Bill Flores – Republican

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Bill Flores
Candidate for:  United States Representative, TX 17th District
Party: Republican
Office: Representative (R–TX 17th District) since 2011
Previous office:

William Hose “Bill” Flores (born February 25, 1954) is an American politician who has been the U.S. Representative for Texas’s 17th congressional district since 2011. The district, located in the middle of the state, includes Waco, College Station, and Bryan.^[2] He is a member of the Republican Party and the former CEO of Phoenix Exploration Company, an oil and natural gas exploration company.

Flores was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming at the F.E. Warren Air Force Base, where his father was serving in the military. He is the son of Ruth Ann Theresa (née Kennedy) and Joe Pete Flores. He grew up in Stratford, Texas in the Texas Panhandle.^[3] His paternal ancestors left Spain and settled in what is now Texas in 1725.^[4] Of his heritage, Flores has said, “My family came from Spain in 1725, and if people want to consider me Hispanic, they can, but I didn’t advertise that way, and I’m an American first.” ^[5] He graduated with a B.B.A., cum laude in accounting from Texas A&M University in 1976.^[6] While there, he was a member of the Corps of Cadets, the Ross Volunteer Company,^[7] and Corps Staff. He also served as Student Body Vice-President of Finance during his senior year.^{[citation needed]} He has been a licensed Certified Public Accountant since 1978.^[8] He also received an MBA from Houston Baptist University in 1985.

Flores served as CFO for two publicly traded energy service firms from 1990 through 1998. These companies included Marine Drilling Companies, Inc. (1990–1997) and Western Atlas Inc. (1997–1998). From 2002 to 2005, Flores was the Senior Vice President and CFO of Gryphon Exploration Company.^[9]

In 2006, a group of five oil and gas industry executives, led by Flores as President and CEO, formed Phoenix Exploration Company with $350 million of capital commitments from a group of private equity firms that included Riverstone Holdings and Pinebrook Partners. The company was engaged in oil and gas exploration along the Gulf Coast and the Gulf of Mexico.^[10] Flores also served as a Director of that company from its formation until he retired in December 2009 to run for public office.^{[citation needed]}

Flores is a former Commissioner of the Texas Real Estate Commission (appointed by Governor Rick Perry),^[11] and a past Director and former Chairman of the Board of the Association of Former Students of Texas A&M University.^[8] He has also served on boards of Phoenix Exploration Company, Marine Drilling Companies, Inc.,^[12]FreeBirds, Inc., and The PARC, Inc, and the Alley Theater of Houston.^[8]

He serves on the Board of the Private Enterprise Research Center of Texas A&M University and as a member of the Board of Trustees of Houston Baptist University, where he serves as Vice-Chairman.

In late 2009 Flores entered the Republican primary for the 17th District, held by 10-term Democratic incumbent Chet Edwards.^[13] Flores claimed his worries about the future of “the American dream” inspired him to run for Congress.^[6] He committed a half million dollars of his own money to self-fund his campaign.^[14]

In the Republican primary runoff on April 13, he had defeated Rob Curnock^[15] by a 64–36 percent margin.^[16] The size of his primary victory was a surprise to many political observers because Curnock was the 2008 nominee and he held Edwards’ 2008 vote total close to 50 percent, despite being heavily outspent.^[17] During the Republican primary, Flores received the endorsement of former Republican U.S. Senator Phil Gramm^[18] After the primary win, Flores was also endorsed by George H.W. Bush, John McCain,^[19] Mitt Romney, and Mike Huckabee.^[6]

Through December 21, 2010, Flores’ campaign raised $3.5 million, of which $1.49 million came from Flores himself. He spent $3.3 million overall.^[20]

On November 2, 2010, Flores defeated Edwards with 62 percent of the vote.^[21][22][23] This was the largest margin of defeat for a Democratic incumbent in the 2010 cycle.

Upon his swearing-in, Flores became the first Republican to represent Waco in Congress since Reconstruction.^{[citation needed]} Flores supports limited government and lower taxes^{[citation needed]}; an end to the spending of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act^{[citation needed]}; making the Bush-era tax cuts permanent^{[citation needed]}; pro-life abortion positions^{[citation needed]}; and stronger enforcement at the U.S. Mexico border.^[24]Flores supports the building of new nuclear power plants to assist the U.S. in becoming energy self-sufficient.^{[citation needed]} He also supports incentives for the development of solar and wind power.^[25] Flores is a member of the Conservative Republican Study Committee and the Congressional Hispanic Conference.

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