Lincoln Davis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lincoln Davis
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Tennessee's 4th district
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 3, 2003
Preceded by	Van Hilleary
Born	September 13, 1943 (1943-09-13) (age 65) Pall Mall, Tennessee
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Lynda Davis
Children	Larissa Davis Lynn Davis Libby Davis
Residence	Pall Mall, Tennessee
Alma mater	Tennessee Tech University
Religion	Baptist

Lincoln Edward Davis^[1] (born September 13, 1943 in Pall Mall, Tennessee) is a U.S. Representative from Tennessee, currently representing the state's 4th congressional district (map). He is a Democrat.

[edit] Career

Davis, a 1966 Tennessee Technological University agriculture graduate who was raised in rural Fentress County, has been in public office in Tennessee since being elected as mayor of Byrdstown in 1978. Davis served two terms in the Tennessee House of Representatives, 1980–1984, and was later elected to two terms in the Tennessee State Senate, 1996–2002, resigning from that body midway through his second term when he was elected to represent the state’s Fourth Congressional District in November 2002, narrowly defeating Tullahoma Alderman Janice Bowling. He was handily reelected in a 2004 rematch against Bowling.

Davis has been recognized as a leader in the fight to allocate more federal money toward the cleanup of Tennessee’s abandoned coal mines, particularly in the Cumberland Plateau region, which lies partly in his district. He also recently joined Pete Sessions of Texas to cosponsor homeland security legislation to crack down on immigrants who overstay their visas.

In the state legislature, Davis supported state employee and teacher pay raises, long-term care for senior citizens, character education in schools and new domestic violence legislation. Davis initiated and fought for a bill requiring counseling and a 12-hour holding period for domestic violence offenders. While a State Senator, Davis also voted to allow non-documented non-citizen aliens to receive Tennessee drivers' licenses, which was highly criticized and has been since considered for repeal

Davis is considered a conservative Democrat by national Democratic standards but by Tennessee standards he is considered a moderate. In 2004, he was endorsed by right-to-life groups, the National Rifle Association, and the Tennessee Conservative Union, groups all more frequently associated with Republicans. He has also stated his opposition to same-sex marriage.

Recently, Davis has been under fire for slanderous comments made by a surrogate to the Nashville City Paper on June 13, 2008^[2] regarding Senator Barack Obama's Presidential campaign. He has stated that he will not make an endorsement of the candidate in advance of the DNC's convention in August 2008, leaving many to speculate on reasons why, ranging from the recent controversial remarks made on his behalf to suspicions political gaming or racist undertones.

Davis, who now lives in the rural Fentress County village of Pall Mall, also owns a construction business, Diversified Construction Co., which builds homes, apartments and offices. Davis and his wife Lynda, an elementary school teacher, have three daughters, Larissa, Lynn and Libby, and five grandchildren, Ashton, Alexia, Andrew, Austin and Adam.

In the November 2008 general election, he defeated Republican candidate Monty Lankford, a Hospital Equipment Company Owner, in one of the swing districts in the state. Afterwards Davis was appointed to the House Appropriations Committee and the Energy & Water Subcommittee.^[3]

He was a possible candidate for Governor of Tennessee in 2010.^[4] However, Davis announced that he had decided not to seek for that office on January 2009.^[5]

[edit] Committee assignments

• Committee on Appropriations
  • Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies
  • Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development
• Committee on Science and Technology
  • Subcommittee on Energy and Environment
  • Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight

[edit] Caucus membership

• Caucus to Control Methamphetamine
• Congressional Rural Caucus
• Blue Dog Coalition

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Congressman Lincoln Davis official U.S. House site
• Congressman Lincoln Davis official campaign site

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Current Bills Sponsored at StateSurge.com
• Profile at SourceWatch Congresspedia
• Nashville City Paper article, June 2008