| Richard Pena Raymond was born in Alice, Texas and raised in Benavides, Texas (population 1,900) graduating from the high school there.
He got involved in politics as a very young man fighting political corruption in his home county of Duval.
Representative Raymond received a B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin, majoring in Government and minoring in History. He later received a J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law.
Before being elected to the Texas Legislature, he worked for United States Senators Lloyd Bentsen from Texas and Paul Simon from Illinois. He also worked for Texas Land Commissioner Garry Mauro and Texas Railroad Commissioner Bob Krueger.
In 1992, Mr. Raymond first ran for and was elected to the Texas House of Representatives, where he would represent a rural South Texas District that included the counties of Duval, Jim Wells, Live Oak, Wilson, Atascosa, McMullen and La Salle.
After serving in the Texas House for 6 years, he then ran for Texas Land Commissioner. Although he received nearly 1.5 million votes as the Democratic Party nominee, he lost to Republican David Dewhurst.
Two years later, in January 2001, Mr. Raymond was once again elected to the Texas House of Representatives, this time by the voters of Laredo, Texas and has served in the House since.
Representative Raymond has served on several committees, including several years on the Appropriations Committee, Energy Committee, Economic Development Committee, Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, and the Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee. Speaker Joe Straus appointed Mr. Raymond as Vice Chairman of the Appropriations Committee and later as Chairman of the Human Services Committee. He continues to serve as Chairman of the Human Services Committee while also serving on the Ways and Means Committee.
Representative Raymond has authored and passed many bills during his career regarding job creation, higher education, transportation, health care and public safety. He also passed bills putting the words "In God We Trust" in the Texas House of Representatives Chamber and on Texas License plates.
He is married to the former Michelle Gould and they have three children. He is a lifelong and die hard Dallas Cowboys and Texas Longhorns fan! |