Name Mark Keough Children Four children | Spouse(s) Kimberly Sparks Keough Nationality American | |
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Mark Keough says he was motivated to run for office so he could help
Mark James Keough (born September 30, 1953) is a businessman and a Christian pastor, radio host, and educator from The Woodlands, Texas, who is a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 15 in suburban Montgomery County north of Houston. On May 31, 2017, Keough announced that he would not be running for re-election to the Texas House, but would instead be running for Montgomery County Judge.
Contents
- Mark Keough says he was motivated to run for office so he could help
- REP MARK KEOUGH WHY THE WOODLANDS CANT INCORPORATE
- Background
- Texas House district 15
- Montgomery County Judge
- References
REP MARK KEOUGH WHY THE WOODLANDS CAN'T INCORPORATE
Background
Keough received a bachelor's degree from Cedarville University, a private institution in Cedarville, Ohio. He obtained master's degrees from Dallas Theological Seminary and Grace Theological Seminary in Winona Lake, Indiana. He also attended the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio. For more than two decades, Keough was engaged in automobile sales, including fourteen years as the general sales manager of Northside Lexus in north Harris County. He left the automobile business to establish Mark Keough Ministries, which includes the Pathfinders Fellowship of The Woodlands. In addition to his continuing work as a pastor and radio host, he has been the headmaster of a private Christian school.
Keough and his wife, the former Kimberly "Kim" Sparks, have four children.
Texas House district 15
On March 4, 2014, Keough won the Republican nomination to replace one-term Representative Steve Toth, another businessman and clergyman, who instead ran unsuccessfully against neighboring State Representative Brandon Creighton for the Texas State Senate. Keough polled 57.4 percent of the vote against his intraparty opponent, Bruce Tough, the chairman of The Woodlands township board of directors. Keough was then unopposed in the heavily Republican district in the November 4, 2014, general election.
Keough is the pastor of The Woodlands Bible Church and a vocal opponent of separation of church and state, a concept that he does not find in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Keough describes his political philosophy, accordingly:
There’s a real need for legislators in Austin who are there to serve the people, and not themselves. Too often, we fall into the habit of spending money like Washington, threatening the prosperity we have in Texas. This campaign will focus on the fiscally conservative, pro-life, low-tax policies that have made Texas a great place to live.
In 2015, Keough plans to introduce legislation to establish statewide victim-offender mediation for punishments with the goal of reducing recidivism in prisons. A member of the National Rifle Association, Keough plans to oppose gun-free zones in schools and churches. He would allow licensed gun owners to carry weapons in such zones. Keough favors the repeal of margins taxes on small businesses. He favors upgrading the penalties for the possession of child pornography from a third-degree to a second-degree felony. He proposes the abolition of sanctuary cities, those in which municipalities forbid the use of any local funds to enforce national immigration laws.
Montgomery County Judge
Keough announced on May 31, 2017, he would not run for re-election in the Texas House, but instead run against current incumbent Montgomery County Judge Craig Doyal. Doyal and others in Montgomery County were indicted on June 24, 2016, on the charge of conspiring to circumvent the Texas Open Meetings Act. Doyal has also been accused of misusing county funds to support his re-election, recording campaign videos in county offices, against state law. Doyal also has multiple accusations of nepotism, conflicts of interest, and mismanagement pending against him.