Quick Facts
Biography
Raúl Rafael Labrador (born December 8, 1967) is an American politician of Puerto Rican descent, who has been the U.S. Representative for Idaho's 1st congressional district since 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party. Labrador previously represented District 14B in the Idaho House of Representatives from 2006 to 2010. In May 2017, he attracted national attention by stating that "Nobody dies because they don't have access to health care." Labrador stated afterward that he was referring to Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act and the media is focusing on a "five second clip" instead of the entire exchange with the questioner.
Labrador is retiring from Congress to run for Governor of Idaho in the 2018 election.
Early life, education, and career
Born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, Labrador relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada, as a child and graduated from Las Vegas High School in 1985. He attended Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, and spent two years as a Mormon missionary in Chile, from 1987 to 1989. Labrador returned to BYU and received a B.A. in 1992, in Spanish with an emphasis in Latin American literature. He was admitted to the University of Washington School of Law in Seattle and received his J.D. in 1995.
Married in 1991, Labrador relocated to his wife's home state of Idaho and practiced law and immigration law in private practice from 1995 until his election to the Idaho House of Representatives in 2006.
Idaho House of Representatives
2006
When then-Representative Stan Bastian sought the District 14 Senate seat, Labrador ran for and won the Republican nomination for House Seat B against two other challengers and the general election earning 65.55% against soon to be perennial candidate Daniel S. Weston.
2008
He was unopposed in May 2008 Republican Primary. Labrador defeated Glida Bothwell in the general election getting 69.1% of the vote.
Committee assignments
Labrador served on the
- Environment, Energy, and Technology Committee in 2007
- Judiciary, Rules, and Administration Committee from 2007-2010
- State Affairs Committee from 2007-2010
- Transportation and Defense Committee from 2009-2010
U.S. House of Representatives
Tenure
- Immigration
Labrador was a member of the "Gang of Eight," a bipartisan group of House members working on immigration reform legislation, but on June 5, 2013, he left the negotiations because he wanted language in the bill requiring that illegal immigrants be responsible for their own health care costs. Labrador said he would use his position on the House Judiciary Committee to pass immigration reform legislation.
On June 18, 2013, he joined a majority of his Judiciary Committee colleagues in voting for the "SAFE Act" to bolster interior enforcement of immigration laws. On June 19, 2013, he joined a majority of his Judiciary Committee colleagues in voting for the "AG Act" to improve the temporary agricultural guest worker program.
On the July 6, 2014 episode of Meet the Press Labrador stated that what the Obama administration needed to do was "immediately deport" young illegal immigrants. The comment came as part of a discussion about the estimated 52,000 unaccompanied minors from Central America who had tried to cross the border since October, 2013.
- Health
Labrador supports requiring the undocumented be responsible for their own health care costs.
Labrador supports the full repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act because he believes it will raise costs and kill jobs. He believes the best way to give Americans more affordable health insurance is with market-based policies that he believes will decrease healthcare costs.
On April 20, 2017 Labrador said he does not believe healthcare is a human right. Labrador stated afterwards that he was talking about it not being in the constitution.
He voted for the American Health Care Act of 2017 which passed the House May 4, 2017. One of the few Republican lawmakers who hosted a town hall after this vote, Labrador received national attention for stating during the meeting, "Nobody dies because they don't have access to healthcare." Labrador stated afterwards that he was referring to Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act and the media is focusing on a "five second clip" instead of the entire exchange with the questioner.
- Education
In October 2011, Labrador introduced the American Education Act, intended to address the lack of students entering high-tech fields such as engineering and medical technology by providing incentives to do so. The bill would also allow foreign students in these fields who had job offers from American companies to acquire residency. While in the Idaho State House of Representatives, Labrador voted for several bills to fund online education within the state of Idaho.
Labrador also believes that education is best decided at the local level and that parents should be involved in their child's education.
- Energy
Labrador believes alternative energy sources should be explored, including nuclear, hydroelectric, carbon neutral biomass, wind, solar and geothermal, but opposes government subsidies for the development of these resources, saying they will develop on their own. He has made clear that he thinks the government needs to decrease regulation of geothermal energy, claiming Idaho's development of it is being impeded by governmental regulation, and has sponsored legislation to relax the regulations.
- Fiscal Policy
In July 2012 Labrador supported extending the budget for an extra six months in order to "prevent a crisis."
In 2010, Labrador signed a pledge sponsored by Americans for Prosperity promising to vote against any Global Warming legislation that would raise taxes.
- Agriculture
Labrador voted for the farm bill on January 29, 2014.
- Civil liberties
In June 2015, Labrador introduced HR 2802, titled the "First Amendment Defense Act" (FADA) which was said to protect those who oppose same-sex marriage based on their religious beliefs from action by the federal government. Critics, like Ian Thompson of the American Civil Liberties Union claimed that the bill would "open the door to unprecedented taxpayer-funded discrimination against LGBT people, single mothers, and unmarried couples."
Town halls
He was one of the few Republicans to host a town hall after the election has Donald Trump has President and the only member of United States congressional delegations from Idaho to host one.
Awards
He was ranked one of "Newsmax's 50 Most Influential Latino Republicans" in 2016.
Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)
Committee assignments
- Committee on Natural Resources
- Federal Lands
- Oversight and Investigations- Chair
- Committee on the Judiciary
- Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security- Vice Chair
- Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations
Caucus memberships
- Congressional Hispanic Conference
- Republican Study Committee
- Liberty Caucus
- Freedom Caucus
Elections
| Year | Candidate | Votes | Pct | Candidate | Votes | Pct | Candidate | Votes | Pct | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 Primary | Raúl Labrador | 2,448 | 46.4% | John Tomkinson | 1,535 | 29.1% | Jim Borton | 1,292 | 24.5% | ||||
| 2006 General | Raúl Labrador | 13,208 | 65.5% | Daniel Weston | 6,943 | 34.5% | |||||||
| 2008 Primary | Raúl Labrador (incumbent) | 4,945 | 100% | ||||||||||
| 2008 General | Raúl Labrador (incumbent) | 22,093 | 69.1% | Glida Bothwell | 9,869 | 30.9% |
- 2010
In 2010, Labrador defeated Vaughn Ward in the Republican primary 48%–39% on May 10, in what was widely considered a major upset. In the general election, Labrador defeated first-term Democratic incumbent Walt Minnick 51%–41%.
- 2012
Labrador was challenged in the Republican primary by Reed McCandless, but defeated him with 81% of the vote. In the general election, Labrador won reelection to a second term, defeating former NFL wide receiver Jimmy Farris, 63%–31%.
Labrador supported Mitt Romney for President.
- 2014
On August 14, 2013, Labrador decided not to challenge incumbent Idaho Governor Butch Otter in the Republican primary, instead running for reelection to Congress for a third term.
On August 19, 2013, Democratic State Representative Shirley Ringo decided to challenge Labrador instead of running for an eighth term in the Idaho state legislature.
In early June 2014 House majority leader Eric Cantor of Virginia lost the Republican primary for his Congressional seat and announced he would step down from his leadership role July 31, 2014. Labrador announced on June 13 that he would challenge House Majority Whip, Representative Kevin McCarthy for the leadership position. In a vote held June 19, 2014 the House selected McCarthy.
Labrador won both the Republican Primary (78.6%) and the General Election (65%).
2016
Labrador served on Rand Paul's Western Chair. When Paul dropped out, Labrador joined Ted Cruz's campaign becoming a co chair for the state of Idaho. Cruz went on to win Idaho's primary. Labrador then went on to support Donald Trump.
Labrador won both the Republican Primary (81%) and the General Election (68.2%).
2018 Gubernatorial Election
On Tuesday, May 9, 2017, Labrador filed to run in the Idaho gubernatorial election, 2018. Labrador did a kick off tour in the last week of May 2017 with stops in Boise, Post Falls, and Idaho Falls.
Labrador will not be able to run for Idaho's 1st congressional district and Governor at the same time; leaving CD-1 an open seat for Idaho elections, 2018.
Personal life
Labrador lives in Eagle, Idaho, with his wife, Rebecca, and their five children. He is the first member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to represent Idaho's 1st district.