Pete Olson

Peter Graham Olson (born December 9, 1962) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for TX's 22nd congressional district from 2009 to 2021.

His district included much of southern Houston, as well as most of the city's southwestern suburbs such as Katy, Pearland, and Sugar Land.

He is a member of the Republican Party.

Peter Graham Olson was born in 1962 in Fort Lewis, Washington.

In 1972, Olson moved with his family to Seabrook, Texas, a suburb of Houston, where he attended public schools, graduating from Clear Lake High School in 1981.

Olson attended college at Rice University, where he played college basketball his freshman year; he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in computer science in 1985.

He subsequently attended law school at the University of Texas at Austin, receiving his J.D. and being admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 1988.

He joined the United States Navy after graduating from law school and earned his Naval Aviator wings in March 1991.

After earning his wings as a P-3C Orion pilot, post-Gulf War, he flew missions over the Persian Gulf, the Indian Ocean, and the Pacific.

In 1994, he was assigned as a Naval liaison to the United States Senate, during which time he assisted Republican U.S. Senator Phil Gramm on several overseas trips.

He served in the U.S. Navy for nine years.

After leaving active military duty, he joined Senator Gramm's staff in 1998.

After Gramm's retirement from the Senate in 2002, Olson served as chief of staff to Gramm's successor, U.S. Senator and former Texas Attorney General John Cornyn, from December 2002 until May 2007.

U.S. President George W. Bush carried the 22nd with 64% of the vote in 2004.

Due to the unusual circumstances in District 22, the race attracted national attention.

Democratic candidate Nick Lampson won in 2006 when the 11-term Republican incumbent, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, was indicted.

DeLay's resignation came too late for another Republican to replace him on the ballot, so Lampson defeated a Republican running as a write-in candidate.

In 2007, Stuart Rothenberg called the district "arguably the best Republican takeover opportunity in the country".

In 2007, Olson announced he would run for the Republican nomination in the 22nd District.

He was one of 10 Republicans in the field.

Also running were Sekula-Gibbs, former Pasadena, Texas, mayor John Manlove, former Sugar Land mayor Dean Hrbacek, State Representative Robert Talton, Senior District Judge Jim Squier, Texas State Board of Education member Cynthia Dunbar, and three minor candidates.

Sekula-Gibbs won the first round with 30%.

Olson finished second, with 21%.

As Sekula-Gibbs finished well short of the majority needed to win the nomination outright, Olson and Sekula-Gibbs advanced to a runoff in April.

Sekula-Gibbs criticized Olson as "a Washington insider ... [who] moved here just six months ago to run."

Nevertheless, 12 of Texas' 19 Republican congressmen endorsed Olson in the primary.

Olson won the April 8 runoff in a rout with 69 percent of the vote to Sekula-Gibbs' 31 percent.

Olson faced Lampson in the general election, and John Wieder, the Libertarian Party candidate.

Many election experts considered the race one of the best opportunities for the Republicans to pick up a Democratic seat.

Olson defeated incumbent Democratic Representative Nick Lampson in the general election on November 4, 2008.

Olson received 53% of the vote and Lampson received 45%.

Olson won the Republican nomination by defeating former Congresswoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs in the April 8, 2008, run-off election.

An October 22, 2008, poll by John Zogby and The Houston Chronicle stated that Olson had a 17-point lead over Lampson.

On October 30, 2008, Larry Sabato predicted in the Crystal Ball that Olson's congressional race would be a race that would be a "Republican Pick Up."

Lampson was considered the most vulnerable Democratic incumbent in the House because of the heavily Republican tilt of the district.

With a Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+15, it was the fourth most Republican district in the nation to be represented by a Democratic representative.

After Olson was nominated, the Electoral-vote.com website identified his campaign as "probably the GOP's best pickup opportunity for 2008."

The Hill, a leading Washington, D.C., political newspaper, opined that Olson's victory over Sekula Gibbs has set "up one of the top House races in the country in a conservative Houston district."

On July 25, 2019, Olson announced that he would retire at the end of his term.

He was succeeded by fellow Republican Troy Nehls.