Bill Posey

2008

In 2008, Posey ran to replace retiring U.S. Congressman Dave Weldon, who had occupied the 15th District seat since 1995, when the district first voted Republican.

Posey defeated Democratic nominee Stephen Blythe, receiving 53.1% of the vote to Blythe's 42.0%.[5]

2010

Posey won re-election against former NASA executive and public administrator Shannon Roberts, receiving 64.7% of the vote to Roberts' 35.3%.[6]

2012

Posey won re-election with nearly 60% of the vote against Democratic nominee Shannon Roberts and non-partisan candidate Richard Gillmor.[7]

2014

Posey won re-election with 65.84% of the vote against Democratic candidate Gabriel Rothblatt.

2016

Posey won re-election with 63.11% of the vote against Democratic candidate Corry Westbrook.

2018

Posey won re-election with 60.50% of the vote against Democratic candidate Sanjay Patel.

2020

Posey is the Republican candidate for District 8 in the 2020 House of Representatives election.

Committee assignments

• Committee on Financial Services
  • Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government-Sponsored Enterprises
  • Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
• United States House Committee on Science, Space and Technology
  • United States House Science Subcommittee on Space
  • United States House Science Subcommittee on Oversight
• Republican Study Committee[8]

Caucus memberships

• Liberty Caucus
• Freedom Caucus[9]
• Congressional Arts Caucus[10]
• Congressional Constitution Caucus[11]
• United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus[12]
• Climate Solutions Caucus[13]

Shortly after entering Congress, Posey introduced legislation (H.R. 1503) to amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require candidates for the presidency "to include with the [campaign] committee's statement of organization a copy of the candidate's birth certificate" plus supporting documentation.[14] Introduced without the Republican leadership being informed,[15] Florida Today commented that the bill "stems from fringe opponents of President Barack Obama who, during the 2008 election campaign, questioned whether Obama was born in Hawaii," but added that Posey's office "does not question Obama's citizenship."[16] He explained his motivation as being to "prevent something like this [controversy] from happening in the future" by requiring "the birth certificate up front and take [the issue] off the table". His initiative was strongly criticized by Florida Democrats, who accused Posey of trying to "fan the rumors on the extreme fringe of the Republican Party" and "pandering to the right wing".[17] Satirist Stephen Colbert also mocked Posey for not addressing rumors that he was "part alligator";[18] Posey responded by commenting that there was "no reason to say that I'm the illegitimate grandson of an alligator". He also stated that there was now "no reason to question" that Obama is a U.S. citizen.[19] The proposed legislation was never voted upon by the 111th Congress.[20]

In 2016, Bill Posey sponsored legislation that reauthorized and reprioritized funding to clean up America's estuaries signed into law by President Obama.[21][22][23]

At a May 2018 hearing in the Science, Space and Technology Committee, Posey mentioned that in the 1970s climate scientists believed the Earth was cooling.[24] At the hearing, Posey also expressed skepticism that humans contributed to climate change, asking whether climate change was occurring because carbon dioxide captured in permafrost was now leaking out.[24] Posey also asked at the hearing whether warming would be beneficial for habitats and to people.[24] Posey said "I don't think anybody disputes that the Earth is getting warmer; I think what's not clear is the exact amount of who caused what, and getting to that is, I think, where we're trying to go with this committee."[24]

Posey supports legislation that mandates concealed carry permit reciprocity among states.[25] From 2015–2016, Posey accepted US$2,000 in direct campaign contributions from the NRA's Political Victory Fund;[26] from 2008–2016 Posey accepted $13,500 from NRA political action committees.[27]

Posey was one of the original cosponsors of the Repeal of the Implementation of the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007, which repealed Obama-era legislation aimed at preventing the mentally-infirm from legally purchasing firearms.[28] Following the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, Posey expressed his support for legislation that would ban bump stocks.[29]

Posey supports repealing the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and calls it a "fiasco" that “was passed under a lot of misrepresentation”.[30]

Posey voted against the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which made it a federal offence to commit a violent crime because of the victim's race, sex, etc., even without any federal nexus, and also added sexuality to the list of such grounds.[31]

Posey was the only Republican representative to vote with the Democratic-controlled House in favor of the Save the Internet Act of 2019, which would overturn the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)'s repeal of net neutrality and "would restore Obama-era net neutrality protections."[32][33]

Posey voted in favor of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.[34] Posey has also been a longtime supporter of a balanced budget amendment or (BBA).[35]