Thomas M. Davis
Encyclopedia
Thomas Milburn "Tom" Davis III (born January 5, 1949) was a Republican
member of the United States House of Representatives
, representing Virginia's 11th congressional district
in Northern Virginia
. Davis was considering a run for the U.S. Senate
seat being vacated by five-term incumbent and fellow Republican John Warner
in the 2008 election
, but decided against it. He announced on January 30, 2008, that he would not seek reelection to an eighth term. Davis resigned from Congress on November 24, 2008.
, North Dakota
and moved to Fairfax County
at an early age. He was a U.S. Senate Page and graduated as president of the senior class at the United States Capitol Page School in 1967. He is a graduate of Amherst College
and the University of Virginia School of Law
. He attended Officer Candidate School
of the U.S. Army, served on active duty, and spent eight years with the Virginia National Guard
and the U.S. Army Reserve
.
from 1980 to 1994, serving as chairman of the Board of Supervisors from 1991 until his election to the House. During his service as board chairman, Fairfax County was ranked first financially by City and State magazine in their list of Top 50 Counties.
. Davis defeated one-term incumbent Leslie Byrne. The Contract with America called for citizen-legislators who would retire after 12 years, instead of career politicians. Davis signed the Contract and voted in favor of the Citizens Legislature Act; however, the bill did not achieve support from the 2/3 majority needed for the amendment
to pass. Although the 11th was considered a swing district, Davis was reelected five more times without substantive opposition in part due to his popularity in Fairfax County. He even ran unopposed in 1998 and 2002.
In 2006, however, Davis faced an unexpectedly strong challenge from Democrat Andrew Hurst, but was reelected with 55 percent of the vote—his lowest total since his initial bid against Byrne. Nonetheless, he began fundraising for a Senate bid in 2007. In his 2004 term, on what the Washington Post deems to be most recent "key votes", Davis voted 10 times out of the last 13 times (77 percent) for the Republican Party position. Since 2003 on all 1,700 votes, Davis voted over 89 percent in favor of the Republican position. Nevertheless, Davis is sometimes described as a moderate
; he supports some abortion rights and voting rights for the District of Columbia
, and opposes the state car tax phase-out as he expressed in the Washingtonian
in 2006.
Davis was chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee
(NRCC) from 1998 to 2002. According to The Federal Paper, he then sought the chairmanship of the House Government Oversight and Reform Committee. Davis had less seniority than the other contenders for this chairmanship, but some Republicans wanted to reward him for his work as NRCC chairman, including his supervision of a $160 million fundraising effort. Davis's deputy on the NRCC, Tom Reynolds
of New York
, became the next NRCC chairman.
. He served as Chairman until 2007, when Democrats
became the majority party in the House of Representatives. Henry Waxman
of California replaced Davis at the gavel. Davis had renamed the committee, removing "Oversight" from the title; one of Waxman's first acts as Chair was to reinstitute the name as the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The Committee is the chief investigative and oversight committee of the House, and has been granted broad jurisdiction. This committee was very active during the Clinton administration. It issued 1,052 subpoena
s to probe alleged misconduct by the administration and the Democratic Party between 1997 and 2002. By contrast, Davis and the majority have permitted three subpoenas to the George W. Bush administration
, including one to the Defense Department over documents related to Hurricane Katrina
.
about conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center
that deteriorated rapidly when the operations were transferred to the private contractor IAP
. Committee members told Congressional Quarterly
they did not want to "embarrass" the Army
by publicizing the matter.
.
At the time of her hire at ICG, Davis was her mentor and campaign manager. After being hired, Devolites married Davis. On July 28, 2006, the Washington Post reported that the Defense Information Systems Agency
had reviewed its satellite contract with Artel, Inc., and the agency had preliminarily determined that the contract was ineffective and expensive. Artel then hired ICG for lobbying
services. ICG drafted a letter Davis signed to the agency threatening an investigation by his committee if the contract was not awarded. After the Post articles appeared, Davis sought an opinion from the House Ethics Committee
. They advised him to be careful to avoid the appearance of any conflict in this matter. The Post published an extensive article on the issue, the company had to register as a lobbyist, and ICG removed a picture from the front page of its website of Davis speaking to ICG clients.
His wife continues to work for ICG, which paid her $78,000 in 2005 for working 10 to 20 hours a week, primarily at home on her cell phone. She makes $18,000 a year as a Virginia legislator. Her bio continues as the only one on the ICG site to name her spouse. The same Post writers are continuing the investigation of oversight of contractual influence by the committee and its chair in November and December 2006.
with an investigation when a consortium that included George Soros
offered to buy the Washington Nationals
.
"I think Major League Baseball understands the stakes", Davis told Roll Call
magazine. "I don't think they want to get involved in the political fights." Davis, who convened the recent congressional hearings on steroid
s, added, "I don't think it's the Nats that get hurt. I think it's Major League Baseball that gets hurt. They enjoy all sorts of exemptions from antitrust
laws."
meeting to oppose a smart growth
plan near the Vienna
Metro station. Approval of the project, to build what was called a "mini-city" within walking distance of the Metro, was considered routine. Some of the longest commutes to work in the nation begin in Virginia — second only to New York City
— and in Prince William County
in particular. The project was a key resolution to congestion in the congressional district. Davis's pledge to approve the legislation led several county supervisors to accuse him of meddling in a local land-use issue.
One politician who spoke to Davis says the congressman told him that he opposes Pulte Homes' MetroWest project because "all it does is produce Democrats."
In July 2006, Davis wrote a letter to Virginia Governor Tim Kaine
discouraging the state from constructing an underground Metrorail through Tysons Corner. According to a July 17, 2006 story in The Washington Post, Davis said switching to a tunnel in Tysons would require reviews that could delay the rail line by as much as two years. On February 26, 2007, The Post reported that Davis switched positions.
, wife of David Safavian
, the first person convicted in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. A former legislative director for Davis submitted a request that he receive no jail time, but the judge ruled Safavian's conduct merited incarceration.
David Safavian had replaced Angela Styles, who was forced from the General Services Administration
after Davis wrote letters to her bosses at the Office of Management and Budget. He had written to Mitchell E. Daniels Jr. and Joshua Bolten, Styles's superiors at the Office of Management and Budget, a.
Prior to his GSA job, Safavian had no government contracts experience. He did have connections to Davis, as a lobbyist with Grover Norquist
, head of Americans for Tax Reform
(ATR), he worked closely with the NRCC when Davis was chair, and presented Davis with an ATR award." ATR has been found to have operated as tax-exempt despite not qualifying for tax-exempt status.
. The committee subpoena, signed by Davis, ordered the appearance of Schiavo, her husband, Michael, and her doctors. The subpoenas specified that the witnesses bring to the hearing "all medical and other equipment that provides nutrition and hydration...in its current and continuing state of operations." Davis issued a joint statement with House Majority Leader Tom DeLay
(R-Texas
) and Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert
(R-Illinois
) that stated: "This inquiry should give hope to Terri, her parents and friends, and the millions of people throughout the world who are praying for her safety. This fight is not over." Many legal scholars criticized this action as an inappropriate congressional interventions in an ongoing court case that defied the rule of law
and amounted to a bill of attainder
— not against the party the politicians are attempting to aid, but against the party on the other side of the courtroom.
and the fundraising scandals involving Abramoff and DeLay. Davis himself signed an NRCC check for $500,000 in 1999, the largest amount donated by the NRCC, while he was chair of the committee. The NRCC was fined by the Federal Elections Commission for transferring the funds because it was transferred between political action committee
s for the same candidates in violation of contribution limits. The PAC involved, the U.S. Family Network
, is connected with Abramoff, Bob Ney
, and Willie Tan, a businessman in the Northern Mariana Islands
, all currently associated with a political scandal
.
Davis introduced the Elizabeth Morgan Act, passed in 1996. In 2003, a federal appeals court ruled that the act was an unconstitutional bill of attainder.
Davis has been instrumental in getting federal funding for the replacement of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge
.
Davis sponsored legislation creating a financial control board for Washington, D.C. He was in charge, until 2000, of the Government Reform Committee's Subcommittee on the District of Columbia, generally favoring allowing the District government more autonomy.
Apparently in a surprise to the House Judiciary Committee, the Reform Committee passed HR 2043 (the DC Fair and Equal House Voting Rights Act), a bill Davis introduced to provide the District of Columbia with voting representation
in Congress. This bill differs from other bills that would grant the district the right to elect Representatives. HR 2043 requires the addition of two representatives, one in Washington, D.C., and one in Utah
, by raising the number of Representatives from 435 to 437. Originally, the number of House seats would return to 435 after the 2010 Census
, with Washington, D.C. retaining a full vote in the House., but later versions of the bill make the expansion to 437 seats permanent. The bill did not make it to the House floor, however.
The bill was reintroduced, cosponsored by Davis, as the "District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act of 2007", as H.R. 1433 in the 110th Congress. The bill permanently increases the size of the House by two members. One seat will go to the District of Columbia and the other seat will go to the next state in line to get a congressional seat. Based on the 2000 decennial census and apportionment calculations, Utah will get the second seat until the reapportionment taking place after the 2010 Decennial Census. On March 13, 2007 it passed the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform with a vote of 24-5.
after the 2000 census, which increased the percentage of Republicans in the district. In 2004, he defeated his relatively unknown Democratic challenger, Ken Longmyer, by a 59 percent to 39 percent margin. In the race, Davis outspent Longmyer, $1,835,000 to $72,000.
In the November 2006 election, Davis defeated Democrat Andrew Hurst by 11 percentage points. It was the closest and costliest race Davis faced in 12 years. In financing his campaign, Davis outspent Hurst almost 9-to-1, $2,607,125 to $310,561.
Independent Green Party co-founder, businessman Joseph Oddo was on the ballot in 2004. Ferdinado Greco, a physicist, George Mason University grad, owner and operator of a hybrid taxi business, was the Independent Green candidate in 2006.
's Politics Program that he was running for the Senate seat being vacated by John Warner. He said that he has been assembling money and staff for the contest, but was delaying a formal announcement until November. It had been presumed that he would face former Governor
Jim Gilmore
. However, Davis announced in October 2007 that he would not be running after all, in part due to the state Republican Party's decision to choose its nominee at a nominating convention rather than in a primary.
Davis argued that a primary would expose the candidates to the kind of environment they would face in November. It was also thought that a primary would have favored Davis due to his popularity in voter-rich Northern Virginia. In contrast, the delegates at the nominating convention will be made up mostly of party activists; the state's Republican activist base is tilted heavily to the right. Gilmore had argued strongly for a convention, claiming that a primary would leave the winner short of cash. This was no small consideration. The race for the Democratic nomination essentially ended when former Governor Mark Warner
announced his candidacy; Warner has the ability to self-finance due to his considerable fortune.
Davis told the National Press Club that he is considering a challenge to Virginia's other Senator, Jim Webb
, in 2012.
Davis currently serves as President and CEO of the Republican Main Street Partnership
, a moderate Republican organization.
He has also started teaching a class at George Mason University
, teaching "Southern Politics" in the 2008 Fall 2008 Semester.
In the Spring and Fall of 2010, Davis taught Political Parties and Campaigns. The course is described as "Characteristics and functions of political parties, influence of parties and other political forces on electoral decisions, and emphasis on parties’ inability or ability to hold government accountable to citizens" in the catalog. Jim Moran also teaches the class with him.
In the Spring of 2010 rumors were circulating on local blogs that Mr. Davis was considering a run for Chairman of the Board of Supervisors again. However, these rumors stopped once Marianne Lamont Horinko
announced her intentions of running.
On December 21, 2010, it was announced that Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell appointed Davis to be a member of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority
Board of Directors, filling one of the five seats on the Board allotted to Virginia.
, "cost-plus" and "share in savings" contracts. These contracts have especially involved the GSA and the Department of Homeland Security. Critics of the reforms point to the increasing campaign contributions from beneficiaries of the contracts and a reduction in audit and auditors, oversight, and performance by contractors after the changes.
Tom Davis was one of only eleven Republicans to vote against the Contract with America Tax Relief Act
that cut taxes by $189 billion over five years, including lowering the capital gains tax rate and easing the "marriage penalty
," and supported a tax hike referendum to raise sales taxes in northern Virginia by 4.5 to 5%.
He also went against his party by supporting District of Columbia voting rights
, and introduced "The District of Columbia Fair and Equal House Voting Rights Act of 2006" before the house, howeverThis bill never made it out of committee.
Davis supports Virginia's Right-to-work law
, which is opposed by organized labor.
Davis now opposes amnesty
for illegal immigrants
and supported H.R. 4437, the immigration reform bill sponsored by Rep. James Sensenbrenner. In June 2006 his criticism of the immigration response included the same ideas that were key provisions in the House bill he supported four months later.
Davis has voted to support stem cell research. He is a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership
, a group of Republicans who describe themselves as "mainstream".
In 2007, expressing disapproval with the Democratic Party resolution disapproving of the Iraq troop surge, Davis nevertheless broke with his party line to vote for the resolution.
Project Vote Smart
reports that Davis has high approval ratings from business groups, but significantly lower ratings from groups that support abortion rights, environmental protection, and civil liberties
.
Davis was supportive of his wife's efforts for stricter gun laws in Virginia.
.
In 1973, Davis married Margaret "Peggy" Rantz, a medical doctor. They have three children together: Carlton, Pamela, and Shelley. He divorce
d her in late 2003 and announced his intention to marry Jeannemarie Devolites in February 2004. They married in June of that year. Davis's first public involvement with Devolites was in 1997 when he managed her campaign for the Virginia House of Delegates, her fourth campaign and first successful one, and was her biggest campaign contributor. In 2003 she was elected to the Virginia State Senate, serving one term before her defeat for re-election in 2007. Davis's political action committees gave her more than $172,000 by mid-2006. He has four stepdaughters from this marriage.
|+ : Results 1994–2006
!|Year
!
!|Democrat
!|Votes
!|Pct
!
!|Republican
!|Votes
!|Pct
!
!|3rd Party
!|Party
!|Votes
!|Pct
!
!|3rd Party
!|Party
!|Votes
!|Pct
!
|-
|1994
|
| |
| align="right" |84,104
| |45%
|
| |
| align="right" |98,216
| |53%
|
| |Gordon S. Cruickshank
| |Independent
| align="right" |3,246
| align="right" |2%
| |*
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1996
|
| |
| align="right" |74,701
| |35%
|
| |Tom Davis
| align="right" |138,758
| |64%
|
| |C. W. "Levi" Levy
| |Independent
| align="right" |2,842
| align="right" |1%
| |*
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1998
|
| |(no candidate)
| align="right" |
| |
|
| |Tom Davis
| align="right" |91,603
| |82%
|
| |C. W. "Levi" Levy
| |Independent
| align="right" |18,807
| align="right" |17%
|
| |Write-ins
| |
| align="right" |1,701
| align="right" |2%
|
|-
|2000
|
| |
| align="right" |83,455
| |34%
|
| |Tom Davis
| align="right" |150,395
| |62%
|
| |Robert K. McBride
| |Independent
| align="right" |4,774
| align="right" |2%
|
| |C. W. "Levi" Levy
| |Independent
| align="right" |4,059
| align="right" |2%
| |*
|-
|2002
|
| |(no candidate)
| align="right" |
| |
|
| |Tom Davis
| align="right" |135,379
| |83%
|
| |Frank W. Creel
| |Constitution
| align="right" |26,892
| align="right" |16%
|
| |Write-ins
| |
| align="right" |1,027
| align="right" |1%
|
|-
|2004
|
| |Ken Longmyer
| align="right" |118,305
| |38%
|
| |Tom Davis
| align="right" |186,299
| |60%
|
| |Joseph P. Oddo
| |Independent
| align="right" |4,338
| align="right" |1%
| |*
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|2006
|
| |
| align="right" |102,511
| |44%
|
| |Tom Davis
| align="right" |130,468
| |55%
|
| |Ferdinando C. Greco
| |Independent Green
| align="right" |2,042
| align="right" |1%
| |*
|
|
|
|
|
Video
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
member of the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
, representing Virginia's 11th congressional district
Virginia's 11th congressional district
Virginia's Eleventh Congressional District is a U.S. congressional district in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It comprises most of Fairfax County, all of the city of Fairfax, and part of eastern Prince William County...
in Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia consists of several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia, in a widespread region generally radiating southerly and westward from Washington, D.C...
. Davis was considering a run for the U.S. Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
seat being vacated by five-term incumbent and fellow Republican John Warner
John Warner
John William Warner, KBE is an American Republican politician who served as Secretary of the Navy from 1972 to 1974 and as a five-term United States Senator from Virginia from January 2, 1979, to January 3, 2009...
in the 2008 election
United States Senate election in Virginia, 2008
The 2008 United States Senate election in Virginia was held on November 4, 2008. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator John Warner decided to retire instead of seeking a sixth term...
, but decided against it. He announced on January 30, 2008, that he would not seek reelection to an eighth term. Davis resigned from Congress on November 24, 2008.
Early life and education
Davis was born in MinotMinot, North Dakota
Minot is a city located in north central North Dakota in the United States. It is most widely known for the Air Force base located approximately 15 miles north of the city. With a population of 40,888 at the 2010 census, Minot is the fourth largest city in the state...
, North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
and moved to Fairfax County
Fairfax County, Virginia
Fairfax County is a county in Virginia, in the United States. Per the 2010 Census, the population of the county is 1,081,726, making it the most populous jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with 13.5% of Virginia's population...
at an early age. He was a U.S. Senate Page and graduated as president of the senior class at the United States Capitol Page School in 1967. He is a graduate of Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
and the University of Virginia School of Law
University of Virginia School of Law
The University of Virginia School of Law was founded in Charlottesville in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson as one of the original subjects taught at his "academical village," the University of Virginia. The law school maintains an enrollment of approximately 1,100 students in its initial degree program...
. He attended Officer Candidate School
Officer Candidate School (U.S. Army)
The United States Army's Officer Candidate School , located at Fort Benning, Georgia, provides training to become a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army...
of the U.S. Army, served on active duty, and spent eight years with the Virginia National Guard
Virginia National Guard
The Virginia National Guard consists of the Virginia Army National Guard and the Virginia Air National Guard. It is part of the Government of Virginia though the National Guard across the United States is mostly funded by federal monies. The Constitution of the United States specifically charges...
and the U.S. Army Reserve
United States Army Reserve
The United States Army Reserve is the federal reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the reserve components of the United States Army....
.
Political career
Davis was a member of the Fairfax County Board of SupervisorsFairfax County Board of Supervisors
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, sometimes abbreviated as FCBS, is the governing body of Fairfax County; a county of over a million in Northern Virginia. The board has nine districts, and one at-large district which is always occupied by the Chair...
from 1980 to 1994, serving as chairman of the Board of Supervisors from 1991 until his election to the House. During his service as board chairman, Fairfax County was ranked first financially by City and State magazine in their list of Top 50 Counties.
Congressional career
Davis won election to the House in 1994, the year of the Republican Contract with AmericaContract with America
The Contract with America was a document released by the United States Republican Party during the 1994 Congressional election campaign. Written by Larry Hunter, who was aided by Newt Gingrich, Robert Walker, Richard Armey, Bill Paxon, Tom DeLay, John Boehner and Jim Nussle, and in part using text...
. Davis defeated one-term incumbent Leslie Byrne. The Contract with America called for citizen-legislators who would retire after 12 years, instead of career politicians. Davis signed the Contract and voted in favor of the Citizens Legislature Act; however, the bill did not achieve support from the 2/3 majority needed for the amendment
Constitutional amendment
A constitutional amendment is a formal change to the text of the written constitution of a nation or state.Most constitutions require that amendments cannot be enacted unless they have passed a special procedure that is more stringent than that required of ordinary legislation...
to pass. Although the 11th was considered a swing district, Davis was reelected five more times without substantive opposition in part due to his popularity in Fairfax County. He even ran unopposed in 1998 and 2002.
In 2006, however, Davis faced an unexpectedly strong challenge from Democrat Andrew Hurst, but was reelected with 55 percent of the vote—his lowest total since his initial bid against Byrne. Nonetheless, he began fundraising for a Senate bid in 2007. In his 2004 term, on what the Washington Post deems to be most recent "key votes", Davis voted 10 times out of the last 13 times (77 percent) for the Republican Party position. Since 2003 on all 1,700 votes, Davis voted over 89 percent in favor of the Republican position. Nevertheless, Davis is sometimes described as a moderate
Moderate
In politics and religion, a moderate is an individual who is not extreme, partisan or radical. In recent years, political moderates has gained traction as a buzzword....
; he supports some abortion rights and voting rights for the District of Columbia
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, and opposes the state car tax phase-out as he expressed in the Washingtonian
Washingtonian (magazine)
Washingtonian is a monthly magazine distributed in the Washington, DC area since 1965. The magazine describes itself as "the magazine Washington lives by." The magazine's core focuses are local feature journalism, guide book-style articles, and real estate advice.-Editorial Content:Washingtonian...
in 2006.
Davis was chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee
National Republican Congressional Committee
The National Republican Congressional Committee is the Republican Hill committee which works to elect Republicans to the United States House of Representatives....
(NRCC) from 1998 to 2002. According to The Federal Paper, he then sought the chairmanship of the House Government Oversight and Reform Committee. Davis had less seniority than the other contenders for this chairmanship, but some Republicans wanted to reward him for his work as NRCC chairman, including his supervision of a $160 million fundraising effort. Davis's deputy on the NRCC, Tom Reynolds
Thomas M. Reynolds
Thomas M. Reynolds , commonly known as Tom Reynolds, is a politician from the U.S. state of New York, formerly representing the state's 26th Congressional district in the United States House of Representatives...
of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, became the next NRCC chairman.
House Committee on Government Reform
In 2003, Davis became Chairman of the House Government Reform CommitteeUnited States House Committee on Government Reform
The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is a United States House of Representatives committee that has existed in varying forms since 1816....
. He served as Chairman until 2007, when Democrats
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
became the majority party in the House of Representatives. Henry Waxman
Henry Waxman
Henry Arnold Waxman is the U.S. Representative for , serving in Congress since 1975. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He is considered to be one of the most influential liberal members of Congress...
of California replaced Davis at the gavel. Davis had renamed the committee, removing "Oversight" from the title; one of Waxman's first acts as Chair was to reinstitute the name as the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The Committee is the chief investigative and oversight committee of the House, and has been granted broad jurisdiction. This committee was very active during the Clinton administration. It issued 1,052 subpoena
Subpoena
A subpoena is a writ by a government agency, most often a court, that has authority to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of subpoena:...
s to probe alleged misconduct by the administration and the Democratic Party between 1997 and 2002. By contrast, Davis and the majority have permitted three subpoenas to the George W. Bush administration
George W. Bush administration
The presidency of George W. Bush began on January 20, 2001, when he was inaugurated as the 43rd President of the United States of America. The oldest son of former president George H. W. Bush, George W...
, including one to the Defense Department over documents related to Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
.
Walter Reed Army Medical Center
The Washington Post revived a story in 2007 from Salon magazineSalon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
about conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center
Walter Reed Army Medical Center
The Walter Reed Army Medical Center was the United States Army's flagship medical center until 2011. Located on 113 acres in Washington, D.C., it served more than 150,000 active and retired personnel from all branches of the military...
that deteriorated rapidly when the operations were transferred to the private contractor IAP
IAP
IAP is an initialism or acronym which can mean:* Identical ancestors point, a point in time in the past where every living member of a species at that time is either an ancestor to all living of that species or none living....
. Committee members told Congressional Quarterly
Congressional Quarterly
Congressional Quarterly, Inc., or CQ, is a privately owned publishing company that produces a number of publications reporting primarily on the United States Congress...
they did not want to "embarrass" the Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
by publicizing the matter.
ICG government
Davis's second wife, Jeannemarie Devolites-Davis, was one of the first hires (as a part-time consultant) for ICG, a firm that assists businesses in obtaining government contracts. Their financial relationship, along with financial ties that benefit family members of 64 of the 435 voting members of Congress, was highlighted in the June 2007 ethics report, "Family Affair" by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in WashingtonCitizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington is a nonprofit 501 organization that describes itself as "dedicated to promoting ethics and accountability in government and public life by targeting government officials – regardless of party affiliation – who sacrifice the common good to...
.
At the time of her hire at ICG, Davis was her mentor and campaign manager. After being hired, Devolites married Davis. On July 28, 2006, the Washington Post reported that the Defense Information Systems Agency
Defense Information Systems Agency
The Defense Information Systems Agency is a United States Department of Defense agency that provides information technology and communications support to the President, Vice President, Secretary of Defense, the military Services, and the Combatant Commands.As part of the Base Realignment and...
had reviewed its satellite contract with Artel, Inc., and the agency had preliminarily determined that the contract was ineffective and expensive. Artel then hired ICG for lobbying
Lobbying
Lobbying is the act of attempting to influence decisions made by officials in the government, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying is done by various people or groups, from private-sector individuals or corporations, fellow legislators or government officials, or...
services. ICG drafted a letter Davis signed to the agency threatening an investigation by his committee if the contract was not awarded. After the Post articles appeared, Davis sought an opinion from the House Ethics Committee
United States House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct
The Committee on Ethics, often known simply as the Ethics Committee, is one of the committees of the United States House of Representatives. Prior to the 112th Congress it was known as the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct....
. They advised him to be careful to avoid the appearance of any conflict in this matter. The Post published an extensive article on the issue, the company had to register as a lobbyist, and ICG removed a picture from the front page of its website of Davis speaking to ICG clients.
His wife continues to work for ICG, which paid her $78,000 in 2005 for working 10 to 20 hours a week, primarily at home on her cell phone. She makes $18,000 a year as a Virginia legislator. Her bio continues as the only one on the ICG site to name her spouse. The same Post writers are continuing the investigation of oversight of contractual influence by the committee and its chair in November and December 2006.
Major League Baseball team in Washington
Davis was accused of threatening Major League BaseballMajor League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
with an investigation when a consortium that included George Soros
George Soros
George Soros is a Hungarian-American business magnate, investor, philosopher, and philanthropist. He is the chairman of Soros Fund Management. Soros supports progressive-liberal causes...
offered to buy the Washington Nationals
Washington Nationals
The Washington Nationals are a professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals are a member of the Eastern Division of the National League of Major League Baseball . The team moved into the newly built Nationals Park in 2008, after playing their first three seasons in RFK Stadium...
.
"I think Major League Baseball understands the stakes", Davis told Roll Call
Roll Call
Roll Call is a newspaper published in Washington, D.C., United States, from Monday to Thursday when the United States Congress is in session and on Mondays only during recess. Roll Call reports news of legislative and political maneuverings on Capitol Hill, as well as political coverage of...
magazine. "I don't think they want to get involved in the political fights." Davis, who convened the recent congressional hearings on steroid
Steroid
A steroid is a type of organic compound that contains a characteristic arrangement of four cycloalkane rings that are joined to each other. Examples of steroids include the dietary fat cholesterol, the sex hormones estradiol and testosterone, and the anti-inflammatory drug dexamethasone.The core...
s, added, "I don't think it's the Nats that get hurt. I think it's Major League Baseball that gets hurt. They enjoy all sorts of exemptions from antitrust
Antitrust
The United States antitrust law is a body of laws that prohibits anti-competitive behavior and unfair business practices. Antitrust laws are intended to encourage competition in the marketplace. These competition laws make illegal certain practices deemed to hurt businesses or consumers or both,...
laws."
Smart growth development
Davis also appeared at a local zoningZoning
Zoning is a device of land use planning used by local governments in most developed countries. The word is derived from the practice of designating permitted uses of land based on mapped zones which separate one set of land uses from another...
meeting to oppose a smart growth
Smart growth
Smart growth is an urban planning and transportation theory that concentrates growth in compact walkable urban centers to avoid sprawl and advocates compact, transit-oriented, walkable, bicycle-friendly land use, including neighborhood schools, complete streets, and mixed-use development with a...
plan near the Vienna
Vienna, Virginia
Vienna is a town in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, it had a population of 15,687. Significantly more people live in zip codes with the Vienna postal addresses bordered approximately by Interstate 66 on the south, Interstate 495 on the east, Route 7 to...
Metro station. Approval of the project, to build what was called a "mini-city" within walking distance of the Metro, was considered routine. Some of the longest commutes to work in the nation begin in Virginia — second only to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
— and in Prince William County
Prince William County, Virginia
-National protected areas:* Featherstone National Wildlife Refuge* Manassas National Battlefield Park* Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge* Prince William Forest Park-Government and politics:...
in particular. The project was a key resolution to congestion in the congressional district. Davis's pledge to approve the legislation led several county supervisors to accuse him of meddling in a local land-use issue.
One politician who spoke to Davis says the congressman told him that he opposes Pulte Homes' MetroWest project because "all it does is produce Democrats."
In July 2006, Davis wrote a letter to Virginia Governor Tim Kaine
Tim Kaine
Timothy Michael "Tim" Kaine is a Virginia politician. Kaine served as the 70th Governor of Virginia from 2006 to 2010, and was the chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2009 to 2011...
discouraging the state from constructing an underground Metrorail through Tysons Corner. According to a July 17, 2006 story in The Washington Post, Davis said switching to a tunnel in Tysons would require reviews that could delay the rail line by as much as two years. On February 26, 2007, The Post reported that Davis switched positions.
Jennifer and David Safavian
One of 12 counsels for oversight and investigations on the House Government Reform Committee is Jennifer SafavianJennifer Safavian
Jennifer McLaughlin Safavian, was formerly the Chief Counsel for oversight and investigations on the United States Congress House Government Reform Committee, which is responsible for overseeing government procurement...
, wife of David Safavian
David Safavian
David Hossein Safavian is a former chief of staff of the United States General Services Administration and a figure in the Jack Abramoff lobbying and corruption scandal....
, the first person convicted in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. A former legislative director for Davis submitted a request that he receive no jail time, but the judge ruled Safavian's conduct merited incarceration.
David Safavian had replaced Angela Styles, who was forced from the General Services Administration
General Services Administration
The General Services Administration is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. The GSA supplies products and communications for U.S...
after Davis wrote letters to her bosses at the Office of Management and Budget. He had written to Mitchell E. Daniels Jr. and Joshua Bolten, Styles's superiors at the Office of Management and Budget, a.
Prior to his GSA job, Safavian had no government contracts experience. He did have connections to Davis, as a lobbyist with Grover Norquist
Grover Norquist
Grover Glenn Norquist is an American lobbyist, conservative activist, and founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform...
, head of Americans for Tax Reform
Americans for Tax Reform
Americans for Tax Reform is an advocacy group and taxpayer group whose stated goal is "a system in which taxes are simpler, flatter, more visible, and lower than they are today. The government's power to control one's life derives from its power to tax...
(ATR), he worked closely with the NRCC when Davis was chair, and presented Davis with an ATR award." ATR has been found to have operated as tax-exempt despite not qualifying for tax-exempt status.
Schiavo subpoena
Among notable recent controversies involving the committee under Davis was in the Terri Schiavo caseTerri Schiavo case
The Terri Schiavo case was a legal battle in the United States between the legal guardians and the parents of Teresa Marie "Terri" Schiavo that lasted from 1998 to 2005...
. The committee subpoena, signed by Davis, ordered the appearance of Schiavo, her husband, Michael, and her doctors. The subpoenas specified that the witnesses bring to the hearing "all medical and other equipment that provides nutrition and hydration...in its current and continuing state of operations." Davis issued a joint statement with House Majority Leader Tom DeLay
Tom DeLay
Thomas Dale "Tom" DeLay is a former member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1984 until 2006. He was Republican Party House Majority Leader from 2003 to 2005, when he resigned because of criminal money laundering charges in...
(R-Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
) and Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert
Dennis Hastert
John Dennis "Denny" Hastert was the 59th Speaker of the House serving from 1999 to 2007. He represented as a Republican for twenty years, 1987 to 2007.He is the longest-serving Republican Speaker in history...
(R-Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
) that stated: "This inquiry should give hope to Terri, her parents and friends, and the millions of people throughout the world who are praying for her safety. This fight is not over." Many legal scholars criticized this action as an inappropriate congressional interventions in an ongoing court case that defied the rule of law
Rule of law
The rule of law, sometimes called supremacy of law, is a legal maxim that says that governmental decisions should be made by applying known principles or laws with minimal discretion in their application...
and amounted to a bill of attainder
Bill of attainder
A bill of attainder is an act of a legislature declaring a person or group of persons guilty of some crime and punishing them without benefit of a judicial trial.-English law:...
— not against the party the politicians are attempting to aid, but against the party on the other side of the courtroom.
K Street Project and NRCC fundraising
As chairman of the NRCC, Davis's chief responsibility was fundraising for members of Congress, and his work overlapped with the financial efforts of the Republican Party's K Street ProjectK Street Project
The K Street Project is an effort by the Republican Party to pressure Washington lobbying firms to hire Republicans in top positions, and to reward loyal GOP lobbyists with access to influential officials. It was launched in 1995 by Republican strategist Grover Norquist and then-House majority...
and the fundraising scandals involving Abramoff and DeLay. Davis himself signed an NRCC check for $500,000 in 1999, the largest amount donated by the NRCC, while he was chair of the committee. The NRCC was fined by the Federal Elections Commission for transferring the funds because it was transferred between political action committee
Political action committee
In the United States, a political action committee, or PAC, is the name commonly given to a private group, regardless of size, organized to elect political candidates or to advance the outcome of a political issue or legislation. Legally, what constitutes a "PAC" for purposes of regulation is a...
s for the same candidates in violation of contribution limits. The PAC involved, the U.S. Family Network
U.S. Family Network
U.S. Family Network, Inc. was founded in 1996 by Ed Buckham, who also served as the organization's consultant. USFN was a tax-exempt 501 corporation founded in Virginia, with its principal offices located in the District of Columbia in the same building as Buckham's consulting firm Alexander...
, is connected with Abramoff, Bob Ney
Bob Ney
Robert William Ney is an American politician from the U.S. state of Ohio. A Republican, Ney represented Ohio's 18th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 until November 3, 2006, when he resigned...
, and Willie Tan, a businessman in the Northern Mariana Islands
Northern Mariana Islands
The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , is a commonwealth in political union with the United States, occupying a strategic region of the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the Philippines...
, all currently associated with a political scandal
Jack Abramoff CNMI scandal
The Jack Abramoff CNMI scandal involves the efforts of Jack Abramoff, other lobbyists, and government officials to change or prevent, or both, Congressional action regarding the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and businesses on Saipan, its capital, commercial center, and one of its...
.
Legislative activity
Davis was chair of the Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina. Democrats, who had proposed an independent investigation, objected and did not officially take part in the committee. The committee proceeded, eventually producing a stinging report critical of government's response to the disaster.Davis introduced the Elizabeth Morgan Act, passed in 1996. In 2003, a federal appeals court ruled that the act was an unconstitutional bill of attainder.
Davis has been instrumental in getting federal funding for the replacement of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge
Woodrow Wilson Bridge
The Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge is a bascule bridge that spans the Potomac River between the independent city of Alexandria, Virginia and Oxon Hill in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. While over the water near the Virginia shore, it crosses the southern tip of the District of...
.
Davis sponsored legislation creating a financial control board for Washington, D.C. He was in charge, until 2000, of the Government Reform Committee's Subcommittee on the District of Columbia, generally favoring allowing the District government more autonomy.
Apparently in a surprise to the House Judiciary Committee, the Reform Committee passed HR 2043 (the DC Fair and Equal House Voting Rights Act), a bill Davis introduced to provide the District of Columbia with voting representation
District of Columbia voting rights
Voting rights of citizens in the District of Columbia differ from those of United States citizens in each of the fifty states. District of Columbia residents do not have voting representation in the United States Senate, but D.C. is entitled to three electoral votes for President. In the U.S...
in Congress. This bill differs from other bills that would grant the district the right to elect Representatives. HR 2043 requires the addition of two representatives, one in Washington, D.C., and one in Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, by raising the number of Representatives from 435 to 437. Originally, the number of House seats would return to 435 after the 2010 Census
United States Census, 2010
The Twenty-third United States Census, known as Census 2010 or the 2010 Census, is the current national census of the United States. National Census Day was April 1, 2010 and is the reference date used in enumerating individuals...
, with Washington, D.C. retaining a full vote in the House., but later versions of the bill make the expansion to 437 seats permanent. The bill did not make it to the House floor, however.
The bill was reintroduced, cosponsored by Davis, as the "District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act of 2007", as H.R. 1433 in the 110th Congress. The bill permanently increases the size of the House by two members. One seat will go to the District of Columbia and the other seat will go to the next state in line to get a congressional seat. Based on the 2000 decennial census and apportionment calculations, Utah will get the second seat until the reapportionment taking place after the 2010 Decennial Census. On March 13, 2007 it passed the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform with a vote of 24-5.
2004 and 2006 election campaigns
Davis's congressional district was redistrictedRedistricting
Redistricting is the process of drawing United States electoral district boundaries, often in response to population changes determined by the results of the decennial census. In 36 states, the state legislature has primary responsibility for creating a redistricting plan, in many cases subject to...
after the 2000 census, which increased the percentage of Republicans in the district. In 2004, he defeated his relatively unknown Democratic challenger, Ken Longmyer, by a 59 percent to 39 percent margin. In the race, Davis outspent Longmyer, $1,835,000 to $72,000.
In the November 2006 election, Davis defeated Democrat Andrew Hurst by 11 percentage points. It was the closest and costliest race Davis faced in 12 years. In financing his campaign, Davis outspent Hurst almost 9-to-1, $2,607,125 to $310,561.
Independent Green Party co-founder, businessman Joseph Oddo was on the ballot in 2004. Ferdinado Greco, a physicist, George Mason University grad, owner and operator of a hybrid taxi business, was the Independent Green candidate in 2006.
Senate campaign
On September 15, Davis told WTOPWTOP-FM
WTOP is an all-news formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Washington, D.C., serving Metropolitan Washington, DC area. WTOP is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting.WTOP is one of two all-news stations in the Washington, D.C...
's Politics Program that he was running for the Senate seat being vacated by John Warner. He said that he has been assembling money and staff for the contest, but was delaying a formal announcement until November. It had been presumed that he would face former Governor
Governor of Virginia
The governor of Virginia serves as the chief executive of the Commonwealth of Virginia for a four-year term. The position is currently held by Republican Bob McDonnell, who was inaugurated on January 16, 2010, as the 71st governor of Virginia....
Jim Gilmore
Jim Gilmore
James Stuart "Jim" Gilmore III is an American politician from the Commonwealth of Virginia, former 68th Governor of Virginia, and a member of the Republican Party. A native Virginian, Gilmore studied at the University of Virginia, and then served in the U.S. Army as a counterintelligence agent...
. However, Davis announced in October 2007 that he would not be running after all, in part due to the state Republican Party's decision to choose its nominee at a nominating convention rather than in a primary.
Davis argued that a primary would expose the candidates to the kind of environment they would face in November. It was also thought that a primary would have favored Davis due to his popularity in voter-rich Northern Virginia. In contrast, the delegates at the nominating convention will be made up mostly of party activists; the state's Republican activist base is tilted heavily to the right. Gilmore had argued strongly for a convention, claiming that a primary would leave the winner short of cash. This was no small consideration. The race for the Democratic nomination essentially ended when former Governor Mark Warner
Mark Warner
Mark Robert Warner is an American politician and businessman, currently serving in the United States Senate as the junior senator from the Commonwealth of Virginia. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Warner was the 69th governor of Virginia from 2002 to 2006 and is the honorary chairman of...
announced his candidacy; Warner has the ability to self-finance due to his considerable fortune.
Davis told the National Press Club that he is considering a challenge to Virginia's other Senator, Jim Webb
Jim Webb
James Henry "Jim" Webb, Jr. is the senior United States Senator from Virginia. He is also an author and a former Secretary of the Navy. He is a member of the Democratic Party....
, in 2012.
Post-political career
On November 17, 2008, Davis joined Deloitte Consulting in their Washington, D.C. office. He resigned from Congress on November 24, 2008.Davis currently serves as President and CEO of the Republican Main Street Partnership
Republican Main Street Partnership
The Republican Main Street Partnership is a group of moderate members of the United States Republican Party. They tend away from the dominant social conservatism of many Republicans and towards a moderate fiscal conservatism and limited government to a degree. The group is the rough equivalent of...
, a moderate Republican organization.
He has also started teaching a class at George Mason University
George Mason University
George Mason University is a public university based in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, south of and adjacent to the city of Fairfax. Additional campuses are located nearby in Arlington County, Prince William County, and Loudoun County...
, teaching "Southern Politics" in the 2008 Fall 2008 Semester.
In the Spring and Fall of 2010, Davis taught Political Parties and Campaigns. The course is described as "Characteristics and functions of political parties, influence of parties and other political forces on electoral decisions, and emphasis on parties’ inability or ability to hold government accountable to citizens" in the catalog. Jim Moran also teaches the class with him.
In the Spring of 2010 rumors were circulating on local blogs that Mr. Davis was considering a run for Chairman of the Board of Supervisors again. However, these rumors stopped once Marianne Lamont Horinko
Marianne Lamont Horinko
Marianne Lamont Horinko served as Acting Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency from July 14, 2003 to November 5, 2003 during the first term of President George W. Bush. Prior to this appointment Horinko was Assistant Administrator for the Office of Solid Waste and...
announced her intentions of running.
On December 21, 2010, it was announced that Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell appointed Davis to be a member of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority
Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority
Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority is an independent airport authority, created by the Commonwealth of Virginia and the District of Columbia with the consent of the United States Congress to oversee management, operations, and capital development of Washington, D.C.'s two major airports:...
Board of Directors, filling one of the five seats on the Board allotted to Virginia.
Political positions
Davis's district is in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. He has been active in recent effort to change federal procurement and contracting practices that make it faster to award contracts but also easier to award no-bidNo-bid contract
The term "no-bid contract" is a popular phrase for what is officially known as a "sole source contract". A sole source contract implies that there is only one person or company that can provide the contractual services needed, and any attempt to obtain bids would only result in one person or...
, "cost-plus" and "share in savings" contracts. These contracts have especially involved the GSA and the Department of Homeland Security. Critics of the reforms point to the increasing campaign contributions from beneficiaries of the contracts and a reduction in audit and auditors, oversight, and performance by contractors after the changes.
Tom Davis was one of only eleven Republicans to vote against the Contract with America Tax Relief Act
that cut taxes by $189 billion over five years, including lowering the capital gains tax rate and easing the "marriage penalty
Marriage penalty
The marriage penalty in the United States refers to the higher taxes required from some married couples, where spouses are making approximately the same taxable income, filing one tax return than for the same two people filing two separate tax returns if they were unmarried...
," and supported a tax hike referendum to raise sales taxes in northern Virginia by 4.5 to 5%.
He also went against his party by supporting District of Columbia voting rights
District of Columbia voting rights
Voting rights of citizens in the District of Columbia differ from those of United States citizens in each of the fifty states. District of Columbia residents do not have voting representation in the United States Senate, but D.C. is entitled to three electoral votes for President. In the U.S...
, and introduced "The District of Columbia Fair and Equal House Voting Rights Act of 2006" before the house, howeverThis bill never made it out of committee.
Davis supports Virginia's Right-to-work law
Right-to-work law
Right-to-work laws are statutes enforced in twenty-two U.S. states, mostly in the southern or western U.S., allowed under provisions of the federal Taft–Hartley Act, which prohibit agreements between labor unions and employers that make membership, payment of union dues, or fees a condition of...
, which is opposed by organized labor.
Davis now opposes amnesty
Amnesty
Amnesty is a legislative or executive act by which a state restores those who may have been guilty of an offense against it to the positions of innocent people, without changing the laws defining the offense. It includes more than pardon, in as much as it obliterates all legal remembrance of the...
for illegal immigrants
Illegal immigration to the United States
An illegal immigrant in the United States is an alien who has entered the United States without government permission or stayed beyond the termination date of a visa....
and supported H.R. 4437, the immigration reform bill sponsored by Rep. James Sensenbrenner. In June 2006 his criticism of the immigration response included the same ideas that were key provisions in the House bill he supported four months later.
Davis has voted to support stem cell research. He is a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership
Republican Main Street Partnership
The Republican Main Street Partnership is a group of moderate members of the United States Republican Party. They tend away from the dominant social conservatism of many Republicans and towards a moderate fiscal conservatism and limited government to a degree. The group is the rough equivalent of...
, a group of Republicans who describe themselves as "mainstream".
In 2007, expressing disapproval with the Democratic Party resolution disapproving of the Iraq troop surge, Davis nevertheless broke with his party line to vote for the resolution.
Project Vote Smart
Project Vote Smart
Project Vote Smart is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States...
reports that Davis has high approval ratings from business groups, but significantly lower ratings from groups that support abortion rights, environmental protection, and civil liberties
Civil liberties
Civil liberties are rights and freedoms that provide an individual specific rights such as the freedom from slavery and forced labour, freedom from torture and death, the right to liberty and security, right to a fair trial, the right to defend one's self, the right to own and bear arms, the right...
.
Davis was supportive of his wife's efforts for stricter gun laws in Virginia.
Personal life
Davis is a member of the Christian Science ChurchChurch of Christ, Scientist
The Church of Christ, Scientist was founded in 1879 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, by Mary Baker Eddy. She was the author of the book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. Christian Science teaches that the "allness" of God denies the reality of sin, sickness, death, and the material world...
.
In 1973, Davis married Margaret "Peggy" Rantz, a medical doctor. They have three children together: Carlton, Pamela, and Shelley. He divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
d her in late 2003 and announced his intention to marry Jeannemarie Devolites in February 2004. They married in June of that year. Davis's first public involvement with Devolites was in 1997 when he managed her campaign for the Virginia House of Delegates, her fourth campaign and first successful one, and was her biggest campaign contributor. In 2003 she was elected to the Virginia State Senate, serving one term before her defeat for re-election in 2007. Davis's political action committees gave her more than $172,000 by mid-2006. He has four stepdaughters from this marriage.
Electoral history
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em ; font-size:95%"|+ : Results 1994–2006
!|Year
!
!|Democrat
!|Votes
!|Pct
!
!|Republican
!|Votes
!|Pct
!
!|3rd Party
!|Party
!|Votes
!|Pct
!
!|3rd Party
!|Party
!|Votes
!|Pct
!
|-
|1994
|
| |
| align="right" |84,104
| |45%
|
| |
| align="right" |98,216
| |53%
|
| |Gordon S. Cruickshank
| |Independent
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
| align="right" |3,246
| align="right" |2%
| |*
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1996
|
| |
| align="right" |74,701
| |35%
|
| |Tom Davis
| align="right" |138,758
| |64%
|
| |C. W. "Levi" Levy
| |Independent
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
| align="right" |2,842
| align="right" |1%
| |*
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|1998
|
| |(no candidate)
| align="right" |
| |
|
| |Tom Davis
| align="right" |91,603
| |82%
|
| |C. W. "Levi" Levy
| |Independent
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
| align="right" |18,807
| align="right" |17%
|
| |Write-ins
Write-in candidate
A write-in candidate is a candidate in an election whose name does not appear on the ballot, but for whom voters may vote nonetheless by writing in the person's name. Some states and local jurisdictions allow a voter to affix a sticker with a write-in candidate's name on it to the ballot in lieu...
| |
| align="right" |1,701
| align="right" |2%
|
|-
|2000
|
| |
| align="right" |83,455
| |34%
|
| |Tom Davis
| align="right" |150,395
| |62%
|
| |Robert K. McBride
| |Independent
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
| align="right" |4,774
| align="right" |2%
|
| |C. W. "Levi" Levy
| |Independent
| align="right" |4,059
| align="right" |2%
| |*
|-
|2002
|
| |(no candidate)
| align="right" |
| |
|
| |Tom Davis
| align="right" |135,379
| |83%
|
| |Frank W. Creel
| |Constitution
Constitution Party (United States)
The Constitution Party is a paleoconservative political party in the United States. It was founded as the U.S. Taxpayers' Party by Howard Philips in 1991. Phillips was the party's candidate in the 1992, 1996 and 2000 presidential elections...
| align="right" |26,892
| align="right" |16%
|
| |Write-ins
Write-in candidate
A write-in candidate is a candidate in an election whose name does not appear on the ballot, but for whom voters may vote nonetheless by writing in the person's name. Some states and local jurisdictions allow a voter to affix a sticker with a write-in candidate's name on it to the ballot in lieu...
| |
| align="right" |1,027
| align="right" |1%
|
|-
|2004
|
| |Ken Longmyer
| align="right" |118,305
| |38%
|
| |Tom Davis
| align="right" |186,299
| |60%
|
| |Joseph P. Oddo
| |Independent
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
| align="right" |4,338
| align="right" |1%
| |*
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|2006
|
| |
| align="right" |102,511
| |44%
|
| |Tom Davis
| align="right" |130,468
| |55%
|
| |Ferdinando C. Greco
| |Independent Green
| align="right" |2,042
| align="right" |1%
| |*
|
|
|
|
|
External links
- 2006 campaign funding record maintained by the Washington Post
Video
- First debate between Tom Davis and Andy Hurst 9/19/06 hurst2006.blogspot.com
- Second Debate with Tom Davis and Andy Hurst 10/19/06 kentonngo.com Calls for Davis resignation from Government Reform committee chairmanship at Ethnic Community Campaign Rally, VA, September 9, 2006