Van Taylor

Nicholas Van Campen Taylor, known as Van Taylor (born August 1, 1972), is an Iraq War veteran and Texas Republican businessman who is party's nominee for the Texas District 3 seat in the United States House of Representatives in the November 6 general election. Taylor, currently a member of the Texas State Senate, is seeking to succeed fellow Republican Sam Johnson, who is retiring from the congressional seat. Distrioct 3 is heavily Republican in orientation.

In 2006, Taylor unsuccessfully challenged Democrat Chet Edwards, a Texas A&M for Texas' 17th Congressional District. Edwards was later unseated by the Republican Bill Flores.

In Iraq, Taylor was a United States Marine Corps platoon leader.

Taylor was in Dallas, Texas, to Nicholas Cavenhove Taylor and Catherine Blaffer. After graduating from St. Paul's School, a prep school in Concord, New Hampshire, Taylor attended and graduated from Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with a degree in history. He then joined the United States Marine Corps, completed infantry and intelligence training, and served as a reconnaissance platoon leader and an intelligence officer. After his four-year active duty tour ended, Taylor joined the Marine Corps Reserves. He returned to Harvard and earned a Masters of Business Administration from the Harvard Business School; he then worked for McKinsey and Company and the Trammell Crow Co. in Dallas until he volunteered for active duty service in Iraq.

He served with the Marine Corps' C Company, 4th Reconnaissance Battalion and fought with the 2nd Force Reconnaissance Company. As a Captain, Taylor led missions behind enemy lines for the 4500 Marine Task Force Tarawa, including the leadership of the Task Force's first platoon to enter Iraq before the start of the main invasion. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, Taylor's platoon encountered, and defeated, several Fedayeen ambushes, participated in the operation to rescue U.S. prisoner of war Private First Class Jessica Lynch and rescued 31 wounded men-under-fire during a counterattack by several thousand Iraqi soldiers.

Taylor's military decorations include the Navy Commendation Medal with "V" for Valor, the Combat Action Ribbon, and the Presidential Unit Citation. Taylor is currently a Major in the Marine Corps Reserves.