Lynn Westmoreland
 |
Lynn Westmoreland |
Lynn Westmoreland (born
April 2,
1950), a politician from the
U.S. state of
Georgia, was elected in
2004 to the
U.S. House of Representatives as a
Republican representing the state's 8th Congressional district (
map). He was born in
Atlanta, Georgia, but calls
Grantville, Georgia his home. He is married to Joan Westmoreland and has three children and five grandchildren.
Prior to his election to the
United States Congress, Westmoreland owned a construction company and worked as a real estate developer. He also served in the
Georgia House of Representatives beginning in
1993 and began serving as the House Republican Leader in
2001, until he resigned from that position to pursue his Congressional campaign in late
2003. He continued to serve in the Georgia House until his election to the U.S. House in
2004.
During his first term in the 109th Congress, Westmoreland was appointed to the
U.S. House Committee on Small Business,
U.S. House Committee on Government Reform, and the
U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. The congressman co-sponsored a bill to place the
Ten Commandments in the House of Representatives and the Senate. Westmoreland also sponsored a bill that the
Ten Commandments could be displayed in courthouses in a historical setting. [
1]
Westmoreland appeared on the
Better Know a District segment of
The Colbert Report on
June 14,
2006.
Stephen Colbert noted the fact that the congressman has co-sponsored a bill to place the
Ten Commandments in the House of Representatives and the Senate. When asked to name all the commandments he was only able to remember three; one, "don't lie," was only partially correct (the Ninth Commandment is an injunction against "bearing false witness against your neighbor," not lying per se).[
2] Westmoreland's press secretary claims Westmoreland actually got up to about seven of the Ten Commandments before petering out, but that part was edited out. Said the secretary, "I challenge anybody outside of the clergy to try to (name them all)." [
3]
Westmoreland won the plurality of votes in his Republican primary election in
2004, but faced fellow Republican
Dylan Glenn in a runoff. Westmoreland received 55.5% of the vote in the runoff, before going on to receive 75.6% of the vote in the general election against
Democrat Silvia Delamar. While in Congress, he is one of only two members that has not introduced a single piece of legislation.
During his time as the Republican Leader in the Georgia House, he led the fight against redistricting by the Democratic majority in 2001, and then was instrumental in the re-redistricting that took place in Georgia in
2005 after Republicans won control of the Georgia legislature in the 2004 elections.[
4]
In
2005, Westmoreland received criticism for spreading a memo to fellow House members which consisted of auto-industry talking points, verbatim, even using the same font as the auto-industry document. An aide defended him, saying, "such behavior is standard practice." [
5]
In 2006, he led the fight against extending the
Voting Rights Act for minorities.
It has been widely speculated that Westmoreland will run for
Governor of Georgia in 2010.
*
record maintained by the Washington Post
