Kevin Roberts (politician)

Kevin Roberts (born January 16, 1966)^[1] is the Chief Operating Officer for the Lanier Law Firm in Houston, Texas. Roberts was first elected to the Texas House of Representatives in November 2016 to represent house district 126.^[2] Roberts, a fourth generation Texan, was raised by his grandparents in Amarillo. As a 14-year-old, he got his first job delivering prescriptions for a local retail drugstore. Paying his own way through Texas Tech University, he became the first college graduate in his family.^[3]

Prior to being elected to the Texas Legislature, Roberts spent 15 years with the Lanier Law Firm in Houston as the Chief Operating Officer, a job that he continues to hold in addition to his legislative duties.^[4] When he joined the firm, it employed eleven attorneys and had one office in Houston. Over the course of his time at the firm, Roberts has helped to elevate the firm to international stature with three offices, one on each U.S. coast and over sixty attorneys.

Roberts and his wife, Hollie, have been married for 26 years and have two sons, Josh and Will. Since moving to Houston, they have been active members of Champion Forest Baptist Church, where Roberts serves as a deacon and his brother in law, Mark Lanier, a pastor. He also currently works with CFBC pastors and committee leaders to recommend church members for leadership roles. Roberts has also served on the Houston Northwest Chamber of Commerce’s Public Policy Council, Grow Northwest Committee, the Economic Development Council, the Klein ISD Career and Technical Education Advisory Council, the Board of Directors for the D. Bradley McWilliams YMCA at Cypress Creek, and is a member of the Houston Realty Business Coalition. He previously served on the Northland Christian School Board of Trustees and founded Northland’s nationally recognized debate team. Under his leadership, the team won numerous awards, including a state and national championship.

2016 Election

Roberts won the Republican primary on March 1, 2016 after running unopposed. The Republican incumbent Patricia Harless did not seek re-election. In the general election on November 8, 2016 Representative Roberts beat out both a Democratic candidate and Libertarian candidate. Roberts obtained 58% of the votes, with Joy Dawson-Thomas (D) getting 39.17% of the vote and Eric Moquin (L) receiving the remaining 2.83% of the votes.

2018 Election

Upon the announcement of incumbent Congressman Ted Poe’s retirement, Roberts announced his candidacy for the seat against a crowded field of nine other challengers. After placing 1st in the March 6th primary with 33% of the vote, Roberts was defeated by retired Navy SEAL Dan Crenshaw in the Republican primary run-off on May 22nd, obtaining 30.2% of the vote to Crenshaw’s 69.8%.

85th Texas Legislature

Roberts was named to several critical House Committees for the 85th Legislative session. He is sitting on the House Committee on Appropriations which is responsible for all areas of state spending and fund allocation. This includes the outlining of the state budget and supplemental spending bills. Furthermore, Roberts is serving on the House Committee on Country Affairs. The County Affairs committee is the primary oversight committee for the 254 counties in the state of Texas, as well as the Texas Commission on Jail Standards. Finally, Roberts is a member of the House Select Committee on Texas Ports, Innovation & Infrastructure. This committee is responsible for reviewing Texas ports’ infrastructure including inland borders and border ports of entry. The committee also is tasked with analyzing changes to the global trade landscape and the preparedness of Texas ports and border ports of entry to capitalize on those changes. This committee is of particular importance because Texas ports connect to global markets across a vast array of industries.

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