Dennis Paul

Dennis Robert Paul (born 1961) is an engineer from Houston, Texas, who is a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives for House District 129 in Harris County. He succeeded John E. Davis, who retired from the seat after eight terms in office.

Paul is a graduate of the University of Houston. He has been an engineer since 1987 and has owned a small business since 2002. He is a member of the Roman Catholic men's organization, the Knights of Columbus and Johnson Space Center chapter of Rotary International. He and his wife, Eliza, whom he married in 1988, have a daughter, Elizabeth, who graduated from a Catholic high school. The family attends St. Bernadette Catholic Church in Houston.

Originally a leader in the College Republicans, Paul is a veteran party precinct worker and local, state, and national convention delegate. A member and past president of the Downtown Houston Pachyderm Club, he describes himself as a "conservative who desires less government and more freedom" who will "fight to defend the Constitution, to stem the tide of illegal immigration, reduce our property tax burden, support education, and less government regulation."

Paul competed in the seven-candidate Republican primary election on March 4, 2014 to succeed Representative Davis. His intraparty rivals were Briscoe Cain, Sheryl Berg, Mary Huls, Jeff Larson, and Chuck Maricle, and Brent Perry competed for the Republican nomination to succeed Davis. Sheryl Berg, a speech pathologist, led the field with 2,806 votes (25.6 percent), 50 more than her runner-up, Dennis Paul, who polled 2,756 votes (25.1 percent). Brent Perry, a trustee of the Tom DeLay Legal Defense Fund, finished third with 1,869 votes (17 percent). Paul then defeated Berg, 4,138 (52.3 percent) to 3,767 (47.7 percent), for the Republican House nomination in the low-turnout runoff election held on May 27.

Paul thereafter retained this seat for the Republicans in the general election by defeating the Democrat, John Gay (born 1936), a Chicago native and Clear Lake resident who practices law with his wife, Becky Reitz (born 1954). Gay calls himself a Conservative Democrat.

Paul polled 26,415 votes (67.8 percent); Gay, 12,540 (32.2 percent).

An engineer, Paul prior to his accession to office, worked during disasters to insure the rebuilding of stable structures. He advocated passage of the Texas Good Samaritan law, which protects volunteers from baseless lawsuits. He worked with community leaders to clean up Armand Bayou near Galveston Bay before the United States Environmental Protection Agency ordered a national solution to what he viewed as a local problem.