Randy Forbes

James Randy Forbes (born February 17, 1952) is an American politician.

Forbes graduated first in his class from Randolph-Macon College in 1974.

He received his Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1977.

Forbes worked in private practice for Kaufman & Canoles PC.

Forbes served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1989 to 1997 and the Virginia State Senate from 1997 to 2001.

He also served as chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia from 1996 to 2001.

A member of the Republican Party, he was the U.S. representative for VA's 4th congressional district, serving from 2001 to 2017.

Prior to joining the United States Congress, he was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, Virginia State Senate, and Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia.

Forbes formerly served as Chairman of the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee.

During the Donald Trump administration, Forbes was reviewed as a prospective choice for Secretary of the Navy.

He was first elected to the House in 2001 to fill a vacancy caused by the death of ten-term Democratic Congressman Norman Sisisky; defeating Democratic State Senator Louise Lucas 52–48%.

After the 4th district was reconfigured as part of redistricting, he ran unopposed by Democrats in 2002 and 2006.

In 2004, he faced Jonathan R. Menefee, and won with 65% of the vote.

Forbes founded the Congressional Prayer Caucus in 2005 and co-chaired the caucus with Senator James Lankford.

Forbes was formerly Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee's Seapower and Projection Forces subcommittee.

He faced Wynne LeGrow in the 2010 election, and was easily re-elected with 62% of the vote.

In 2012, he defeated Chesapeake City Councilwoman Ella Ward with 57% of the vote.

Forbes was the founder and chairman of the Congressional Prayer Caucus and the Congressional China Caucus.

He championed a plan to rebuild the Navy to 350 ships as chairman of the House Seapower Subcommittee.

Forbes spoke a panel discussion at Harvard University in the April 2012 on U.S. strategy to China's world power emergence.

Forbes has voiced concern for Chinese military ambition, cyber threats, contaminated exports, and human rights violations.

In 2013, Forbes publicly opposed military action in both Libya and Syria.

In 2014, he promised to promote President Obama's call for funds for action in Syria.

In 2014, Forbes voted to address cuts imposed by sequestration with a $1.4 billion cut to operations, maintenance, and training funds, rather than mothballing 11 cruisers and three amphibious warships.

Forbes was founder and chairman of the Congressional China Caucus.

Forbes campaigned for Trump in the 2016 presidential election.

Forbes was passed over twice for the first-round and second round nominations of Secretary of the Navy.

On February 8, 2016, he announced that he would run for election to Virginia's 2nd Congressional District in November 2016 after a court-ordered redistricting saw the 4th absorb most of the majority-black areas around Richmond.

The new map turned the 4th from a Republican-leaning swing district into a strongly Democratic district.

He did so while at the same time announcing that he would continue to live in Chesapeake, which remained in the 4th; members of the House are only constitutionally required to live in the state they represent.

Forbes stated that his seniority gave him a chance to become the first Virginian to chair the House Armed Services Committee.

The 2nd District was being vacated by fellow Republican Scott Rigell.

Forbes accused state Delegate and former U.S. Navy SEAL, Scott Taylor, of criminal activity for speeding violations and missing a court appearance, including a scheduled hearing when Taylor was deployed with the Navy.

On June 14, 2016, Forbes was defeated in the Republican primary by Scott Taylor by a margin of 52.5% to 40.6%, with a third candidate, C. Pat Cardwell IV, receiving 6.8% of the vote.

Taylor went on to win the general election on November 8, 2016.

Forbes received $801,606 in campaign financing from donors in the defense industry during his tenure in Congress.

The largest donors to Forbes over his Congressional career have been defense contractors serving the U.S. Navy for aviation and ship construction, including Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems, Leidos and Huntington Ingalls.

Forbes served as a senior distinguished fellow at the U.S. Naval War College from February through December 2017.

Forbes was born in Chesapeake, Virginia, the son of Thelma and Malcolm J. Forbes.

After leaving Congress in 2017, Forbes joined the Government Law & Policy Practice’s Federal team at Greenberg Traurig as a Senior Director.