Labrador, Raul a g Rep

==

lcv 7/7%

http://scorecard.lcv.org/moc/raul-labrador

---

another rep goes AG?!

thom an 10 24

...

— Republican attorneys general go to court to demand more pregnant 15-year-olds. This story sounds too bizarre to be true, but Missouri Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey, Kansas Republican Attorney General Kris Kobach, and Idaho Republican Attorney General Raúl Labrador have filed a lawsuit in federal court — presumably aiming for an eventual hearing before the Supreme Court — claiming that their states are being harmed, population-wise, by the availability of abortion drugs that can be shipped into their states by mail.

They want shipping Mifepristone outlawed nationwide. The proof of the harm, they say, is that they are not seeing enough pregnant teenagers. The lawsuit is explicit (page 190): “Defendants’ efforts enabling the remote dispensing of abortion drugs has caused abortions for women in Plaintiff States and decreased births in Plaintiff States. This is a sovereign injury to the State in itself. … When data is examined in a way that reflects sensitivity to expected birth rates, these estimates strikingly ‘do not show evidence of an increase in births to teenagers aged 15-19,’ even in states with long driving distances despite the fact that ‘women aged 15-19 … are more responsive to driving distances to abortion facilities than older women.’”

They then claim that this “proof” that availability of mailed abortion pills are causing the drop in pregnancies among girls 15-19 years old is an “injury” to their states because it lowers their potential population. This is getting wild, but wait until the Supreme Court authorizes Red states to begin monitoring the menstrual periods of fertile girls and women; Alabama Republican Senator Katie Britt has already introduced federal legislation requiring companies selling devices that track ovulation to report their results to state agencies or a federal database, including police agencies nationwide, so pregnancies can be caught and tracked. Republicans won’t be happy until every girl in America grows up the way Amy Coney Barrett did in her People of Praise Catholic cult where she was referred to as a “Handmaiden.”

— And now, to the delight of Republican lawmakers and police the US government has bought a tool that can track you by your cellphone to abortion clinics anywhere in the country. Locate X is a product from Babel Street which our government has been using since the Trump administration; it’s capable of tracking every cellphone in the country with remarkable location accuracy. The folks at 404 Media did a trial run of it focused on tracking people to and from abortion clinics, and the process was startlingly easy. When Ted Cruz, JD Vance, and the rest of the GOP forced-birth crowd again gain control of the federal government, get ready. They’re chomping at the bit…

---

table no lnx

Republican AG Pay-to-Play Group Raises $4.9 Million in Second Quarter - EXPOSEDbyCMD

Republican AG Pay-to-Play Group Raises $4.9 Million in Second Quarter

By David Armiak | July 19th, 2022

Campaign Finance, Democracy, Elections, Featured Investigations, Koch, News, RAGA

Editor’s Note: On July 20, 2022, RAGA’s deputy executive director Johnny Koremenos notified CMD that the $300 contribution from Philanthropy Roundtable highlighted in this story was refunded.

The Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) raised $4.9 million in the second quarter of this year, according to a report filed with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on Friday. RAGA‘s haul is $300,000 less than in the second quarter of 2018 and slightly exceeds the $4.8 million the group raised during the first quarter of 2022.

RAGA spun its fundraising figures by giving Fox Business an exclusive, claiming that it “broke another fundraising record.” But the $6.3 million figure it gave for the quarter was “across all entities,” and since 2022 IRS filings for RAGA’s sister organizations the Rule of Law Defense Fund (RLDF) and the Center for Law and Policy (CLP) will not be publicly available until November 2023 at the earliest, the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) cannot verify the claim.

RAGA accepts unlimited contributions from corporations, individuals, and special interest groups such as Koch Industries, Altria, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, primarily to fund the campaigns of Republican candidates for attorneys general. Together with its affiliates RLDF and CLP, it runs a cash-for-influence operation that coordinates the official actions of Republican state attorneys general and sells its corporate funders access to those AGs and their staff.

RAGA’s largest contribution in the second quarter, $200,000, went to Brenna Bird, the Republican candidate for attorney general in Iowa, who faces an uphill battle to unseat the longest-serving state AG in the country, Tom Miller (D).

In a surprising move, RAGA gave $15,200 to Georgia AG Chris Carr’s reelection campaign. Although Carr is a Republican, he resigned as RAGA’s national chair in 2021 over the selection of Peter Bisbee to replace Adam Piper as RAGA’s executive director, citing “a significant difference of opinion… as to the direction this organization should take going forward” and “vastly opposite views of the significance of the events of January 6.”

Bisbee formerly led RLDF and, in the days prior to the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol, he was responsible for sending out robocalls encouraging supporters to “march to the Capitol and call on Congress to stop the steal.” His selection also led to an exodus of longtime RAGA staff members, CMD reported.

Raul Labrador, the Republican candidate for attorney general in Idaho, was the only other individual to receive RAGA funding in the second quarter, accepting $5,000 for his campaign, the report discloses.

RAGA hopes to build on the 28 state offices held by Republican attorneys general through “seven-figure investments to flip seats in Wisconsin, Michigan and Nevada, and to retain the attorney general office in Arizona,” according to Fox Business.

Corporations Attending Latest RAGA Fundraiser Contribute $1.2 Million

Over the weekend, 18 companies were scheduled to attend a major RAGA fundraising event at a luxury resort in Florida, CNBC reported. Of those companies, 10 gave a total of $1.2 million to RAGA in the second quarter, CMD found.

Leading the pack was the Institute for Legal Reform (ILR), which gave another $500,000 in addition to the $255,000 it contributed in the first quarter. An affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, ILR focuses on advancing business-friendly legal reforms such as making class-action lawsuits more difficult to file and defending business interests in court.

Following the ILR, Centene Management Company, a Missouri-based healthcare company, was the next largest RAGA donor, with a $350,000 contribution in the second quarter.

The consumer wellness company Melaleuca, which has given RAGA $260,000 so far this year, is also a leading donor expected to attend the gathering. In addition, each of the following companies scheduled to attend has already hit or topped the $100,000 mark in 2022: Anheuser-Busch ($105,000), Anthem ($100,000), Comcast ($130,000), and General Motors ($100,000).

BNSF Railway and Ronald Cameron Round Out Top Five

BNSF Railway Company and Ronald Cameron, CEO of the Mountaire Corporation, each gave $150,000, making them among the top five second-quarter donors to RAGA.

Cameron is a top donor to the Koch political network. His company paid $65 million in 2021 to settle a class action lawsuit and agreed to make $140 million in investments in wastewater treatment facilities mandated by the state, CMD reported. In addition, he was the 14th largest donor to super PACs in 2021, CMD found.

RAGA Accepts Another Illegal Donation

In February, Popular Info reported that RAGA accepted an illegal donation of $50,000 from Children’s Health Defense, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s anti-vax propaganda outfit.

According to IRS rules, “a section 501(c)(3) organization may not make a contribution to a political organization described in section 527 (such as a candidate committee, political party committee or political action committee (PAC).” As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Children’s Health Defense admitted the donation was illegal, but claimed that “they paid $50K to get access to Republican AGs to brief them on ‘health policy issues.'”

RAGA, a 527 registered group, refunded the $50,000 the day after the Popular Info report, its first quarter filing confirms.

Now, RAGA’s latest filing shows that it received an illegal donation of $300 from the Philanthropy Roundtable, another 501(c)(3) nonprofit chaired by Bradley Foundation President Richard Graber. The Philanthropy Roundtable was established with funding from the Institute for Educational Affairs in the 1970s to help facilitate and coordinate conservative grant-making and foundations.

...

|Cameron, Ronald|$150,000|

===

Raúl Labrador defeated incumbent Lawrence Wasden and Arthur B. Macomber in the Republican primary for Attorney General of Idaho on May 17, 2022.

E&E

ENDANGERED SPECIES

Battle over landmark law already raging out of public eye

Corbin Hiar, E&E News reporter

Published: Monday, April 17, 2017

Rob Bishop (R-Utah)

Aides to House Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) are working to increase energy development by reducing the Endangered Species Act's bite. Photo courtesy of the Natural Resources Committee.

With most of Washington focused on fights over government funding, Obamacare and Russian meddling, a few congressional aides and outside advocates are quietly preparing for what could be anepic battle over the Endangered Species Act.

The contentious conservation law was protected by President Obama's veto from Republican efforts to ease restrictions on farmers, energy companies and developers.

But with Republicans now controlling Capitol Hill and the White House for the first time since 2004, the endangered species law — which hasn't been significantly updated since 1988 — appears vulnerable.

E&E SERIES

People to Watch 2017 logo

E&E News rounds up key players on energy and environmental policy. Click here to view the series.

On one side of the fight are staffers for House Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah), who said last year that he wants to repeal and replace the law (E&E Daily, Dec. 9, 2016).

But in the 115th Congress, Bishop is instead focused on narrow sections of the ESA that Republicans and industry groups find problematic.

His first hearing this year centered on a provision requiring input from the Fish and Wildlife Service or National Marine Fisheries Service — agencies that jointly administer the ESA — on government-approved or -funded projects that could "jeopardize the continued existence of any endangered species or threatened species, or result in the destruction or adverse modification of [critical] habitat of such species" (E&E Daily, March 29).

The hearing was held by the increasingly important Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, a panel Bishop created after winning the Natural Resources gavel two years ago (E&E Daily, Jan. 14, 2015).

Rob Gordon

Rob Gordon. Photo courtesy of Rob Gordon via LinkedIn.

Led since January by Rep. Raúl Labrador (R-Idaho), Oversight has seven full-time GOP staffers — more than any other Natural Resources subcommittee, according to data from LegiStorm, a congressional staff tracking service.

Oversight staff director Rob Gordon, a veteran of the Hill's periodic ESA fights, and counsel Megan Olmstead, a relative newcomer, will provide Republican lawmakers with most of the legislative ammunition they need. They and many other staffers featured in this story were not made available for interviews.

Gordon, who spent seven years at the conservative Heritage Foundation before returning to the Natural Resources panel when Bishop took over, also served as the Trump transition team's advisor on regulatory reform (E&E Daily, Jan. 22, 2015). He has been working for decades to overhaul the law.

Megan Olmstead

Megan Olmstead. Photo courtesy of Megan Olmstead via LinkedIn.

"The time is ripe to amend significantly the Endangered Species Act," he wrote in a 1994 article for Heritage's now defunct Policy Review journal. Had the law been in existence during biblical times, Gordon wrote, Noah "might have been reviled as an animal-hater, fined, and kept from launching his ark" because he wouldn't have thought to bring aboard certain reptile and insect species.

At the time, Gordon was the executive director of the National Wilderness Institute. The Vanderbilt University graduate left the oil industry-funded environmental group in 2004 tosupport the failed ESA reform efforts of former Resources Chairman Richard Pombo (R-Calif.).

Olmstead is working closely with Gordon on the committee's reform efforts. After graduating a decade ago from the University of Portland, a Catholic school in Oregon, she bounced between Capitol Hill, the Idaho governor's office and the University of Notre Dame's law school before ending up with Natural Resources in September 2015, her profile on the social networking site LinkedIn shows. In law school, she studied the gray wolf's status under the ESA.

Senate players

Across the Capitol, staffers for Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) are also formulating an overhaul strategy.

Matt Leggett

Matt Leggett. Photo courtesy of C-SPAN.

So far, Barrasso has held one hearing that sought to build bipartisan consensus for ESA reform and marked up a bill that he introduced with ranking member Tom Carper (D-Del.) that would revive and bolster several wildlife protection programs and launch annual innovation prizes for endangered species management and other conservation challenges (Greenwire, April 5).

Matt Leggett, the committee's deputy chief counsel, and Andrew Harding, who took his first Hill job as counsel in September 2016, are two of Barrasso's lead ESA reformers.

Leggett began working for the chairman in 2012 as policy counsel for the Senate Republican Policy Committee, which Barrasso then led. The University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University Law School graduate also worked in corporate law and served on the House Agriculture Committee and in the offices of Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) and former Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.). As an intern, Leggett worked with Robert Spencer, when he was U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Erskine Bowles, when he was chief of staff to President Clinton.

Matt Harding

Andrew Harding. Photo courtesy of Andrew Harding via LinkedIn.

Soon after joining the committee, Harding helped get last year's water infrastructure bill (S. 612) passed into law. He is now mainly focusing on wildlife and oceans policies.

Harding previously worked for corporate law firms, President George W. Bush's Energy secretaries and USA Synthetic Fuel Corp., a bankrupt coal liquefaction company. He earned his bachelor's degree at Washington and Lee University and graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law, according to LinkedIn.

The counselors' efforts are overseen by staff director Richard Russell, who earned a bachelor's degree in biology at Yale University, and deputy staff director Brian Clifford, who has worked for Barrasso in a variety of roles over the past decade.

Any reform legislation Barrasso's team produces will need to secure the votes of at least eight Democrats on the Senate floor to beat a filibuster. Their first challenge, however, will be winning over Mary Frances Repko, Carper's deputy staff director.

Mary Frances Repko

Mary Frances Repko. Photo courtesy of LinkedIn.

"If you have dealt with the environment, if you have dealt with energy, or if you have dealt with the history of the Senate and the House on energy legislation and environmental legislation over the last 20 years, you know Mary Frances Repko," House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer said in a January floor speech honoring her for a decade of service in his office. The Maryland Democrat also noted she had worked closely with Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on "fighting partisan anti-environment riders."

Repko headed to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee the following month, the committee she staffed from 2003 until 2007, when she left to join Hoyer. She has also served on the staffs of Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and former Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.).

Prior to coming to the Hill, Repko worked on water issues for the World Wildlife Fund, a conservation group, and the Great Lakes Commission. The native of East Lansing, Mich., earned her bachelor's degree at Johns Hopkins University and a master's from the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment.

Outside voices

Republicans' push for an ESA overhaul is likely to draw support from the Western Governors' Association.

Under the leadership of Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead (R) in 2016,the conservative-leaning organization began advocating for ESA changes. At the same time, WGA endorsed a policy position urging Congress to reauthorize the law and this year convinced the National Governors Association to adopt a similar resolution (E&E News PM, March 2).

David Willms

David Willms. Photo courtesy of David Willms via LinkedIn.

While Mead is no longer WGA chairman, policy adviser David Willms is still leading a series of meetings with a broad coalition of participants that aim to produce a specific set of recommendations that could make the ESA work better.

"We took some of the ideas that came out of that first year and have made them the subject of work sessions during the second year of this initiative," Willms said in a phone interview from Cheyenne, Wyo., which he, his wife and two young daughters call home.

The sessions will wrap up in May, and the WGA hopes to have a list of fixes ready to promote by midsummer.

"Whether that is a set of recommendations that is taken to the Fish and Wildlife Service for regulatory changes, whether it includes recommended statutory changes, policy changes — all of that is to be determined," he said. "But that's what we're moving towards, is seeing if there are places where there is consensus."

The recommendations are being put together by representatives from state and federal government as well as groups representing sportsmen, environmentalists and the energy, lumber and agriculture industries. But Willms, who has also served in the Wyoming attorney general's office and worked in private practice, declined to say exactly who is involved at this point.

One unlikely participant: the conservation group Defenders of Wildlife.

"I certainly believe fundamentally that the Endangered Species Act could work better," said Jamie Rappaport Clark, the president and CEO of Defenders. "And if there are ways to work better, we want to help that effort."

Jamie Rappaport Clark

Jamie Rappaport Clark. Photo courtesy of Jamie Rappaport Clark via Defenders

Rappaport Clark, who was President Clinton's Fish and Wildlife Service director, and her staff are also involved in the initiative in hopes that they can steer it more toward administrative reforms. That way, she said during an interview in her glass-encased corner office suite, "we can maybe save the battle legislatively, because it's going to be pretty dramatic."

But if a GOP reform bill emerges, Rappaport Clark — who often works seven days a week and uses a treadmill desk when she's in the office — is ready to lead the fight against it.

"I don't see a reform effort strengthening the law" in this Congress, she said. "I can only see a reform effort that will undermine and weaken the law's ability to achieve its purposes."

Rappaport Clark, an avid equestrian who lives in Virginia horse country with her husband and teenage son, is already working to educate Democratic senators about the damage that Defenders fears Republicans could do to vulnerable species and habitats. She is also attempting to rally other more broadly focused conservation groups, which are busy fighting to prevent the rollback of climate protection regulations and other environmental policies.

Her pitch is that the ESA is essentially the law of last resort for the environment.

"When the Clean Water Act fails, when the land laws fail, the Endangered Species Act will save enough," she said. "We're not going to allow extinction."

That should be enough to mobilize the progressive community of Democratic lawmakers, environmentalists, minority groups, labor unions, religious groups and human rights organizations, Rappaport Clark reasoned.

"If — maybe I should say, when — the Endangered Species Act is truly under an assault, I have every expectation that folks will be there with us," she said, before tapping her desk for good measure. "Knock on wood, please. They'd better be."

==

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/report/the-ten-scariest-republicans-heading-to-congress/

Right Wing Watch: In Focus | Dec. 2010

The Ten Scariest Republicans Heading to Congress

By Right Wing Watch Staff

DOWNLOAD REPORT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Meet Renee Ellmers: Cracking Down on Monarchy and Mosques

Meet Tom Marino: Plagued by Corruption Charges

Meet Tim Walberg: A Birther Goes to Washington

Meet Vicky Hartzler: Missouri's Anti-Gay Zealot

Meet Lou Barletta: America's Anti-Immigrant Mayor Heads to Congress

Meet Tim Griffin: Karl Rove's Man in Congress

Meet Allen West: Fanatical Opponent of Muslims, Immigrants, Progressives & Obama

Meet Alan Nunnelee: Mississippi's Newest Member of Congress is on a "Crusade to Save America"

Meet Raul Labrador: Bryan Fischer's Favorite Tea Partier

Meet Sandy Adams: Conspiracy-Theorist, Religious Extremist

In the Republican primary to see who would face off against Democratic Rep. Walt Minnick, Raul Labrador ran to the right of his very conservative opponent, who was endorsed by Sarah Palin and the NRCC. Labrador rallied support from Religious Right and Tea Party groups in order to upset Republican Vaughn Ward, whose campaign imploded, and he went on to defeat Rep. Minnick.

Labrador made his right-wing views clear when he announced his campaign in an email “to a former Idaho blogger known for his extreme conservative views.” He supports withdrawing the US from the United Nations, returningto the Gold Standard, and eliminatingthe Department of Education. Labrador even wants torepeal the 17th Amendment and end the right of voters to elect their Senators, bizarrely sayingthat it is “the constitutional position to take” and the only way to make sure “that U.S. Senators are actually beholden to the people.”

In the State House, Labrador saidhe will work “tirelessly to defund and repeal Obamacare” and spearheaded the passage of a bill which compels the Attorney General to challenge the health care reform law in federal court and bars the government from mandating coverage. When speaking to radio talk show host Laura Ingraham, Labrador maintainedthat the law was “historic, but remember, Benedict Arnold was also historic, he betrayed our nation. And I think the Democratic Party betrayed our nation yesterday as well.”

An anti-government zealot, he backedbills which seek to reaffirm Idaho’s sovereignty from the federal government, to limit “Congress’ power under the commerce clause,” and to stop the federal government from enforcing gun laws.

He won support from the Religious Right community and the American Family Association’s director of public policy and talk show host Bryan Fischer,:{ who }:{gays to terrorists and believes that Muslims should be }:prohibited:{from building mosques in the U.S., called Labrador his “}:good friend:{” and the two hosted Tea Party rallies together. Labrador }:voted:{to make the federal government “provide for the presence of God in the public domain,” }:supports the law ban:{ning openly gay and lesbian soldiers from serving in the military, and }:opposes:{same-sex marriage rights.}:

The Family Research Council Action PACran radio ads endorsing Labrador, who supported him as a result of his 100% anti-choice record–he voted to allowmedical professionals to refuse contraceptives, voted in favor ofincreasing burdens on women seeking to terminate their pregnancies–andhis opposition to abortion in all cases. Penny Nance of the far-right Concerned Women for America showered praiseon Labrador, the National Right to Life Committee extolledhis “exemplary pro-life record,” and he was a principal legislative ally of Idaho Chooses Life.

A proponent of corporate interests, Labrador wants to scrapthe progressive income tax in favor of a national sales tax, supportsthe Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United, and signedGrover Norquist’s anti-tax pledge. Even though he opposes the economic stimulus, as a state representative herepeatedly voted in favorof spending federal money provided by the stimulus. On immigration, Arizona’s notoriousSheriff Joe Arpaio endorsedLabrador, who has saidthat illegal immigrants are “going to have to self-deport.”

Raul Labrador’s fanatical mission to rewrite the Constitution and dismantle the federal government has generated massive support from the Tea Party, and Religious Right figures like Bryan Fischer and Peggy Nance have given Labrador their blessing as a result of his rigid anti-choice and anti-equality views. [] Labrador is now set to bring his extremist views and right-wing platform from the Idaho State House to the U.S. Congress.

==

2013604Ban on Federal Fracking SafeguardsWater, Dirty Energy, Lands/Forests, Drilling 

2013601Methane EmissionsClimate Change, Dirty Energy, Lands/Forests 

2013600Big Oil GiveawayLands/Forests, Drilling 

2013557National Ocean PolicyOceans 

2013556Protecting Public Input & Environmental ReviewWater, Other 

2013483Decimating America's ForestsLands/Forests 

2013479Attack on Judicial ReviewOther 

2013471Hardrock MiningLands/Forests, Dirty Energy 

2013445Safeguards ShutdownOther 

2013440Nuclear SafetyOther 

2013432Blocking Public Health ProtectionsAir, Water 

2013430Social Cost of CarbonClimate Change 

2013418Toxic Coal AshWater, Dirty Energy 

2013394Restriction on Dirty FuelsDirty Energy, Climate Change, Other 

2013345Assault on Clean Energy and Clean WaterWater, Clean Energy 

2013329Clean Energy FundingClean Energy 

2013312Water Pollution from Mountaintop RemovalWater, Dirty Energy, Toxics/Public Right to Know 

2013311Clean Water ProtectionsWater 

2013304Offshore DrillingDrilling, Dirty Energy, Oceans 

2013299Drilling in Bristol BayDirty Energy, Oceans, Drilling, Wildlife 

2013286Anti-Environmental Farm BillLands/Forests, Water, Wildlife, Clean Energy, Other 

2013260Agricultural Conservation PracticesLands/Forests, Water 

2013203Flood Insurance ReformLands/Forests, Water, Other 

2013179Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline (KXL)Climate Change, Dirty Energy, Water 

201388Big Oil BudgetOther 

201322Resiliency in Disaster ReliefLands/Forests, Wildlife, Climate Change, Other 

201321Limiting Sandy Response EffortsLands/Forests 

201319McKinney National Wildlife RefugeWildlife 

2012603Broad Environmental AssaultAir, Climate Change, Dirty Energy, Lands/Forests, Toxics/Public Right to Know, Water 

2012600Regional Haze Air PollutionAir, Dirty Energy, Lands/Forests 

==

The member who raised the least out of any of these 20 was also one of the loudest voices opposing a deal yesterday -- Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho). Labrador raised just $45,470 in the third quarter, according to his campaign's filing.

First Elected:2010

Career Fundraising

1989 - 2014 Total Receipts:	$1,647,727
1989 - 2014 Total Spent:	$1,355,456
Debts:	$25,275
Last Report:	Sunday, June 30, 2013

Top 5 Contributors, 2010 - 2014

...view more data

Top 5 Industries, 2010 - 2014

...view more data

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Raúl Rafael Labrador (born December 8, 1967) is an American politician who has been the U.S. Representative for Idaho's 1st congressional district since 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party. His district is in western Idaho and includes parts of Boise as well as the cities of Meridian, Coeur d'Alene, Moscow, Sandpoint, Lewiston, Bonners Ferry, McCall, Caldwell, Nampa, Emmett, Parma, Weiser, and Eagle. Labrador previously represented District 14B in the Idaho House of Representatives.

Contents

• 1 Early life, education, and law career
• 2 Idaho legislature
• 3 U.S. House of Representatives
  • 3.1 Elections
  • 3.2 Tenure
  • 3.3 Committee assignments
  • 3.4 Caucus memberships

• 4 Personal life
• 5 References
• 6 External links

Early life, education, and law career

Labrador was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, on December 8, 1967. He received a B.A. in Spanish with an emphasis in Latin American literature from Brigham Young University in 1992. Labrador later received a J.D. from the University of Washington School of Law. He practiced law and immigration law in private practice from 1995 until his election to the Idaho House of Representatives in 2006.^[1][2]

Idaho legislature

Labrador was elected to represent the 14th district in the Idaho House of Representatives in 2006. While in the state legislature, he was a leader in the successful fight against the attempt to increase the state gasoline tax.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2010

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Idaho, 2010#District 1

On May 25, 2010, Labrador defeated military veteran Vaughn Ward in the Republican primary 48%-39%, in what was widely considered a major upset.^[3][4][5] In the general election, Labrador defeated Democratic incumbent Walt Minnick 51%-41%.^[6]

2012

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Idaho, 2012#District 1

Labrador was challenged in the Republican primary by Reed McCandless, but defeated him 81%-19%.^[7] In the general election, Labrador won reelection to a second term, defeating former NFL wide receiver Jimmy Farris, 63%-31%.^[8]

2014

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Idaho, 2014#District 1 and Idaho gubernatorial election, 2014

On August 14, 2013, Labrador decided not to challenge incumbent governor Butch Otter in the Republican primary, instead running for reelection to a third term. Labrador stated, “Butch Otter could do a better job. Hopefully with the leadership of the Legislature they can do a better job.”^[9][10]

On August 19, 2013, Democratic State Representative Shirley Ringo decided to challenge Labrador instead of running for an eighth term.^[11]

Tenure

Days after the election he sharply criticized losing presidential candidate Mitt Romney's comments about Hispanics.^[12]

Immigration

Labrador was a member of the "Group of Eight," a bipartisan group of House members working on immigration reform legislation,^[13] but on June 5, 2013, Labrador left the negotiations because he wanted language in the bill requiring that illegal immigrants be responsible for their own health care costs.^[14] Labrador said he would use his position on the House Judiciary Committee to pass immigration reform legislation. On June 18, 2013, he joined a majority of his Judiciary Committee colleagues in voting for the "SAFE Act" to bolster interior enforcement of immigration laws.^[15] On June 19, 2013, he joined a majority of his Judiciary Committee colleagues in voting for the "AG Act" to improve the temporary agricultural guest worker program.^[16]

Health Care

Labrador supports the repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act because he claims it will raise costs and kill jobs. He believes the best way to give Americans more affordable health insurance is with market-based policies that will decrease healthcare costs.

Education

In October 2011, Labrador introduced the American Education Act, intended to address the lack of students entering high-tech fields such as engineering and medical technology by providing incentives to do so. The bill would also allow foreign students in these fields who had job offers from American companies to acquire residency.^[17] In addition, while in the Idaho State House of Representatives, Labrador made clear his support for virtual education by voting for several bills to fund online education within the state of Idaho.^[18]

Energy

Labrador believes alternative energy sources should be explored, including nuclear, hydroelectric, carbon neutral biomass, wind, solar and geothermal,^[19] but opposes government subsidies for the development of these resources, saying they will develop on their own.^[20] He has made clear that he thinks the government needs to decrease regulation of geothermal energy, claiming Idaho's development of it is being impeded by governmental regulation, and has sponsored legislation to relax the regulations.^[21]

Fiscal policy

In July 2012 Labrador supported extending the budget for an extra six months in order to "prevent a crisis."^[22]

Agriculture

Labrador voted against the farm bill on June 20, 2013.

Second Amendment

Labrador believes that the Second Amendment guarantees individuals the right to keep and bear arms, and opposes all legislation that infringes on the right of law-abiding citizens to own a gun.

Committee assignments

• Committee on Natural Resources
  • Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs
  • Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands
  • Subcommittee on Water and Power

• Committee on the Judiciary
  • Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security
  • Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations

Caucus memberships

• Congressional Hispanic Conference
• Republican Study Committee
• Liberty Caucus

Personal life

Labrador lives in Eagle, Idaho, with his wife, Rebecca, and their five children.^[23] He is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,^[24] the first Mormon to represent Idaho's 1st district.