Jonathan Stickland

Jonathan Spence Stickland (born September 4, 1983) is an American politician from Texas.

In a 2008 post, Strickland condoned marital rape (in response to another user's request for advice on sex, Strickland wrote: "Rape is non existent in marriage, take what you want my friend!"); in other poses, Strickland referred to his marijuana use (in 2001, Strickland sought a "smoking buddy"; in 2002 he asked for advice on how to grow marijuana; in 2008, he asked for advice on how to pass an employer's drug test).

Fisher carried the backing of former Governor Rick Perry, who in 2008 appointed Fisher to the Texas Youth Commission.

Stickland defeated Fisher in the primary election with 58% of the vote.

When the incumbent Republican Representative Todd Smith did not seek reelection in 2012, Stickland defeated Roger Fisher, 6,332 votes (60.2 percent) to 4,190 (39.8 percent) in the Republican primary election held on May 29, 2012.

In the general election on November 6, 2012, in conjunction with the U.S. presidential race, Stickland faced no Democratic opponent and defeated the Libertarian Party nominee, Sean D.. Fatzinger of Fort Worth, 37,084 votes (80.7 percent) to 8,884 (19.3 percent).

A member of the Republican Party, he was a member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 92 for four terms, from 2013 to 2021.

The district includes a portion of Tarrant County in suburban Fort Worth.

He was also a member of the Special Purpose Districts Committee in the 83rd (2013) and 84th sessions (2015) sessions.

An anti-abortion legislator, Stickland supported in 2013 the ban on abortion after twenty weeks of gestation; the measure passed the House, 96–49.

He co-sponsored companion legislation to increase medical and licensing requirements of abortion providers, a law that the opponents claim could shut down many abortion clinics.

These issues instigated a filibuster in the Texas State Senate by Wendy R. Davis of Fort Worth.

The Texas Right to Life Committee rated Stickland 78 percent favorable, presenting him with a "Former Fetus" wall plaque which was briefly displayed on the wall outside Stickland's office at the Capitol building.

Stickland voted against the legislation to establish a taxpayer-funded breakfast program for public schools; the measure passed the House, 73–58.

He co-sponsored legislation to provide marshals for school security as a separate law-enforcement entity.

He voted for the extension of the franchise tax exemption to certain businesses, which passed the House 117–24.

He voted against the adoption of the biennial 2013 state budget.

He voted to require testing for narcotics of those individuals receiving unemployment compensation.

Stickland voted against a bill relating to unlawful employment practices regarding discrimination in payment of compensation, which nevertheless passed the House, 78–61.

Stickland co-sponsored the measure to forbid the state from engaging in the enforcement of federal regulations of firearms.

He also co-sponsored legislation to permit college and university officials to carry concealed weapons.

He voted to reduce the time required to obtain a concealed-carry permit in Texas.

He backed the redistricting bills for the state House and Senate and the United States House of Representatives.

Stickland voted for term limits for certain state officials.

He voted for legislation to forbid one individual from turning in multiple ballots.

In the Republican primary election held on March 4, 2014, Stickland defeated challenger Andy Cargile, a retired principal and school district trustee, earning 7,612 votes (65 percent) to Cargile's 4,102 votes (35 percent).

In 2015, the political newsletter Quorum Report published online posts on a fantasy sports forum made by Stickland in 2001 and 2008 given to them by his Republican primary opponent, Scott Fisher.

The comments became an issue during Strickland's 2016 campaign for reelection to the state House.

Strickland apologized for his remarks; he said in college "I wasted much of life, said and did things I wish I hadn't" and that "by the Grace of God my past sins are forgiven."

In the Republican primary on March 1, 2016, Stickland faced opposition in his bid for a third term from Scott Weston Fisher, the senior pastor since 2000 of the Metroplex Chapel in Euless, Texas.

He was a member of the Business and Industry Committee in the 85th session (2017) and a member of the Land and Resource Management Committee in the 86th session.

In 2017, Stickland offered an unsuccessful amendment to prohibit state aid to the abatement of feral hogs.

In retaliation for Stickland's amendment, his Republican colleague, Drew Springer, Jr., of Muenster, backed by Speaker Joe Straus of San Antonio, obtained passage of another amendment to defund $900,000 from the Texas Department of Transportation earmarked for Stickland's hometown of Bedford.

Strickland was one of the most prominent Republican state House members who designated themselves the "Freedom Caucus" (a right-wing grouping aligned with the Tea Party movement).

The group was founded at the beginning of the 2017 session.

In May 2017, along with fellow caucus members, he engaged in an effort to block legislative priorities of House speaker Joe Straus through parliamentary obstruction tactics; the group used a legislative procedure called "chubbing" to kill more than 100 bills on the House calendar, in what became known as the "Mother's Day Massacre."

Stickland retained his state House seat in the November 2018 general election, by a narrow margin.

With 29,755 votes (49.82 percent), he defeated his Democratic opponent, Steve Riddell, who polled 28,327 votes (47.43 percent); Libertarian Party nominee Eric P. Espinoza, received 1,644 votes (2.75 percent).

For all of his four terms in the state House, Stickland was a member of the County Affairs Committee.

He did not seek re-election in 2020.