Tom Cole
Tom Cole | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Ranking Member of the House Rules Committee | |
Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Jim McGovern |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Oklahoma's 4th district | |
Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2003 | |
| Preceded by | J. C. Watts |
| 26th Secretary of State of Oklahoma | |
| In office January 9, 1995 – March 16, 1999 | |
| Governor | Frank Keating |
| Preceded by | Glo Henley |
| Succeeded by | Mike Hunter |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Thomas Jeffery Cole April 28, 1949 Shreveport, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Ellen Decker (m. 1971) |
| Relations | Helen Cole (mother) |
| Children | 1 |
| Education | Grinnell College (BA) Yale University (MA) University of Oklahoma (PhD) |
| Website | House website |
Thomas Jeffery Cole (born April 28, 1949) is the U.S. Representative for Oklahoma's 4th congressional district, serving since 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party and serves as Deputy Minority Whip. The chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) from 2006 to 2008, he was, during his tenure, the fourth-ranking Republican leader in the House. A member of the Chickasaw Nation, Cole is one of only four registered Native Americans in Congress, along with Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, Yvette Herrell[1] of New Mexico and Sharice Davids of Kansas.
Early life, education, and educating career[]
Cole was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, the son of Helen Te Ata (née Gale) and John D. Cole.[2] He is a fifth-generation Oklahoman, having been raised in Moore, halfway between Oklahoma City and Norman. He graduated from Grinnell College in 1971 with a B.A. in history. His postgraduate degrees include an M.A. from Yale University (1974) and a Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma (1984), both in British history. Cole's Ph.D. thesis was Life and Labor in the Isle of Dogs: The Origins and Evolution of an East London Working-Class Community, 1800–1980. He did research abroad as a Thomas J. Watson Fellow and was a Fulbright Fellow (1977–78) at the University of London. He was a college professor in history and politics before becoming a politician.[citation needed]
Cole was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree from Grinnell College in 2016;[3] on January 10, 2021, the college received a petition asking for the revocation of the degree in response to his objection to the certification of the Electoral College votes for president in the 2020 election. Subsequently, Cole voluntarily relinquished the degree.[4]
Early political career[]
Following his mother Helen, who served as a state representative and senator, Cole served in the Oklahoma Senate from 1988 to 1991, resigning mid-term to become Executive Director of the National Republican Congressional Committee. From 1995 to 1999, he was Oklahoma's Secretary of State under Governor Frank Keating, and assisted with the recovery efforts following the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. He resigned to become chief of staff to the Republican National Committee.[5][6] He also served as chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party for much of the 1980s.
Cole has been heavily involved in national politics as well, having served both as Executive Director of the NRCC and as Chief of Staff of the Republican National Committee (RNC).
Cole spent two years working as a paid consultant for the United States Chamber of Commerce, but his primary involvement in politics was as a political consultant for candidates. Along with partners Sharon Hargrave Caldwell and Deby Snodgrass, his firm (Cole, Hargrave, Snodgrass and Associates) played a large part in the reconstruction of Oklahoma's political landscape, and backed a number of candidates who took office during the Republican Revolution of 1994. Among their clients have been Keating, J.C. Watts, Tom Coburn, Frank Lucas, Mary Fallin, Wes Watkins, Steve Largent, Chip Pickering, and Linda Lingle.
U.S. House of Representatives[]
Elections[]
During his initial campaign for the House of Representatives in 2002, Cole received the endorsement of Watts, the popular outgoing congressman. This helped him win a hard-fought general election over Democratic nominee and former Oklahoma State Senator Darryl Roberts, with 53.8% of the vote to Roberts's 46.1%. Cole has won at least 63% of the vote in each of his eight reelection campaigns, and ran unopposed in 2010.
Tenure[]
Following the 2006 election cycle, the members of the House Republican Conference elected Cole to the post of NRCC Chairman, placing him in charge of national efforts to assist Republican candidates for Congress.
His voting record during his nine years in the House marks Cole as a solid conservative with occasional libertarian sympathies. He has consistently voted anti-abortion and pro-business positions, and established himself as a supporter of free trade, gun rights, the military, veterans, and American Indian issues. He favors loosening immigration restrictions and imposing stricter limits on campaign funds. In 2012, he sponsored H.R. 5912 which would prohibit public funds from being used for political party conventions. This legislation passed the House in September but awaits action by the Senate.[7]
In June 2013, after another failure of the United States farm bill in Congress, Cole called the failure of the legislation inexcusable. His district in Oklahoma includes some of the state's farming communities, and if the Farm Bill passed, it would have saved $40 billion over a ten-year period.[8]
As Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch, Cole was responsible for introducing the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2015 (H.R. 4487; 113th Congress).[9] The bill would appropriate $3.3 billion to the legislative branch for FY 2015, which is approximately the same amount it received in FY 2014.[10] According to Cole, the bill meets its goals "in both an effective and efficient manner, and has done so in a genuinely bipartisan, inclusive and deliberative fashion."[11]
In 2013, Cole introduced the Home School Equity Act for Tax Relief. The bill would allow some homeschool parents to take tax credits for purchasing classroom materials.[12]
Cole expressed his intention in 2018 to push his Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act into the spending bill as an omnibus. The bill would "make clear that the National Labor Relations Board has no jurisdiction over businesses owned and operated by an Indian tribe and located on tribal land."[13]
Cole was ranked as the 91st most bipartisan member of the U.S. House of Representatives during the 114th United States Congress by The Lugar Center.[14]
2016 House Speakership election[]
In the contest for House Speaker that followed the resignation of John Boehner Cole supported the claims of Paul Ryan:
"Anyone who attacks Paul Ryan as being insufficiently conservative is either woefully misinformed or maliciously destructive...Paul Ryan has played a major role in advancing the conservative cause and creating the Republican House majority. His critics are not true conservatives. They are radical populists who neither understand nor accept the institutions, procedures and traditions that are the basis of constitutional governance."[15]
Political positions[]
Cole supported President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order to impose a temporary ban on entry to the U.S. to citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries.[16]
In January 2021, Cole voted against the certification of the Electoral College results in the 2020 presidential election.[17] He subsequently voluntarily gave up an honorary degree from Grinnell College.[18] In May 2021, Cole voted against the creation of a bipartisan commission to investigate the January 6 insurrection.[19]
Iraq[]
In June 2021, Cole was one of 49 House Republicans to vote to repeal the AUMF against Iraq.[20][21]
Committee memberships[]
- Committee on Appropriations (Vice Ranking Member)
- Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Ranking Member)
- Subcommittee on Defense
- Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
- Committee on the Budget
- Committee on Rules (Ranking Member)
Caucus Membership[]
- Republican Study Committee[22]
Electoral history[]
| Year | Republican | Votes | Pct | Democrat | Votes | Pct | 3rd Party | Party | Votes | Pct | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Tom Cole | 106,452 | 53.83% | Darryl Roberts | 91,322 | 46.17% | ||||||||
| 2004 | Tom Cole | 198,985 | 77.77% | (no candidate) | Charlene K. Bradshaw | Independent | 56,869 | 22.23% | ||||||
| 2006 | Tom Cole | 118,266 | 64.61% | Hal Spake | 64,775 | 35.39% | ||||||||
| 2008 | Tom Cole | 180,080 | 66.02% | Blake Cummings | 79,674 | 29.21% | David E. Joyce | Independent | 13,027 | 4.78% | ||||
| 2010* | Tom Cole | 32,589 | 77.26% | (no candidate) | Republican | 9,593 | 22.74% | |||||||
| 2012 | Tom Cole | 176,561 | 67.89% | Donna Marie Bebo | 71,155 | 27.60% | Independent | 11,725 | 4.51% | |||||
| 2014 | Tom Cole | 117,721 | 70.80% | Bert Smith | 40,998 | 24.66% | Dennis B. Johnson | Independent | 7,549 | 4.54% | ||||
| 2016 | Tom Cole | 203,942 | 69.64% | Christina Owen | 76,308 | 26.08% | Sevier White | Libertarian | 12,548 | 4.28% | ||||
| 2018 | Tom Cole | 149,127 | 63.07% | Mary Brannon | 78,022 | 33.00% | Ruby Peters | Independent | 9,310 | 3.94% | ||||
| 2020 | Tom Cole | 213,096 | 67.80% | Mary Brannon | 90,459 | 28.80% | Bob White | Libertarian | 10,803 | 3.40% |
- In 2010, no Democrat or independent candidate filed to run in OK-4. The results printed here are from the Republican primary, where the election was decided.
Personal life[]
Cole and his wife, Ellen, have one son, Mason. He is a member of the United Methodist Church and lives in Moore.
Cole has said, "I was raised to think of myself as Native American and, most importantly, as Chickasaw."[24] Cole has said that a great-aunt of his was the Native American storyteller Te Ata.[24] Describing his heritage, he said his "mother Helen Cole[25] was...extraordinarily proud of [their] Native American history and was, frankly, the first Native American woman ever elected to state senate in Oklahoma."[24]
Cole sits on the Smithsonian Institution Board of Regents and the National Fulbright Association.[26] Cole is featured in the play Sliver of a Full Moon by Mary Kathryn Nagle for his role in the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act in 2013.[27]
See also[]
References[]
- ^ New Mexico becomes first state to elect all women of color to the House of Representatives
- ^ "cole". Freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-13. Retrieved 2015-10-27.
- ^ "GOP Rep. Tom Cole relinquishes honorary degree after students petition college to remove it". 13 January 2021.
- ^ "Rep. Tom Cole Voluntarily Relinquishes Honorary Degree | Grinnell College".
- ^ Official Lands GOP Post Keating to Name New Secretary of State
- ^ RNC picks new chief of staff
- ^ "H.R. 5912: To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to prohibit the use of public funds for political party conventions". Retrieved 12 October 2012.
- ^ Casteel, Chris (June 21, 2013). "Oklahoma Reps. Tom Cole, Jim Bridenstine Disagree on Farm Bill". NewsOK. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
- ^ "H.R. 4487 – All Actions". United States Congress. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
- ^ Marcos, Cristina (25 April 2014). "Next week:Appropriations season begins". The Hill. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
- ^ Hess, Hannah (2 April 2014). "Legislative Branch Bill Keeps House Spending in Check". Roll Call. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
- ^ Jim East, "Legislation would give home school families access to education tax deduction" Archived 2013-08-28 at archive.today, The Ripon Advance, August 28, 2013. (Retrieved August 28, 2013)
- ^ Wong, Scott. "Five things lawmakers want attached to the $1 trillion funding bill". The Hill. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
- ^ The Lugar Center - McCourt School Bipartisan Index (PDF), The Lugar Center, March 7, 2016, retrieved April 30, 2017
- ^ Steinhauer, Jennifer (12 October 2015). "Latest Unease on Right – Is Ryan Too Far to the Left?". New York Times. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
- ^ Blake, Aaron (29 January 2017). "Coffman, Gardner join Republicans against President Trump's travel ban; here's where the rest stand". Denver Post. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
- ^ "'I'm just furious': Relations in Congress crack after attack". POLITICO. Retrieved 2021-01-29.
- ^ Choi, Joseph (13 January 2021). "GOP lawmaker gives up honorary college degree in wake of Electoral College vote". TheHill. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
- ^ Gorman, Reese (19 May 2021). "Cole votes against bipartisan Jan. 6 Commission". The Norman Transcript. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
- ^ "House votes to repeal 2002 Iraq War authorization".
- ^ https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2021/roll172.xml
- ^ "Member List". Republican Study Committee. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
- ^ "Election Statistics". Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives. Retrieved 2008-01-10.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Native American Heritage Month Keynote Address (Speech). Library of Congress. 2007-11-06. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
- ^ Helen Cole Archived 2010-05-31 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Tom Cole Full Biography". Tom Cole U.S. Congressman. 11 December 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
- ^ "sliver of a full moon". sliver of a full moon. Retrieved 2016-12-12.
External links[]
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tom Cole. |
- Congressman Tom Cole official U.S. House website
- Tom Cole for Congress
- Tom Cole at Curlie
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Profile at Vote Smart
- Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
- Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
- Biography and Videos – Chickasaw.TV
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- 1949 births
- Living people
- 20th-century American politicians
- 21st-century American politicians
- 20th-century Native Americans
- 21st-century Native Americans
- American United Methodists
- Chickasaw people
- Christians from Oklahoma
- Grinnell College alumni
- Members of the United States House of Representatives from Oklahoma
- Native American Christians
- Native American members of the United States Congress
- Native American state legislators in Oklahoma
- Oklahoma Republicans
- Oklahoma state senators
- People from Moore, Oklahoma
- Politicians from Shreveport, Louisiana
- Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives
- Secretaries of State of Oklahoma
- University of Oklahoma alumni
- Watson Fellows
- Yale University alumni