Rep. Beth Van Duyne announced last week that she is planning to campaign for the role of vice chair of the Congressional House Republican Conference.
Shortly after the U.S. House of Representatives elected Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) as the new speaker, Van Duyne (R-TX) began distributing a letter declaring her candidacy for Johnson’s newly vacated role.
Van Duyne wrote in the letter that her life experiences would make her an excellent candidate for the position and that the Republican Conference “has solutions to counter Biden’s harmful policies.”
“I hope to use my hard-fought experiences and my professional background to bring a perspective that expands our reach and helps empower more Americans to understand there are better, more prosperous ways to live their lives than what is offered by the Democrats,” she wrote in the letter.
One experience Van Duyne discussed was the time she spent homeless as a child and the strength it gave her to eventually support her family.
“But what you may not know is that I’ve been a fighter my whole life — I was a homeless teen who paid my own way through college (ultimately paying off student debt) before becoming a young mother who fought insurance companies and bureaucratic red tape to get my daughter the surgeries she needed,” wrote Van Duyne in the letter.
Van Duyne has already received support from some other members of Congress. Rep. John Carter (R-TX) wrote in a social media post that she is a “battle-tested leader, a skilled communicator, and a rock-ribbed conservative who fights every day for our American values.”
“With extensive experience as a communications professional, Beth won in a Biden district because of her winning messaging and has proven herself as a strong voice for our Conference’s priorities,” wrote Carter in an attached letter.
“She offers a background and approach that will expand our reach and show Americans how our policies will take America on a better, brighter path. Beth understands our concerns and will be a champion for not only our shared objectives but also for our individual members’ unique needs,” he wrote.
Van Duyne previously served as a member of Irving City Council from 2004 to 2010 before serving as mayor of Irving from 2011 to 2017.
Following her decision not to run for a third mayoral term, Van Duyne worked under former President Donald Trump as the regional administrator for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s southwest region.
In 2020, Van Duyne was elected to Congress after narrowly defeating Democratic candidate Candace Valenzuela.
