David Rouzer


David Cheston Rouzer is an American politician who is currently the U.S. Representative for North Carolina's 7th congressional district. Previously he was a Republican member of the North Carolina General Assembly representing constituents in Johnston County and Wayne County in the 12th district of the North Carolina Senate.

Early life, education, and business career

Rouzer was born in Landstuhl Army Medical Center in Landstuhl, West Germany, where his father was based, in 1972. Rouzer was raised in Durham, North Carolina, where he attended Northern High School.
Rouzer attended North Carolina State University, where he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity. In 1994, Rouzer earned a bachelor of arts degree in agricultural business management, agricultural economics, and chemistry. Rouzer is also a graduate of the Fund for American Studies' Institutes on Business and Government Affairs and American Economic and Political Systems.
Rouzer has been a small business owner of The Rouzer Company and the Warehouse Distribution. From 2001 to 2002, he was assistant to the dean at the North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. From 2005 to 2006, he was an associate-rural administrator for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Early political career

From 1996 to 2001, Rouzer was a legislative aid and Senior Policy Adviser for U.S. Senators Jesse Helms and Elizabeth Dole. In 2000, he ran for North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture and lost the Republican primary.

North Carolina Senate

Elections

In 2008, incumbent Republican State Senator Fred Smith decided to retire in order to run for Governor of North Carolina. Rouzer decided to run and defeated Nena Reeves in the Republican primary 68%–32%. In the general election, he defeated Kay Carroll 52%–48%. In 2010, he won re-election with 70% of the vote.

Issues

Rouzer receives a majority of his funding from agribusiness, receiving more than $289,000 from this sector in the 2012 congressional elections.
He worked on strengthening laws allowing youths to obtain a drivers license. He is also a proponent for the "sea-level rise" legislation in 2012 that sought to mandate that only historical data be used to predict future trends.
He favors repealing the 2010 health care reform law. In the 2012 election he released a TV ad in which his grandmother promises that the candidate would not cut Medicare if elected. Rouzer believes immigrants should be fluent in English before being granted U.S. citizenship. He is pro-life.

Tenure

In his four years, he has sponsored 17 bills that have become signed into law.

Committee assignments

;Standing/Select Committees
;Non-Standing Committee
Rouzer is a member of the Republican Study Committee.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2012 congressional election
After Republican-controlled redistricting, he decided to give up his state senate seat to run in the newly redrawn North Carolina's 7th congressional district and challenge incumbent Democratic U.S. Congressman Mike McIntyre. His home in Johnston County had been drawn into the district; it had previously been in the 2nd District.
In the Republican primary, Rouzer defeated both 2010 nominee Ilario Pantano and Randy Crow, but won just four of the district's twelve counties: Johnston, Sampson, Lenoir, and Hoke. However, his margin in Johnston County, the second-largest county in the reconfigured district, was enough for him to win.
The redrawn 7th is much more conservative and Republican than its predecessor. Roll Call rates the election as leans Republican.
After an official tabulation showed that Rouzer had lost the election to McIntyre by 655 votes, Rouzer asked for a recount on November 21, 2012. After the recount, Rouzer conceded the race to McIntyre on November 28. It was the closest House race in the country. Mitt Romney carried the district with 56 percent of the vote.
2014 congressional election
Rouzer ran for the 7th district again in 2014. McIntyre retired rather than face a rematch. Most pundits believed that with McIntyre's retirement, the seat would be an easy GOP pickup. Even before his near-miss in 2012, the 7th had been trending Republican for some time.
Rouzer won the general election with almost 60% of the vote. Upon taking office in January 2015, he became only the second Republican to represent a significant portion of eastern North Carolina in the House since Reconstruction.
2016 congressional election
After court-ordered redistricting, Rouzer's district was made slightly more compact. It lost most of its share of Johnston County and was pushed slightly to the east, picking up all of Wilmington–long the district's largest city–as well as Goldsboro. Rouzer was unopposed for the Republican nomination and went on to handily defeat Democrat J. Wesley Casteen in the General Election with 60.9% of the vote.
2018 congressional election
Rouzer won a third term to Congress with 55.5 percent of the vote over Democratic candidate Kyle Horton and Constitution Party nominee David Fallin, his narrowest margin of victory so far. Ahead of the election, he sold his home in Benson and bought a home in Wilmington, saying it was "a reflection of where I spend the vast majority of my time."

Tenure

Rouzer was sworn into office on January 3, 2015 for the 114th Congress. As of May 2019, he had sponsored 24 pieces of legislation during his tenure, of which 2 became public law.
He also co-authored a provision to the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act which gave authority to the United States Secretary of the Interior to designate a World War II Heritage city each year. The provision entered into effect when the legislation was signed into law by President Donald Trump in 2019. Wilmington was expected among the first designated Heritage Cities.

Committee assignments

In the 116th Congress Rouzer serves on the following committees: