Dan Crenshaw facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Dan Crenshaw
Official portrait, 2024
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 2nd district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2019
Preceded by	Ted Poe
Personal details
Born	Daniel Reed Crenshaw (1984-03-14) March 14, 1984 (age 40) Aberdeen, United Kingdom
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Tara Blake ​ (m. 2013)​
Children	Susan Crenshaw (daughter)
Education	Tufts University (BA) Harvard University (MPA)
Signature
Military service
Branch/service	United States Navy
Years of service	2006–2016
Rank	Lieutenant commander
Unit	Naval Special Warfare Group 1 SEAL Team 3
Battles/wars	Iraq War War in Afghanistan (WIA)
Awards	Purple Heart Bronze Star (2) Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with valor

Daniel Reed Crenshaw (born March 14, 1984) is an American politician and former United States Navy SEAL officer serving as the U.S. representative for Texas's 2nd congressional district since 2019. He is a member of the Republican Party.

Crenshaw was a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy, and served on SEAL Team 3 in the War in Afghanistan, reaching the rank of lieutenant commander. He was wounded in action during his third deployment, losing his right eye to an improvised explosive device. He served as a legislative assistant to Representative Pete Sessions, and was elected to Congress in 2018.

Early life and education

Born to American parents in Aberdeen, Scotland, Crenshaw grew up in Katy, Texas. His mother died of cancer when he was ten years old. His father, Jim Crenshaw, is a petroleum engineer who worked abroad, and Crenshaw spent time growing up in Ecuador and Colombia, developing proficiency in Spanish. In 2002, he graduated from Colegio Nueva Granada in Bogotá, Colombia.

After high school, Crenshaw returned to the United States and attended Tufts University, graduating in 2006 with a Bachelor of Arts in international relations and a minor in physics. After a decade of military service, he studied public administration at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, receiving a Master of Public Administration in 2017. He worked as a military legislative assistant for U.S. Representative Pete Sessions.

Military service

While at Tufts, Crenshaw joined the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps and received an officer's commission in the U.S. Navy after graduation. He received orders to Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training (BUD/S) at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado. After six months of training, Crenshaw graduated with BUD/S class 264. He completed SEAL qualification training in June 2008 and received the 1130 designator as a Naval Special Warfare Officer, entitled to wear the Special Warfare Insignia. Crenshaw served for ten years and five tours of duty, reaching the rank of lieutenant commander. His first deployment was to Fallujah, Iraq, where he joined SEAL Team Three. He was based out of Naval Amphibious Base Coronado in Coronado, California.

As a Navy SEAL, Crenshaw was awarded two Bronze Star Medals, one with "V" device, the Purple Heart, and the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with valor. He medically retired from military service in 2016 with the rank of lieutenant commander.

Crenshaw lost his right eye in 2012 during his third deployment when he was hit by an IED explosion in Afghanistan's Helmand Province. The blast destroyed his eye, and he required surgery to save the vision in his left eye. He remained in the Navy for four years after the injury, and served his fourth and fifth tours of duty in Bahrain and South Korea.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2018

In 2018, Crenshaw ran for the United States House of Representatives in Texas's 2nd congressional district, which includes northern and western Houston, including Kingwood, Humble, Atascocita, Spring, and the Rice University area, to succeed the retiring Ted Poe. He announced his candidacy in November 2017. Crenshaw credited national security analyst John Noonan for encouraging him to run for Congress. In a February 2018 interview, he said that border security and immigration reform would be two of his campaign issues.

Crenshaw and Kevin Roberts advanced from the nine-candidate first round of the Republican primary election to face each other in a runoff election; Crenshaw received 155 votes more than Kathaleen Wall, a candidate backed by Senator Ted Cruz and Governor Greg Abbott. The lead-up to the runoff election was contentious. A super PAC funded by Roberts' brother-in-law, Mark Lanier, focused on Crenshaw's 2015 criticisms of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, despite Roberts having also been critical of Trump in the past. The ads also compared Crenshaw's policy proposals to those of President Barack Obama and Senator Bernie Sanders. Gaining the endorsement of Senator Tom Cotton, Crenshaw received national attention, appearing in print and television, including on Laura Ingraham's show on Fox Business.

Crenshaw won the runoff to advance to the November general election. On November 6, he defeated Democratic nominee Todd Litton, 52.8% to 45.6%. After the election, Crenshaw called for the depoliticization of comedy and sports and expressed a desire that political rhetoric be toned down.

2020

Crenshaw was reelected in 2020, defeating Democratic nominee Sima Ladjevardian from Houston, Texas with 55.6% of the vote to Ladjevardian's 42.8%. During the campaign, he spent over $11 million through October 16, 2020, making it one of the most expensive Congressional races in the country.

2022

Crenshaw was reelected in 2022, defeating Democratic nominee Robin Fulford by 66% to 34%.

2024

Crenshaw was reelected in 2024, defeating Democratic nominee Peter Filler.

Tenure

Crenshaw meeting with Sonny Perdue and John Cornyn in 2020

Crenshaw spoke at the 2020 Republican National Convention on August 26, 2020.

In March 2021, The Daily Beast reported that Crenshaw had violated the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act of 2012, a federal transparency and conflict-of-interest law, by failing to properly disclose stock trades that he made in March 2020.

Crenshaw is publicly critical of the Freedom Caucus, whom he regards as divisive "performance artists" for constantly attacking moderate Republicans.

Committee assignment

• Committee on Energy and Commerce
  • Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change
  • Subcommittee on Health

Previous assignments:

• Committee on the Budget'
• Committee on Homeland Security'
  • Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response and Recovery
  • Subcommittee on Oversight, Management and Accountability (Ranking Member)

Caucus membership

• Republican Study Committee

Political positions

Gun rights

Crenshaw opposes gun control measures, including bans on semi-automatic firearms.

In 2020 and 2022, Crenshaw received an "A" rating and endorsement from the NRA Political Victory Fund.

COVID-19 pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Crenshaw said that Democrats and the media were exaggerating the threat. He was a high-profile defender of Trump's response to the pandemic. He did not wear face masks consistently in settings advised by health experts and mandated by Governor Greg Abbott.

Crenshaw argued that FDA regulations impeded the development of COVID-19 tests.

Healthcare

Crenshaw favors repealing the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), describing it as an "unmitigated disaster". During his 2018 campaign, he advocated allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, becoming one of a handful of Republicans to endorse what was primarily a progressive idea. By 2019, however, Crenshaw had retreated from this position.

On May 24, 2019, Crenshaw co-sponsored a bill to extend time limits for claims under the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund Act.

Crenshaw with President Donald Trump in December 2019

Election reform

In 2019, Crenshaw voiced opposition to the For the People Act of 2019, saying it would "limit free speech drastically". He also said the bill would use taxpayer money to "legalize" the kind of electoral fraud that he alleges occurred on the Republican side in the 2018 election for North Carolina's District 9. PolitiFact rated Crenshaw's assertion about the North Carolina race "false", adding, "nothing in the bill that expands who can collect absentee ballots, allows people to fill out ballots for others, or loosens witnessing procedures for absentee ballots", as happened in that election. Crenshaw argued that the bill did not include a federal ban on ballot harvesting, and supported the American Civil Liberties Union's opposition to it over new campaign contribution revisions.

Environment

Crenshaw speaking at an environmental event in June 2022

During Crenshaw's 2018 campaign, his website made brief mention of global warming, applauding Trump for withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accords. Crenshaw called the agreement "costly and meaningless", virtue signaling, and bad policy. He also said, "We must use our money to develop better infrastructure." In 2018, Crenshaw called for a debate on the causes of climate change, adding, "We can't start off the conversation saying the climate is settled. The right way to have this conversation is to actually listen to what the science says on both sides."

In 2019, Crenshaw said, "climate change is occurring and that man-made emissions play a part in that. What isn't clear is how our actions will serve to reverse that warming trend, and what the cost-benefit outcome would be. Regardless, we should continue pursuing new green energy solutions that lessen our impact on the environment and create cleaner air and water." In 2020, he criticized solar and wind energy as "silly solutions" that "don't work," and instead advocated expanding nuclear energy and carbon capture technology.

During the 2021 Texas power crisis, Crenshaw argued that the Green New Deal would lead to similar crises.

Immigration

In 2016, Crenshaw harshly criticized then-candidate Trump's "insane rhetoric" toward Muslims and "hateful" speech. During Crenshaw's 2018 campaign, he defended Trump's proposal to build a border wall on the Mexico–United States border. In a May 2019 appearance on The View, he claimed that 80%–90% of asylum seeker requests "don't have a valid asylum claim"; news outlet PolitiFact called the claim "false", writing that although only 20% to 30% of asylum claims are granted, "experts said there are many reasons why cases might be closed or requests might be denied, regardless of the merits of a claim." In 2021, Crenshaw accused the Biden administration of provoking a crisis on the southern border by having a moratorium on deportations and reversing Trump's policies on asylum and illegal immigration.

Crenshaw supports enforcing physical barriers and implementing technology at the southern border to prevent illegal immigration. He has also expressed a belief that people who try to enter the U.S. illegally "aren't bad people" but "they are breaking the law, and they're contributing to an unsustainable system" and are "cutting in front of the line of all the legal immigrants."

Crenshaw voted for the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020, which authorizes DHS to nearly double the available H-2B visas for the remainder of FY 2020. He also voted for the Consolidated Appropriations Act (H.R. 1158), which effectively prohibits ICE from cooperating with Health and Human Services to detain or remove illegal alien sponsors of unaccompanied alien children (UACs).

Social issues

Crenshaw opposes federal funding to "subsidize college in general", but supports it in cases of vocational training. He opposes cancel culture, and athletes kneeling during the national anthem. He called Senator Tammy Duckworth unpatriotic for wanting a discussion on which statues to remove, including those of George Washington.

Electoral history

2018

2020

2022

Personal life

Crenshaw married Tara Blake in 2013. He is a Methodist and hosts Hold These Truths, a podcast he launched in February 2020. They have one daughter, Susan Crenshaw, born on September 12, 2023, named after his late mother.

In April 2021, Crenshaw suffered a detached retina in his functional left eye, undergoing emergency surgery. As he recovered, he expected to be virtually blind for about a month. He said, "I don't have a 'good eye,' but half a good eye."

Awards and recognition

In 2020, Fortune magazine included Crenshaw in its 40 Under 40 in the "Government and Politics" category, writing that he "wears his service to his country on his face."

Works

• Dan Crenshaw (2020). Fortitude: American Resilience in the Era of Outrage. New York: Twelve. ISBN: 978-1-5387-3330-1. The National Republican Congressional Committee purchased nearly $400,000 worth of copies of the book.

See also

In Spanish: Dan Crenshaw para niños