Jake Ellzey
{{Infobox officeholder
|name=John Kevin "Jake" Ellzey, Sr.
|image=Jake Ellzey of TX.jpg
|office=U. S. Representative for
Texas' 6th congressional district
|term_start=August 2021
|term_end=
|preceded=Ron Wright
|office2=Texas State Representative for District 10
|term_start2=January 12, 2021
|term_end2=August 2021
|preceded2=John Wray
|succeeded2=Pending special election
|birth_date=January 24, 1970
|birth_place=Amarillo, Texas
Reared in Perryton, Ochiltree County, Texas
|death_date=
|death_place =
|party=Republican
|spouse=Shelby Hoebeke Ellzey
|children=John Ellzey, Jr.
|alma_mater=United States Naval Academy
(Bachelor of Science)
|branch=[[United States Navy}}
|serviceyears=1992-2012
|rank=Commander
|battles =Afghanistan War
Iraq War
}}
John Kevin Ellzey, Sr. , known as Jake Ellzey (born January 24, 1970), is the incoming U.S. Representative for Texas's 6th congressional district. He won a special election runoff on July 27, 2021, having defeated Susan Wright, the widow of the preceding Representative Ron Wright, who died at the start of his second term of the coronavirus in February. Ellzey received 20,782 votes (53.2 percent) to Mrs. Wright's 18,232 (46.9 percent).
Former U.S. President Donald Trump endorsed Mrs. Wright. It is unclear if Ellzey is a conservative or a Moderate Republican. He was strongly opposed by the Club for Growth, which urged him to leave the race and endorse Mrs. Wright.[1]
Before his election to Congress, Ellzey was a seven-month member of the Texas House of Representatives for the 10th district. Ellzey increased his congressional vote total from the first round of balloting, in which twenty-three candidates were listed on the ballot, by 9,911 votes. Mrs. Wright's final total was only 3,120 votes ahead of her first ballot finish.[2]
He served in the United States Navy as a fighter pilot with tours in both the Afghanistan War and the Iraq War. After his military service, he became a civilian contractor.[2]
In 1992, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in political science from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.[3] After leaving the Navy, he has been employed as a private pilot and a civilian consultant. He was a social aide in the George W. Bush White House.[4] From 2012 to 2018, Ellzey was a member of the Texas Veterans Commission.[2]
In 2018, Ellzey trailed fellow Republican Ron Wright in the 6th congressional district primary. At the time he was endorsed by The Dallas Morning News.[5]
He won the state representative post for District 10 on November 3, 2020, in the same election in which Ron Wright won a second term which ended in death three months after the election. Ellzey was assigned in the Texas House to the Energy Resources, Licensing and Administrative Procedure, and Local and Consent Calendars committees.[2]
Born in Amarillo and reared in Perryton in Ochiltree County in the far northern Panhandle, Ellzey's residence is now in Waxahachie in Ellis County south of Dallas.[3]
References
- ↑ Jake Ellzey faces mounting opposition from right in TX-6 special election | The Texas Tribune, accessed July 28, 2021.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Jake Ellzey - Ballotpedia, accessdate=July 28, 2021.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Rep. Jake Ellzey - Texas State Directory Online. Retrieved on February 8, 2021.
- ↑ Bill Spinks. Forum set for Texas House candidates. Brownwood (Texas) Bulletin. Retrieved on February 8, 2021.
- ↑ We recommend Jake Ellzey in the GOP primary for 6th Congressional District. The Dallas Morning News (February 8, 2018). Retrieved on July 28, 2021.
