John Ratcliffe

With a Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+25, it is the fifth most Republican district in Texas and is tied for the 13th most Republican in the nation.

John Lee Ratcliffe (born October 20, 1965) is an American politician and attorney who served as the Director of National Intelligence from 2020 to 2021.

He graduated from Carbondale Community High School in Carbondale, Illinois; from the University of Notre Dame in 1987 with a Bachelor of Arts in Government and International Studies; and the Southern Methodist University School of Law (now Dedman School of Law) with a Juris Doctor in 1989.

After graduating from law school, Ratcliffe was a lawyer in private practice.

Ratcliffe was elected to four consecutive two-year terms as mayor of Heath, Texas, a city of about 7,000 people, 25 miles east of downtown Dallas.

Ratcliffe also served as Mayor of Heath, Texas, from 2004 to 2012 and acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas from May 2007 to April 2008.

He served in that position from June 2004 to May 2012.

In 2004, President George W. Bush appointed Ratcliffe to be the Chief of Anti-Terrorism and National Security for the Eastern District of Texas, within the U.S. Department of Justice.

In May 2007, Ratcliffe was named interim U.S. Attorney for the district.

Ratcliffe returned to private law practice when Rebecca Gregory was confirmed by the Senate as the permanent U.S. Attorney for the district in April 2008.

Ratcliffe's campaign website said that, as a federal prosecutor Ratcliffe "personally managed dozens of international and domestic terrorism investigations involving some of the nation’s most sensitive security matters" and "put terrorists in prison."

There is, however, no evidence Ratcliffe ever prosecuted a terrorism case.

Ratcliffe also misrepresented his involvement in the U.S. v. Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing case, claiming “there are individuals that currently sit in prison because I prosecuted them for funneling money to terrorist groups." ABC News reported that there was no evidence in public court records that Ratcliffe was involved in the case, and that former officials and attorneys involved in the case could not recall that Ratcliffe was involved.

Ratcliffe's official House of Representatives biography says that while working as prosecutor for the Eastern District, he "arrested 300 illegal aliens in a single day".

The Washington Post noted in a story about how Ratcliffe embellished his record that Ratcliffe played a supporting role in an effort to bust illegal immigrants and that his office arrested only 45 individuals suspected of being illegal immigrants (including two who turned out to be American citizens).

Officials involved in the immigration enforcement dispute that Ratcliffe played a central role in the raid.

In 2009, Ratcliffe became a partner with former Attorney General John Ashcroft in the law firm Ashcroft, Sutton, Ratcliffe.

In 2012, Ratcliffe was part of a transition team, established before that year's general election by Republican candidate Mitt Romney, to vet potential Presidential appointees.

In late 2013, Ratcliffe announced that he would run in the Republican primary against 17-term incumbent Congressman Ralph Hall of the 4th district.

At 91, Hall was the oldest member of Congress and the oldest person ever to serve in the House of Representatives.

The Dallas Morning News said that Ratcliffe was Hall's "most serious political challenge in years."

No Democrat even filed, meaning that whoever won the primary would be all but assured of victory in November.

In a primary campaign during which Hall had begun to look increasingly vulnerable, Ratcliffe received the endorsement of the Dallas Morning News, which applauded Hall's long record of public service but cited Ratcliffe's "impressive credentials" and the need for "new ideas and fresh energy."

In the March 4 primary, Ratcliffe finished second with 29 percent of the vote, behind Hall's 45 percent.

Because Hall came up short of a majority, a runoff election was required.

For the May 27 runoff, Ratcliffe was endorsed by the Tea Party Express, the Senate Conservatives Fund, and the Club for Growth.

Hall was endorsed by the NRA Political Victory Fund, former Congressman Ron Paul, former Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.

Ratcliffe defeated Hall with 53 percent of the vote, the first time in twenty years that a sitting Republican congressman in Texas had been ousted in a primary.

Ratcliffe was one of four candidates to defeat a sitting incumbent U.S. representative in a primary election in 2014.

In the November 2014 general election, Ratcliffe ran unopposed.

He previously served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 4th district from 2015 to 2020.

During his time in Congress, Ratcliffe was regarded as one of the most conservative members.

On March 1, 2016, Ratcliffe easily defeated two challengers in the Republican primary, getting 68 percent of the vote, 47 percentage points ahead of the second-place finisher.

President Donald Trump announced on July 28, 2019 that he intended to nominate Ratcliffe to replace Dan Coats as Director of National Intelligence.

Ratcliffe withdrew after Republican senators raised concerns about him, former intelligence officials said he might politicize intelligence, and media revealed Ratcliffe's embellishments regarding his prosecutorial experience in terrorism and immigration cases.

On February 28, 2020, President Trump announced that he would again nominate Ratcliffe to be Director of National Intelligence, and after Senate approval, he resigned from the House, and was sworn in on May 26.

At his confirmation hearing, amid concerns that Ratcliffe would politicize the DNI, Ratcliffe pledged to be apolitical.

However, during his tenure as DNI, Ratcliffe was regarded as using the position to score political points for Trump.

Ratcliffe made public assertions that contradicted the intelligence community's own assessments, and sidelined career officials in the intelligence community.

Born in Mount Prospect, Illinois, northwest of Chicago, Ratcliffe was the youngest of six children; both of his parents were teachers.