Jack Kingston
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John Heddens "Jack" Kingston (born April 24 1955), American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1993, representing the 1st District of Georgia (map (http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/images/preview/congdist/ga01_109.gif)), based in the southeastern part of the state.
He was born in Bryan, Texas, but spent most of his life in Athens, Georgia. He earned a degree in economics from the University of Georgia. He has lived in Savannah since 1977 and spent 25 years selling insurance and agribusiness throughout southeastern Georgia before his election to Congress.
The 1st District comprises the entire coastal area of Sea Islands, where many of the large cotton and rice plantations flourished in the nineteenth century, and much of the rural southeastern part of the state. This section of the South was solidly Democratic country for many years after General Sherman’s troops marched through Georgia, but voters here are conservative on cultural and military issues and many economic issues as well. In addition to Savannah, there are a few modest-sized like Brunswick, Waycross, and Valdosta, but much of the district is rural, with cotton and tobacco fields. In addition, the district includes five military bases: Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base, at Kings Bay in Camden County, Fort Stewart, near Hinesville in Liberty County, Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins, and Moody Air Force Base near Valdosta, all of which contribute to Kingston’s staunch Congressional support for the armed forces.
Kingston ran for Congress in 1992 at the age of 37 after serving eight years in the Georgia House of Representatives against Democrat Barbara Christmas, a school principal. At the time, he claimed, “I have a Democrat’s heart and a Republican’s brain. You have to have a heart, but a brain, too, to solve problems,” a message that resounded well with a realigning Southern electorate. For two decades, the 1st District had voted for national Republicans but Georgia Democrats, so it was important for Kingston to convince voters that he was the conservative choice. In the campaign, he supported enterprise zones and tax incentives to spur economic grown and he wanted to promote agricultural exports and welfare reform. It also helped that most of Savannah had been cut out of the district and placed in the new, majority-black 11th District, which stretched all the way to Atlanta. Kingston won decisively with 58 percent of the vote, and he has not been seriously challenged since. He ran unopposed in 1998 and 2004.
Kingston is a pro-life conservative who opposes stem cell research. He supports the death penalty, the war on terrorism, the Patriot Act and President Bush’s tax cuts. He has sponsored resolutions calling for the 10 Commandments to be displayed in the House and Senate Chambers. He has spent tons of time in the district promoting President Bush’s overhaul of the Social Security program in town hall meetings. He has been called by many, including USA Today, “one of the most partisan Republicans in the House,” having been of 19 co-sponsors of the 1997 resolution asking for an impeachment inquiry of President Clinton.
In 2002, Americans for Democratic Action gave him a rating of zero, and the American Conservative union gave him a rating of 96. In 2004, the National Journal claimed that Kingston was the most conservative member of the House of Representatives on economic issues, social issues, and foreign issues, judging solely by his voting record. According to the National Journal, he falls to the right of Majority Leader Tom Delay, which bodes well for him in his continuing quest to shape the message of the Congressional Republicans if it remains true that the most conservative or liberal members of the parties will rise to the top.
Kingston already has a clear, resounding voice in the Republican leadership, and he is on the rise. In 1997, he assumed the chairmanship of a group of about 50 Republicans called the Theme Team, which has been responsible for the daily verbal one-minute volleys on the House floor, which are often loud, partisan, and humorous. He has had a very significant impact on the Republican message, encouraging members to tone down their rhetoric by focusing more on ideas and less on personalities.
Since 2003, Kingston has served as vice-chairman of the House Republican Conference, ranking him sixth in the Republican leadership behind (as of 2005) Speaker Dennis Hastert, DeLay, Majority Whip Roy Blunt, House Republican Policy Committee Chairman John Shadegg and conference chairwoman Deborah Pryce. He also serves on the powerful Appropriations Committee.
According to Roll Call, he is the favorite to assume the chairmanship of the Conference if Pryce steps down to take the Financial Services gavel in the 110th Congress.
External link
- official website (http://www.house.gov/kingston/)