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Lyle Larson
RTexas State House, District 122 (2010 - Present)
Commissioner, Precinct 3, Bexar County Commissioners Court (1997 - Present)
To be claimed
Lyle Larson (b. March 25, 1959) is a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives, representing District 122. Larson was first elected to the chamber in 2010. Larson is running for re-election in 2018. The primary election took place on March 6, 2018. The general election is being held on November 6, 2018.
Larson ran in one of 48 contested Texas state legislative Republican primaries in 2018. To read more about the conflict between Republican factions in the primaries, including who the factions were, which races were competitive and who key influencers lined up behind, click here.
Larson graduated from McArthur High School and earned a BBA in Marketing from Texas A&M University in 1981. He has owned and operated a small business for the last 24 years.
Larson has been a Bexar County Commissioner from Precinct 3 since 1997. He served as a San Antonio City Councilman from District 10 between 1991 and 1995. He was a candidate for the United States House of Representatives District 23 in 2008. He has served as the chairman of the San Antonio Military Transformation Task Force, the San Antonio-Bezar County Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Alamo Area Council of Governments, and the Greater San Antonio Crime Commission
Former Member, Calendars Committee, Texas State House of Representatives
Former Member, Culture, Recreation, and Tourism Committee, Texas State House of Representatives
Former Member, Elections Committee, Texas State House of Representatives
Former Member, General Investigating and Ethics Committee, Texas State House of Representatives
Former Chair, Natural Resources Committee, Texas State House of Representatives
Former Member, Redistricting Committee, Texas State House of Representatives
Former Co-Chair, Subcommittee on Special Water Districts, Texas State House of Representatives
Former Member, Calendars Committee, Texas State House of Representatives
Former Member, Culture, Recreation, and Tourism Committee, Texas State House of Representatives
Former Member, Elections Committee, Texas State House of Representatives
Former Member, General Investigating and Ethics Committee, Texas State House of Representatives
Former Co-Chair, Subcommittee on Special Water Districts, Texas State House of Representatives
Member, International Relations & Economic Development Committee
Member, Natural Resources Committee
— Awards:
Hobbies or Special Talents:
Avid bass fisherman and quail hunter
1. Abortions should always be illegal.
- No Answer
2. Abortions should always be legal.
- No Answer
3. Abortions should be legal only within the first trimester.
- No Answer
4. Abortions should be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape.
- X
5. Abortions should be legal when the life of the woman is endangered.
- X
6. Dilation and extraction or "partial-birth" abortion procedures should be legal.
- No Answer
7. Medicare, Medicaid, and federal subsidies should be prohibited from being used on abortion procedures.
- X
8. Other or expanded principles.
- No Answer
1. Agriculture
- Maintain Status
2. Arts
- Slightly Decrease
3. Defense
- Greatly Increase
4. Education
- Maintain Status
5. Environment
- Maintain Status
6. FEMA
- Maintain Status
7. Homeland security
- Maintain Status
8. International aid
- Greatly Decrease
9. Law enforcement (Federal)
- Maintain Status
10. Law enforcement (State)
- Maintain Status
11. Medical research
- Maintain Status
12. National parks
- Maintain Status
13. Public health services
- Maintain Status
14. Scientific research
- Maintain Status
15. Space exploration programs
- Maintain Status
16. Transportation and highway infrastructure
- Greatly Increase
17. United Nations
- Greatly Decrease
18. Welfare
- Greatly Decrease
19. Other or expanded categories
- No Answer
1. Armed forces personnel training
- Slightly Increase
2. Intelligence operations
- Slightly Increase
3. Military hardware
- Greatly Increase
4. Modernization of weaponry and equipment
- Greatly Increase
5. National missile defense
- Maintain Status
6. Pay for active duty personnel
- Slightly Increase
7. Programs to improve troop retention rates
- Slightly Increase
8. Research and development of new weapons
- Maintain Status
9. Troop and equipment readiness
- Greatly Increase
10. Other or expanded categories
- No Answer
1. Less than $12,000
- Maintain Status
2. $12,001-$40,000
- Maintain Status
3. $40,001-$100,000
- Maintain Status
4. $100,001-$180,000
- Maintain Status
5. $180,001-$350,000
- Maintain Status
6. $350,001 and above
- Maintain Status
7. Other or expanded categories
- No Answer
1. Alcohol taxes
- Maintain Status
2. Capital gains taxes
- Maintain Status
3. Cigarette taxes
- Maintain Status
4. Corporate taxes
- Maintain Status
5. Gasoline taxes
- Maintain Status
6. Inheritance taxes
- Maintain Status
7. Other or expanded categories
- No Answer
1. Charitable contribution deduction
- Maintain Status
2. Child tax credit
- Maintain Status
3. Earned income tax credit
- Maintain Status
4. Medical expense deduction
- Maintain Status
5. Mortgage deduction
- Maintain Status
6. Student loan credit
- Maintain Status
7. Other or expanded categories
- No Answer
8. Do you support the permanent repeal of the federal estate tax?
- Yes
9. Do you support requiring the federal budget to be balanced each year?
- Yes
10. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Support increasing the amount individuals are permitted to contribute to federal campaigns.
- X
2. Prohibit Political Action Committee (PAC) contributions to candidates for federal office.
- No Answer
3. Allow unregulated soft money campaign contributions to political parties or committees.
- No Answer
4. Remove all contribution limits on federal campaigns and parties.
- No Answer
5. Support prohibiting ads containing candidates' name that are paid for by third parties from airing 60 days before a primary and 30 days before a general federal election.
- X
6. Support instant run-off voting (IRV).
- No Answer
7. Support designating Election Day as a national holiday.
- No Answer
8. Support giving the President the power of the line item veto for items concerning appropriations.
- X
9. Support limiting the President's use of signing statements in order to prevent an alternative interpretation of the bill.
- No Answer
10. Support a federal shield law to protect reporter-source privilege.
- No Answer
11. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Support the use of the death penalty for federal crimes.
- X
2. Eliminate the use of the death penalty for federal crimes.
- No Answer
3. Support programs to provide prison inmates with vocational and job-related skills and job-placement assistance when released.
- X
4. Support programs to provide prison inmates with drug and alcohol addiction treatment.
- X
5. Reduce prison sentences for those who commit non-violent crimes.
- No Answer
6. Support mandatory jail sentences for selling illegal drugs.
- X
7. Support strict penalties for internet crime (e.g. hacking, identity theft, worms/viruses).
- X
8. Require that crimes based on sexual orientation be prosecuted as federal hate crimes.
- No Answer
9. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Support the federal government funding universal pre-K programs.
- No Answer
2. Allow parents to use vouchers to send their children to any public school.
- X
3. Allow parents to use vouchers to send their children to any private or religious school.
- X
4. Allow teachers and professionals to receive federal funding to establish charter or magnet schools.
- No Answer
5. Increase funding for the Pell Grant program.
- No Answer
6. Decrease interest rates of Stafford Loans.
- No Answer
7. Support federal tax incentives to help families save for college.
- X
8. Ban university financial aid officers from owning stock in or accepting gifts from student loan lenders.
- X
9. Require universities to disclose financial relationships with lenders.
- X
10. Support federal education standards and testing requirements for K-12 students (No Child Left Behind).
- No Answer
11. Eliminate all federal education standards and testing requirements for K-12 students (No Child Left Behind).
- X
12. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Increase funding for national job-training programs that retrain displaced workers or teach skills needed in today?s job market.
- X
2. Reduce government regulation of the private sector.
- X
3. Encourage employers to offer child care services, flex-time scheduling, comp-time, and unpaid leave for family emergencies.
- No Answer
4. Increase the federal minimum wage.
- No Answer
5. Support the right of workers to unionize.
- No Answer
6. Eliminate all federal programs designed to reduce unemployment.
- No Answer
7. Include sexual orientation in federal anti-discrimination laws.
- No Answer
8. Include gender identity in federal anti-discrimination laws.
- No Answer
9. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Strengthen the regulation and enforcement of the Clean Water Act.
- No Answer
2. Strengthen the regulation and enforcement of the Clean Air Act.
- No Answer
3. Support increased development of traditional energy resources (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil).
- X
4. Strengthen emission controls on all gasoline and diesel-powered engines, including cars, trucks, and sport utility vehicles.
- No Answer
5. Strengthen fuel efficiency standards on all gasoline and diesel-powered engines, including cars, trucks, and sport utility vehicles.
- X
6. Support domestic oil exploration in areas that are currently restricted.
- X
7. Encourage further development and use of alternative fuels.
- X
8. Support the use of ethanol as an alternative fuel.
- No Answer
9. Support research and development of nuclear reactors as an alternative energy source.
- X
10. Allow energy producers to trade pollution credits under "cap and trade" laws.
- X
11. Support international mandatory emission targets to limit global warming.
- No Answer
12. Support international voluntary emission targets to limit global warming.
- X
13. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Allow individuals to carry concealed guns.
- X
2. Ban the sale, ownership or possession of handguns except by law enforcement and other government officials.
- No Answer
1. Enforcement of existing restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns.
- Maintain Status
2. Restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns.
- Maintain Status
3. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Implement a universal healthcare program to guarantee coverage to all Americans, regardless of income.
- No Answer
2. Expand eligibility for tax-free medical savings accounts.
- X
3. Allow the importation of prescription drugs into the United States.
- No Answer
4. Support expanding prescription drug coverage under Medicare.
- No Answer
5. Offer tax credits to individuals and small businesses to offset the cost of insurance coverage.
- X
6. Support expanding child healthcare programs.
- No Answer
7. Providing healthcare is not a responsibility of the federal government.
- X
8. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Decrease the number of legal immigrants allowed into the country.
- No Answer
2. Establish English as the official national language.
- X
3. Support a temporary worker program.
- X
4. Support harsher financial punishments for those who knowingly employ illegal immigrants.
- No Answer
5. Support amnesty for illegal immigrants already working in the United States.
- No Answer
6. Illegal immigrants should have to return to their countries of origin before being considered for citizenship.
- X
7. Illegal immigrants should be given a pathway to citizenship.
- No Answer
8. Support merit-based visas over family-based visas.
- X
9. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Support the United States granting aid to countries when extraordinary circumstances cause disaster and threaten civilian lives.
- X
2. Support the United States granting aid to countries when it is in the security interests of the United States.
- X
3. Eliminate United States aid for any nation with documented human rights abuses.
- X
4. Aid granted by the United States should be scaled back and eventually eliminated.
- X
5. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Should the United States continue to provide leadership in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process?
- Yes
2. Should the United States support the creation of a Palestinian state?
- No
3. Should the United States impose greater international sanctions on Iran if it continues to defy United Nations mandates?
- Yes
4. Should the United States support the Lebanese government against insurgent forces?
- No Answer
5. Should the United States maintain its troop levels in Iraq?
- Yes
6. Should the United States withdraw its troops from Iraq?
- No Answer
7. Discuss your proposals for Iraq.
- No Answer
8. Should the United States apply greater economic and diplomatic sanctions against North Korea if it fails to abide by its agreement to suspend its nuclear program?
- Yes
9. Should the United States increase financial support for Afghanistan?
- No Answer
10. Should the United States increase military support for Afghanistan?
- Yes
11. Should the United States trade nuclear fuel to India for civilian purposes?
- No Answer
12. Should the United States decrease financial support for Pakistan?
- No Answer
13. Should the United States decrease military support for Pakistan?
- No
14. Should the United States be involved in bringing an end to the violence in Darfur, Sudan?
- No Answer
15. Should the United States be involved in bringing an end to the violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo?
- No
16. Should the United States provide economic and military support to the Transitional Government of Somalia?
- No
17. Should the United States use sanctions to encourage the government of Zimbabwe to end its human rights abuses?
- Yes
18. Should the United States support the creation of an independent nation of Kosovo?
- Yes
19. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Do you support the United States imposing economic sanctions on China?
- Yes
2. Do you support the United States imposing trade sanctions on Venezuela?
- Yes
3. Do you support the United States involvement in free trade agreements?
- Yes
4. Do you support the United States involvement in intergovernmental organizations dedicated to trade?
- Yes
5. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Do you support using military tribunals to try suspected terrorists when ordinary civilian courts are deemed inappropriate or impractical?
- Yes
2. Should law enforcement agencies have greater discretion to monitor domestic communications, to prevent future terrorist attacks?
- Yes
3. Should the United States hold foreign states accountable for terrorists who operate in their country?
- Yes
4. Should the federal government increase funding to states and cities for homeland security?
- No Answer
5. Do you support pre-emptive military strikes against countries deemed to be a threat to United States national security?
- Yes
6. Do you support the creation of a federal identification card system?
- No
7. Do you support long-term use of National Guard troops to supplement the armed forces in assignments overseas?
- Yes
8. Should the United States expand its missile defense shield?
- Yes
9. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Should same-sex couples be allowed to marry?
- No
2. Do you support a federal constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman?
- Yes
3. Do you support federal funding for research on existing embryonic stem cell lines?
- Yes
4. Do you support federal funding to create lines of stem cells from new embryos?
- No
5. Should the federal government consider race and gender in government contracting decisions?
- No
6. Should the federal government continue affirmative action programs?
- No
7. Should the federal government regulate internet gambling?
- No
8. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Allow workers to invest a portion of their payroll tax in private accounts that they manage themselves.
- X
2. Ensure the viability of Social Security by increasing the payroll tax.
- No Answer
3. Decrease benefits paid to retirees.
- No Answer
4. Support proportional increases of Social Security benefits based on the cost of living index.
- No Answer
5. Raise the retirement age for individual eligibility to receive full Social Security benefits.
- No Answer
6. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
1. Require welfare recipients to spend at least 40 hours a week in a combination of work and training programs.
- X
2. Continue to give states and local governments flexibility in and responsibility for welfare programs through federal block grants.
- X
3. Support housing assistance for welfare recipients.
- No Answer
4. Abolish all federal welfare programs.
- X
5. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer
Please explain in a total of 100 words or less, your top two or three priorities if elected. If they require additional funding for implementation, please explain how you would obtain this funding.
- No Answer
Type: bill Chamber: lower
Type: bill Chamber: lower
Type: joint resolution Chamber: lower
Two Republicans are competing for the right to challenge Democratic Rep. Ciro Rodriguez in November. Rodriguez snared the 23rd Congressional District post in a special election in 2006 following a court-ordered redistricting. The Democrat held another congressional seat prior to a primary defeat in 2004. Bexar County Commissioner Lyle Larson and San Antonio lawyer Francisco "Quico" Canseco are vying for the Republican nomination to the post. We recommend Larson. He is by far the best prepared contender for the congressional seat. Larson was a member of the San Antonio City Council from 1991-95. He began serving on Commissioners Court in 1997. He has successfully managed a small business for more than two decades. During his tenure in county government, Larson has worked to help the community cope with military base realignment as chairman of the Military Transformation Task Force. He also led the Metropolitan Planning Organization and the Greater San Antonio Crime Commission. Larson's years in government have given him an intimate knowledge of many issues facing the congressional district and experience in turning policy goals into reality. In approaching key federal issues facing the district, such as border security, Larson offers specific recommendations and vows to be a strong voice for the border region's point of view. Larson has a consistent track record as a fiscal conservative. He has never accepted a pay raise as a county commissioner and repeatedly voted to lower the tax rate. In addition to his experience, Larson's affable, down-to-earth style will serve him and the district well if he becomes a member of Congress. Larson's nomination would give the GOP its best shot at regaining the 23rd Congressional District post, and we urge primary voters to cast their ballots for him.
Obama is a rock star, Clinton has found her voice (and her tear ducts), and true conservatives hate McCain. Huckabee plays bass, Paul plays foil, and Romney and Giuliani do not play at all, not anymore. The presidential primaries prove that politics represents the most entertaining reality show of all, with more edge than "American Idol," more bite than "Celebrity Apprentice" and more relevance than "Survivor." Bitterly divided, with red and blue turning our nation into an ugly color-coded map, we are united on one thing our interest in the political drama unfolding before us. Who cares about the writers strike when the candidates can script such compelling story lines day after day? With all our energy and excitement focused on the presidential primaries, however, it may be time to shrink the political map, lest we forget that there are also state and regional races at stake. Here are a few of them: In the U.S. Senate primary, we have incumbent John Cornyn pitted against Larry Kilgore, who received 8 percent of the vote in the 2006 Republican gubernatorial primary. Kilgore is so out there that he makes the fringe look mainstream. Polite and earnest, he has one overriding issue to help Texas secede from the union. "Twenty-four million people can do a better job of governing themselves than 300 million," he told the Express-News Editorial Board. What if he gets elected to the Senate without pushing his secession agenda through? "I would not vote on any bills," he said. At least, that would include bad bills, of which the country has seen quite a lot lately. In the Republican primary race for the seat in Congressional District 23, Lyle Larson expressed disgust over a push poll financed by his opponent, Francisco "Quico" Canseco. The poll asks constituents if they would support Larson if he "voted for and received large pay raises every year." There is only one problem with the question. The county commissioner always rejects pay raises for himself; his salary of almost $50,000 is half of what his colleagues make. "The poll is just intended to test his negatives," Canseco told the Editorial Board. OK. But it seems more like manufacturing a negative than testing one. And that comes under the category of "distorting the record." As polite and earnest as Kilgore, without venturing quite as far into the ideological hinterlands, Tony Kosub is a middle school teacher running against State Rep. Frank Corte, the dean of the Bexar County delegation. The challenger brands his opponent a "tax and spend liberal." Which is kind of like labeling Howard Dean a "wallflower." Those are just some of the other races that should capture our attention; there are many more. If the presidential primary is merely a part of the mosaic, however, it is a big part, and with at least one party nominee in serious question, the Texas contest will be more crucial than it has been in years. March 4 mark it on your calendars.
