Dan Crenshaw

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

He is a member of the Republican Party.

Crenshaw was commissioned in the United States 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

He medically retired from military service in 2016 with the rank of lieutenant commander.

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.

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 announced his candidacy in November 2017.

Crenshaw credited national security analyst John Noonan for encouraging him to run for Congress.

He served as a legislative assistant to Representative Pete Sessions, and was elected to Congress in the 2018 midterm election to succeed the retiring Ted Poe.

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 2018, Crenshaw ran for the United States House of Representatives in TX'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.

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.

On the November 3 episode of Saturday Night Live, comedian Pete Davidson joked about the appearances of multiple candidates in the 2018 midterm elections and described Crenshaw as looking like a "hit man in a porno movie" while adding that he lost his eye in "war or whatever".

The joke received widespread criticism and on the following episode, Davidson and Crenshaw appeared on air together.

Davidson offered an apology, which Crenshaw accepted.

Crenshaw also used the segment to advocate for veterans' issues.