Preceded by Edmund Kuempel Parents Edmund Kuempel Name John Kuempel | Children Will and Sam Kuempel Nationality American Political party Republican Party | |
 | ||
Born May 11, 1970 (age 53) ( 1970-05-11 ) Spouse(s) Michelle Kuempel (married 1999) Residence Seguin
Guadalupe County
Texas, USA Alma mater Seguin High School
University of Texas Education University of Texas at Austin | ||
Texasgopvote interview rep john kuempel hispanic republican conference
John Langston Kuempel (born May 11, 1970) is a salesman for Commercial Metals Company in Seguin, Texas, and a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 44.
Contents
- Texasgopvote interview rep john kuempel hispanic republican conference
- Political life
- Campaign issues
- References
Kuempel, a former football player, is a graduate of Seguin High School and the University of Texas. He and his wife, Michelle, a former city librarian, have twin sons, Will and Sam Kuempel (born ca. 2004). Kuempel coaches his sons' Little League baseball team. The family is active in the Faith Lutheran Church in Seguin. He is a member of Rotary International, the Texas Farm Bureau, the National Rifle Association, and the capital campaign committee of the Guadalupe Valley Medical Center.
Political life
Kuempel's father, Edmund Kuempel, had held the seat in the heavily GOP district since the retirement in 1983 of prior Representative Bennie Bock (who was also a Republican), and had won reelection to the House in 2010 without opposition. However, two days after his 2010 re-election, on November 4 Edmund Kuempel died, thus requiring a December 14, 2010 special election to full the position.
Kuempel was the only candidate in the field openly committed to the retention of Joe Straus of San Antonio as Texas House Speaker. Edmund Kuempel had also been a Straus backer in 2009, when Straus deposed the more conservative former Speaker Tom Craddick of Midland. Kuempel even secured the backing of Houston Astros baseball great Nolan Ryan, who is relocating into District 44.
Kuempel and eight other opponents faced off in a jungle primary; Kuempel won the special election with 66 percent of the vote thus avoiding a runoff. The second place candidate, with 10 percent of the ballots, was another Republican, Gary Inmon, a school board member from Schertz. Others in the field were two candidates defeated earlier by the Democrat Henry Cuellar of District 28 in the United States House of Representatives, Ron Avery (born 1947), a retired architect from Seguin who ran in 2006, and Jim Fish (born 1957), a small business owner from Cibolo, who ran for Congress in 2008. Avery and Fish filed as Republicans for the special legislative election, but Avery had previously been a Constitution Party candidate for Congress. Still another candidate, Robin Walker, had lost in the March 2, 2010, Republican primary to the elder Kuempel.
At the time of Kuempel's House election, two Democratic representatives, Aaron Pena of Edinburg and Allan Ritter of Nederland, switched affiliation to the Republican Party. Their defections increased the Republican total to one hundred members, thus giving the GOP a supermajority in the Texas House.
Kuempel's victory brings the number of Republicans in the Texas House to a record 101 members in January 2011, Democrats holding the remaining 49 of the 150 total seats in the body.
Campaign issues
Kuempel cited conservative issues in his campaign, including:
Texas State Republican Chairman Steve Munisteri of Houston described Kuempel's victory as "a strong testament to the legacy and patriotism of the entire Kuempel family." Munisteri also cited political consultant Keats Norfleet of the Eppstein Group for its "overseeing a quick and efficient campaign organization."