There are five newly-elected members of the House of Representatives who have strong connections to the poultry industry, Brief biographies of each new member follows:
Doug Collins (R-GA) was born in the heart of poultry country in Gainesville. Collins currently sits in the Georgia State House, attended New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, the North Georgia College and State University, and the John Marshall University Law school. He served in the U.S. Air Force Reserve and the U.S. Naval Reserve. He is a strong believer in Grover Norquist’s ideal of no new taxes and has already taken the “no new taxes” pledge. Collins was assigned to the Judiciary Committee, the Foreign Affairs Committee, and the Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Tom Cotton (R-AR) was also born in a heavy poultry district in Arkansas–Dardanelle–but the family raised cattle. He went to Harvard, Claremont Graduate University, and returned to Harvard for law school. Cotton served two combat tours in the Army in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said he will support policies that support energy producers; opposes a tax on carbon; is against the Environmental Protection Agency’s abusive use of the Clean Air Act to impose a cap-and-trade system to regulate carbon emissions; and favors a much-reduced role for the federal government.
Richard Hudson, Jr (R-NC) was the Republican nominee for North Carolina’s 8th district by finishing first in a five-way primary and winning a runoff with 64 percent of the vote. Hudson worked for his father at an early age in construction and waited tables to put himself through college. He is the owner of Cabarrus Marketing Group, which provides strategic communications consulting and business development services to small businesses. Hudson also has an extensive public service record as he served as the district director for Rep. Robin Hayes (R-NC) for six years and as Hayes’ Chief of Staff in Washington for five years. Hudson was appointed to the Agriculture Committee.
Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) is an eastern Oklahoma native, successful businessman, rancher, family man, and youth leader in his church. He is the youngest of seven children and, when he father fell ill, he took over the family’s small plumbing business at 19 years old. He and his wife, Christie, and six employees grew the business into one the largest service companies in the tri-state area. Mullin went to college on a wrestling scholarship before returning home to run the family business. He is a rodeo and martial arts enthusiast and an avid hunter.
Tom Rice (R-SC) Rice attended the University of South Carolina where he earned a masters degree in accounting and a law degree. He worked for Deloitte & Touche in Charlotte where he earned his CPA certificate. In 1997, he returned to Myrtle Beach to establish his own practice, the Rice & MacDonald Law Firm. Since 2006, he has been included in Best Lawyers in America. Rice says he will use his experience as an accountant and businessman to improve the efficiency of our government and will work to spend fewer taxpayer dollars. He has been married to his wife Wrenzie for 29 years and has three grown sons.
