American politician from Idaho

Raúl Rafael Labrador (born December 8, 1967) is an American lawyer and politician who was the chair of the Idaho Republican Party. He previously served as a U.S. representative for Idaho's 1st congressional district from 2011 to 2019. He also represented the 14B district in the Idaho House of Representatives from 2006 to 2010. Labrador opted not to seek another term in Congress to run for governor of Idaho in the 2018 election; he lost the Republican primary to Idaho Lieutenant Governor Brad Little.

Contents

• 1 Early life and education
• 2 Early career
  • 2.1 Idaho House of Representatives
    • 2.1.1 2006
    • 2.1.2 2008
    • 2.1.3 Committee *ignments
• 3 U.S. House of Representatives
  • 3.1 Tenure
  • 3.2 Committee *ignments
  • 3.3 Caucus memberships
• 4 Political positions
  • 4.1 Domestic issues
    • 4.1.1 Health care
  • 4.2 Economic issues
    • 4.2.1 Elections
    • 4.2.2 Tax reform
  • 4.3 International issues
    • 4.3.1 Energy & oil
    • 4.3.2 Immigration
  • 4.4 Social issues
    • 4.4.1 Abortion
    • 4.4.2 Family Rights
    • 4.4.3 Cannabis
• 5 Elections
• 6 Later career
  • 6.1 Idaho Republican Party
  • 6.2 2018 gubernatorial election
  • 6.3 2022 Idaho attorney general election
• 7 Personal life
• 8 See also
• 9 References
• 10 External links

Early life and education

Born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, Labrador relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada, as a child and graduated from Las Vegas High School in 1985. He was raised by a single mother who struggled financially.

He attended Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, and spent two years as a Mormon missionary in Chile from 1987 to 1989. Labrador returned to BYU and received a Bachelor of Arts degee in Spanish in 1992 with an emphasis in Latin American literature. He was admitted to the University of Washington School of Law in Seattle and received his Juris Doctor in 1995.

Early career

Married in 1991, Labrador relocated to his wife's home state of Idaho and practiced law and immigration law in private practice from 1995 until his election to the Idaho House of Representatives in 2006.

Idaho House of Representatives

2006

Labrador ran for and won the Republican nomination for Idaho House Seat B against two other challengers. He won the general election with 65.55% against Daniel S. Weston.

2008

He was unopposed in the May 2008 Republican primary. Labrador defeated Glida Bothwell in the general election, winning 69.1% of the vote.

Committee *ignments

Labrador served on the Environment, Energy, and Technology Committee in 2007, Judiciary, Rules, and Administration Committee from 2007 to 2010, the State Affairs Committee from 2007 to 2010, and the Transportation and Defense Committee from 2009 to 2010.

U.S. House of Representatives

Tenure

Labrador in Las Vegas, 2011Immigration

Labrador was a member of the "Gang of Eight," a bipartisan group of House members working on immigration reform legislation, but on June 5, 2013, he left the negotiations because he wanted language in the bill requiring that illegal immigrants be responsible for their own health care costs. Labrador said he would use his position on the House Judiciary Committee to p* immigration reform legislation.

Health

He voted for the American Health Care Act of 2017, which p*ed the House May 4, 2017. One of the few Republican lawmakers who hosted a town hall after this vote, Labrador received national attention for stating during the meeting at Lewis-Clark State College that "Nobody dies because they don't have access to healthcare." The statement caused a huge outcry from the audience present and on social media for several days.

Labrador voted in favor of the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act in 2017.

Civil liberties

In June 2015, Labrador introduced HR 2802, *led the "First Amendment Defense Act" (FADA) which was said to protect those who oppose same-sex marriage based on their religious beliefs from action by the federal government. Critics, such as Ian Thompson of the American Civil Liberties Union claimed that the bill would "open the door to unprecedented taxpayer-funded discrimination against LGBT people, single mothers, and unmarried couples."

Town halls

Labrador was one of the few Republicans to host a town hall after the election of Donald Trump and the only member of United States congressional delegations from Idaho to host one.

Tax reform

Labrador voted in favor of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. He says the bill will "allow hard-working Idahoans to keep more of their money," including helping them "meet their expenses and make crucial investments."

Committee *ignments

• Committee on Natural Resources
  • Federal Lands
  • Oversight and Investigations- Chair
• Committee on the Judiciary
  • Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security- Vice Chair
  • Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations

Caucus memberships

• Liberty Caucus
• Freedom Caucus
• Congressional Western Caucus

Political positions

Domestic issues

Health care

On April 20, 2017 Labrador said he does not believe healthcare is a human right. Labrador supports the full repeal of the Affordable Care Act because he believes it will raise costs and eliminate jobs.

Labrador supports requiring those illegally residing in the United States to be responsible for their own health care costs.

Economic issues

Elections

Labrador has stated that he supports the repeal of the 17th Amendment to the U.S. Cons*ution which provides for the direct election of members of the U.S. Senate by the voters in each state. Before the amendment was ratified in 1913, Senators were selected by the legislatures of their respective states. With regard to this position, Labrador has stated "I have a consistent philosophy about government and the importance of states' rights."

Tax reform

Labrador is in favor of tax reform, specifically reform that rids of loopholes, lowers "overall rates," and reduces government spending so the national debt does not increase.

International issues

Energy & oil

Labrador is seen by many in eastern Idaho, which is not in his congressional district, as an opponent of the Idaho National Laboratory (INL).

Immigration

See also: Criminal Alien Gang Member Removal Act

On the July 6, 2014, episode of Meet the Press, Labrador stated that the Obama administration needed to "immediately deport" young illegal immigrants. The comment came as part of a discussion about the estimated 52,000 unaccompanied minors from Central America who had tried to cross the border since October 2013.

Social issues

Abortion

Labrador opposes late termination of pregnancy and believes "life begins at conception" and that "The unborn child is still a child – made in the image of God, who will one day have the same hopes and dreams as the rest of us. The fact that life begins at conception might be an uncomfortable truth for some. But it's a truth, all the same."

Family Rights

Idaho is one of the states that has faith-healing exemption. In a debate, Labrador said he would not change it.

Cannabis

Labrador has a "B" rating from NORML for his voting history regarding cannabis-related causes. Labrador is in favor of veterans having access to medical * if recommended by their Veterans Health Administration doctor and if it is legal for medicinal purposes in their state of residence. He also supports industrial hemp farming.

Elections

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

In 2010, Labrador defeated Vaughn Ward in the Republican primary 48%–39% on May 10, in what was widely considered a major upset. In the general election, Labrador defeated first-term Democratic in*bent Walt Minnick 51%–41%.

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

Labrador supported Mitt Romney for president.

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

On August 14, 2013, Labrador decided not to challenge in*bent Idaho Governor Butch Otter in the Republican primary, instead running for reelection to Congress for a third term.

On August 19, 2013, Democratic State Representative Shirley Ringo decided to challenge Labrador instead of running for an eighth term in the Idaho state legislature.

Labrador announced on June 13 that he would challenge Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy for the leadership position; in a vote held June 19, 2014 the House selected McCarthy.

Labrador won both the Republican primary (78.6%) and the general election (65%).

2016

Labrador supported Donald Trump in the 2016 election. He won both the Republican Primary (81%) and the general election (68.2%).

Later career

Idaho Republican Party

Labrador has announced that he will run for chairman of the Idaho Republican Party at its next State Central Committee meeting, having already received the backing and support of most IDGOP officers.

On June 29, 2019, Labrador won Idaho Republican Party Chair by two votes, defeating former Superintendent of Education Tom Luna.

In June 2020, Labrador resigned from his position as party chair and joined a local law firm. He was succeeded by Luna.

2018 gubernatorial election

Main article: 2018 Idaho gubernatorial election

On May 9, 2017, Labrador filed to run in the 2018 Idaho gubernatorial race. Labrador did a kick off tour in the last week of May 2017 with stops in Boise, Post Falls, and Idaho Falls. Labrador was not able to run for Idaho's 1st congressional district and governor at the same time; leaving CD-1 an open seat for the 2018 Idaho election.

In November 2017, Senator Ted Cruz endorsed Labrador.

Labrador placed second in the Republican primary after in*bent Lieutenant Governor Brad Little, winning 32.6% of the vote.

2022 Idaho attorney general election

On November 17, 2021 Labrador filed to run in the 2022 Idaho attorney general election.

He won the May 17 primary with 51.6% of the vote, defeating 20-year in*bent Lawrence Wasden.

Personal life

Labrador lives in Eagle, Idaho, with his wife, Rebecca, and their five children. He is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

See also

• List of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States Congress

References

:This article incorporates:public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress website http://bioguide.congress.gov.

External links

• Raúl Labrador 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

One at-large seat (1890–1913)Two at-large seats (1913–1919)Districts (1919–present)