| David Lee Farabee | |
 | |
| In office 1999 – January 2011 | |
| Preceded by | John Hirschi |
|---|---|
| Succeeded by | Lanham Lyne |
| Born | February 5, 1964 Wichita Falls, Texas |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Democrat |
| Spouse(s) | Terri Nan Salmon Farabee |
| Children | Worth Farabee
Nancy Farabee |
| Residence | Wichita Falls, Texas |
| Alma mater | Wichita Falls High School
Midwestern State University (Wichita Falls) |
| Occupation | Insurance agent |
| Religion | United Methodist |
David Lee Farabee (born February 5, 1964) is a Democratic former state representative for District 69 in Wichita and Archer counties, Texas. His father, Ray Farabee, was an attorney in Austin, Texas, and from 1975 to 1988 a Democratic former state senator for the Wichita Falls/west Texas region.
Background
An Eagle Scout, Farabee graduated from Wichita Falls High School and then obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls. He and his wife, the former Terri Nan Salmon, have three children, Worth, Nancy, and Russell R. Farabee. He is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. He is a former president of the Wichita Falls Optimist Club.[1]
His late mother, Helen Farabee, is the namesake of the state mental health facility in Wichita Falls, Graham in Young County and Quanah in Hardeman County. The senior Farabee left the state Senate after thirteen years to become general counsel for the University of Texas System.[2] Farabee's father-in-law, Bill Presson, has been a Republican commissioner for Wichita County.[3] When Democratic state legislators known as the Killer D's fled to Ardmore, Oklahoma in 2003 to prevent a House quorum regarding congressional redistricting, many of Farabee's constituents were said to have been particularly aware for perhaps the first time that he is a Democrat.[3]
Legislative career
In 1998, Farabee won his seat, then considered one of the most Republican-leaning districts in the Texas House that was represented at this time by a Democrat.[2] Wichita Falls Mayor Fritz Lanham Lyne, Jr. (born 1955) defeated a Democrat named Michael L. Smith, 74-26 percent, to win Farabee's seat in the November 2 general election.[4] Farabee himself had estimated that a Democrat expecting to hold the seat would need to raise at least $250,000 in campaign funds.[2] Lyne did not seek a second term in 2010.
In his initial election in 1998, Farabee was unopposed for the Democratic nomination in District 69 when the Democratic incumbent, John Hirschi, did not seek reelection. He defeated the Republican Ronald S. Buffum (born 1945), then of Wichita Falls, 14,207 votes (56.1 percent) to 11,130 (43.9 percent).[5]
In 2006, Farabee garnered more than 58 percent of the vote in 2006 against a Libertarian and a Republican, Shirley Craft, who had also lost to Farabee in 2004. In 2008, Republicans left Farabee unopposed. The Former District 50 state Representative Thomas Mark Strama (born 1967), a Google executive and an Austin Democrat, said that his party can win District 69. He recalled that in 2006 the Democrats held the West Texas state House seat vacated by former Speaker James E. "Pete" Laney. Joseph P. Heflin, the county judge in Crosbyton, narrowly defeated a young Republican insurance agent from Plainview in Hale County, Jim Landtroop, who had considerable support from the state's GOP leaders.[2] Landtroop rebounded in 2010 to deny Heflin a third term in the legislature but was himself unseated in 2012 in the runoff election by the Moderate Republican Ken King of Canadian in Hemphill County.
Farabee served on the Energy Resources and State Affairs committees in the Texas House. In 2005, he supported the position of the National Abortion Rights Action League on abortion 55 percent of the time; in 2007, NARAL rated him 0 percent.[1] In 2008, he was voted "A+" by the National Rifle Association. In 2001, he was rated 100 percent by the NAACP. In 2009, he was rated 17 percent by conservative Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum, but the same organization rated him 68 percent in 2007. The interest group Texans for Fiscal Responsibility rated Farabee 38 percent in 2009.[1]
Prior to his legislative service, Farabee was an at-large member of the Wichita Falls City Council from 1989 to 1993. He is a partner of Boley-Featherston Insurance Agency in Wichita Falls.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Rep. David Farabee (Texas). votesmart.org. Retrieved on January 17, 2020.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Abilene Reporter-News. October 5, 2009. Retrieved on November 27, 2009.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Our opinion: Farabee: "It's the man, not the party. Wichita Falls Record News in davidfarabee.com (September 16, 2009). Retrieved on November 27, 2009; no longer accessible.
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, Election Returns, November 2, 2010.
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, Election Returns, November 1998.