Randy Forbes

Randy Forbes
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 4th district
Incumbent
Assumed office June 19, 2001
Preceded by	Norman Sisisky
Member of the Virginia State Senate from the 14th district
In office January 1998 – June 26, 2001
Preceded by	Mark L. Earley
Succeeded by	Harry Blevins
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from the 78th district
In office January 1990 – January 1998
Preceded by	Frederick H. Creekmore
Succeeded by	Harry Blevins
Personal details
Born	(1952-02-17) February 17, 1952 Chesapeake, Virginia
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Shirley Forbes
Residence	Chesapeake, Virginia
Alma mater	Randolph-Macon College, University of Virginia
Occupation	Attorney
Religion	Southern Baptist

James Randy Forbes (born February 17, 1952) is the U.S. Representative for Virginia's 4th congressional district, serving since 2001. He is a member of the Republican Party.

Early life, education and career

Born in Chesapeake, Virginia, Forbes graduated first in his class from Randolph-Macon College in 1974. He received his Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1977. Forbes worked in private practice for Kaufman & Canoles PC.

Virginia Legislature

Forbes served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1989 to 1997 and the Virginia State Senate from 1997 to 2001. Forbes was first elected to the House in 2001 to fill a vacancy caused by the death of ten-term Democratic Congressman Norman Sisisky; defeating Democratic State Senator Louise Lucas 52-48%. After the 4th district was reconfigured as part of redistricting, Forbes has since run unopposed by Democrats in 2002 and 2006; in 2004, he faced Jonathan R. Menefee and won with 65% of the vote. He faced Wynne LeGrow in the 2010 election, and was easily re-elected with 62% of the vote.

Forbes was Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia from 1996 to 2001.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Virginia, 2012#District 4

Forbes is being challenged by the Democratic nominee Ella Ward

Committee assignments

• Committee on Armed Services
  • Subcommittee on Readiness (Chairman)
  • Subcommittee on Seapower and Expeditionary Forces
• Committee on the Judiciary
  • Subcommittee on the Constitution
  • Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security

Memberships

Caucuses

• Army; Navy/Marine Corps; Coast Guard; Special Operations Force Caucuses
• Children's Caucus
• Congressional China Caucus
• Congressional Modeling and Simulation Caucus
• Congressional Prayer Caucus, founder
• Congressional Pro-Life Caucus
• Diabetes Caucus
• Historic Preservation Caucus
• House Republican Israel Caucus
• Immigration Reform Caucus
• International Conservation Caucus
• Internet Caucus
• Military Retiree-Veterans Caucus
• Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus

Other

• Alzheimer's Task Force
• Cancer Working Group
• Chesapeake Bay Watershed Task Force
• Judicial Activism Working Group

Political positions

Culture war

Forbes has made a major issue out of the "culture war," by forming the Push Back Team, basically a fundraising measure for Forbes' campaign. As part of this campaign, Forbes is the founder and chairman of the Congressional Prayer Caucus, formed for the purpose of encouraging prayer through legislation, and opposing laws such as those banning collective prayer led by school officials.

Recent proposed cultural legislation sponsored by Forbes includes the following:

• To designate the United States as a Judeo-Christian nation.
• To declare that "the Holy Bible is God’s Word".
• To declare religion a prerequisite for freedom and reject "the notion that the laws and Constitution of the United States require the exclusion of God from matters of government".
• To prevent the IRS from assisting the federal government in an "invasion into the health care lives of American citizens".
• To declare that religion forms "the inseparable foundation for America’s representative processes, legal systems, and societal structures".

Gangs

Forbes sponsored H.R. 1279 The Gang Deterrence and Community Protection Act of 2005 (The Gangbusters Bill), which intends to increase support for police in going after gangs, re-define violent crime, and sets higher minimum mandatory sentences for gang related activity. Some critics of the bill say that it re-defines violent crime very broadly, allows the death penalty for "any crime resulting in death," and sets overly stringent minimum sentences. This bill passed the House on May 11, 2005, and has been referred to the Senate. Similar legislation was passed again on September 21, 2006, yet to be taken up by the Senate.

Energy independence

On June 12, 2008 Forbes introduced H.R. 6260 entitled, "New Manhattan Project for Energy Independence." The bill was offered as a substitute for the entire energy bill and outlined a series of prizes, similar to the X-PRIZE, which would be awarded to a private entity, which completed one of seven tasks related to achieving energy independence. The bill included 14 billion dollars in prizes and 10 billion dollars in grants, 10 billion of which would have supported nuclear fusion research, and sought to establish a summit to discuss the challenge of energy independence and a commission to create a set of recommendations to fulfill the goal of becoming energy independent within 20 years. On June 26, 2009, the bill was offered as an amendment in the nature of a substitute for the Waxman/Markey-sponsored American Clean Energy and Security Act. The bill was rejected by the House of Representatives 255-172.

Electoral history

Virginia's 4th congressional district: Results 2000–2012

Year		Democrat	Votes	Pct		Republican	Votes	Pct		3rd Party	Party	Votes	Pct
2000		Norman Sisisky **	189,787	99%		(no candidate)				Write-ins		2,108	1%
2001		Louise Lucas	65,190	48%		J. Randy Forbes	70,917	52%
2002		(no candidate)				J. Randy Forbes	108,733	98%		Write-ins		2,308	2%
2004		Jonathan R. Menefee	100,413	35%		J. Randy Forbes	182,444	64%
2006		(no candidate)				J. Randy Forbes	150,967	76%		Albert P. Burckard, Jr.	Independent Green	46,487	23%
2008		Andrea Miller	135,041	40%		J. Randy Forbes	199,075	60%
2010		Wynne LeGrow	74,298	38%		J. Randy Forbes	122,659	62%
2012		Ella Ward	150,190	43%		J. Randy Forbes	199,292	57%

*Write-in and minor candidate notes: In 2004, write-ins received 170 votes. In 2006, write-ins received 886 votes. In 2008, write-ins received 405 votes. In 2010, write-ins received 432 votes.

** Sisisky died on March 29, 2001; Forbes won the 2001 special election to fill out the remainder of his term.

External links

• Congressman Randy Forbes official U.S. House site
• Randy Forbes for Congress official campaign site
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Profile at Ballotpedia
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Financial information (federal office) at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance (federal office) at LegiStorm.com
• Financial information (state office) at the National Institute for Money in State Politics
• Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
• Voting record at The Washington Post
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Collected news and commentary at The Washington Post
• Entry at NNDB
• Profile at SourceWatch
• "U.S. House approves Forbes' bill reaffirming 'In God We Trust'", Hampton Roads, November 2, 2011

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Norman Sisisky	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 4th congressional district 2001–present	Succeeded by Incumbent
United States order of precedence
Preceded by Bill Shuster R-Pennsylvania	United States Representatives by seniority 142nd	Succeeded by Stephen Lynch D-Massachusetts