority
291st 		Succeeded by
Troy Balderson
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Texas's delegation(s) to the 115th–present United States Congress (ordered by seniority)
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House:
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House:
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House:
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