David Rouzer

Early life, education, and business career

Rouzer was born in Landstuhl, Germany in 1972. He was raised in Durham, North Carolina where he attended Northern High School. He then attended North Carolina State University, where he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity. Rouzer earned a professional B.A. in 1994 in three different majors: Agricultural Business Management, Agricultural Economics, and Chemistry. He is also a graduate of the Fund for American Studies' Institutes on Business and Government Affairs and American Economic and Political Systems.

He has been a small business owner of The Rouzer Company and the Warehouse Distribution. From 2001–2002, he was assistant to the Dean at the NC State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. From 2005–2006, he was an associate-rural Administrator for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Early political career

From 1996–2001, Rouzer was a legislative aid and Senior Policy Adviser for U.S. Senators Jesse Helms and Elizabeth Dole. In 2000, he ran for North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture and lost the Republican primary.

Elections

In 2008, incumbent Republican State Senator Fred Smith decided to retire in order to run for Governor of North Carolina. Rouzer decided to run and defeated Nena Reeves in the Republican primary 68%–32%. In the general election, he defeated Kay Carroll 52%–48%. In 2010, he won re-election with 70% of the vote.

Issues

Rouzer receives a majority of his funding from agribusiness, receiving more than $289,000 from this sector in the 2012 congressional elections.

He worked on strengthening laws allowing youths to obtain a drivers license. He is also a proponent for the "sea-level rise" legislation in 2012 that sought to mandate that only historical data be used to predict future trends.

He favors repealing the 2010 health care reform law. In the 2012 election he released a TV ad in which his grandmother promises that the candidate would not cut Medicare if elected. Rouzer believes immigrants should be fluent in English before being granted U.S. citizenship. He opposes abortion rights.

Tenure

In his four years, he has sponsored 17 bills that have become signed into law.

Committee assignments

2012 congressional election

After Republican-controlled redistricting, he decided to give up his state senate seat to run in the newly redrawn North Carolina's 7th congressional district and challenge incumbent Democratic U.S. Congressman Mike McIntyre. His home in Johnston County had been drawn into the district; it had previously been in the 2nd District.

In the Republican primary, Rouzer defeated both 2010 nominee Ilario Pantano and Randy Crow, but won just four of the district's twelve counties: Johnston (82%), Sampson (49%), Lenoir (43%), and Hoke (38%). However, his margin in Johnston County, the second-largest county in the reconfigured district, was enough for him to win.

The redrawn 7th is much more conservative and Republican than its predecessor. Roll Call rates the election as leans Republican.

After an official tabulation showed that Rouzer had lost the election to McIntyre by 655 votes, Rouzer asked for a recount on November 21, 2012. After the recount, Rouzer conceded the race to McIntyre on November 28. It was the closest House race in the country. Mitt Romney carried the district with 56 percent of the vote.

2014 congressional election

Rouzer ran for the 7th district again in 2014. McIntyre retired rather than face a rematch. Most pundits believed that with McIntyre's retirement, the seat would be an easy GOP pickup. Even before his near-miss in 2012, the 7th had been trending Republican for some time.

Rouzer won the general election with almost 60% of the vote. Upon taking office in January of 2015, he became only the second Republican to represent a significant portion of eastern North Carolina in the House since Reconstruction.