Rep. Steve Stockman’s (R-TX) surprise decision to run against Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) in the 2014 Republican primary pits one of the loudest conservative House Republicans against one of the most conservative Senate Republicans.
Stockman was first elected during the Republican wave in 1994 after losing a congressional election four years earlier. He was defeated by Democrat Nick Lampson in 1996 before returning to the House of Representatives in 2012.
Here are nine things to know about Cornyn’s new primary challenger:
1. Stockman has threatened to try and impeach President Obama if he used an executive order to set up new gun restrictions to prevent shooting massacres like the one at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
2. TPM readers might recall a clown being banned from the Missouri state fair for wearing an Obama mask during a rodeo. An announcer at the event asked to see “Obama run down by a bull.” After being banned from the fair, a Republican congressman invited the clown to perform in his state. That was Stockman.
3 An investigation by the Houston Chronicle found that Stockman has “failed to make federally required disclosures about business affiliations that stretch from Texas to the British Virgin Islands.” The report also found that Stockman has not provided any details about the business which Stockman says is his only source of income.
4. In arguing against new gun restrictions Stockman on Twitter, wrote that “If babies had guns, they wouldn’t be aborted.”
5. In November, over Twitter, Stockman compared Obamacare to sexually transmitted diseases.
6. Stockman was also once caught carrying 30 milligrams of valium in a cellophane wrapper in his underwear.
7. Stockman once invited Ted Nugent as his guest to the State of the Union. Nugent’s criticism of President Obama earned him a sitdown with the Secret Service once.
8. During his first stint in Congress, Stockman accused the federal government of “executing” members of the Branch Davidian cult after the Waco, Texas siege.
9. Despite previous support from tea party groups, Stockman has only $32,000 in his campaign account. Cornyn, on the other hand, has a solid $7 million.
