John Cyrier
John Patrick Cyrier is a businessman from Lockhart, Texas, who is a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 17, which encompasses his own Caldwell County as well as Bastrop, Gonzales, Lee, and Karnes counties in the south central portion of his state. On February 17, 2015, Cyrier won a special election to fill the House seat vacated by Republican Tim Kleinschmidt of Lexington in Lee County, who became general counsel to the Texas Department of Agriculture in Austin under commissioner Sid Miller.Biography
In 1995, Cyrier graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering technology from Texas A&M University in College Station, at which he was commander of the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band. In 2008, Cyrier founded Sabre Commercial, Inc., of which he is the chief executive officer. He is active in the Austin chapter of the trade association, the Associated General Contractors of America. Cyrier is also a rancher and a member of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association in Fort Worth, the Texas Longhorn Breeders Association, and the Texas Farm Bureau. He is affiliated with the Chamber of Commerce, the National Rifle Association, and the Texas State Rifle Association.
Prior to his legislative service, Cyrier was a Republican precinct chairman and one of the four elected commissioners of Caldwell County. In that capacity, he participated in emergency and recovery efforts for the 2011 Texas wildfires, which particularly impacted Caldwell and Bastrop counties. A pilot, Cyrier coordinated aerial observation and personally flew the emergency management team and fire chief over the fires. He helped to raise $350,000 for fire recovery and worked to generate more than $1 million in funding for Bastrop County. He is a member of the San Marcos Airport Commission in Hays County.
Cyrier won the House race in a low-turnout contest with 4,139 votes over his fellow Republican, Brent Donald Golemon, who polled 3,821. A key issue in the race had been the sale of water from the district to the capital city of Austin; Golemon strongly opposed such sales.
On April 21, 2015, Representative Cyrier voted with a House majority, 95-49, for legislation to require that elected officials investigated for ethics violations be tried in their home counties. The measure would strip power from the district attorney of Travis County, who has long held such prosecutorial authority over political officials.
Cyrier is a first lieutenant in the Texas State Guard.
In the general election held on November 6, 2018, Cyrier won his third term with 33,462 votes to 20,033 for Democrat Michelle Ryan.
