Nathan Macias

Nathan G. Macias (born January 22, 1960) is a businessman and public policy analyst from Bulverde, Texas, who is a Republican former member of the Texas House of Representatives. He held the District 73 seat for one term between the tenures of fellow Republicans Carter Casteel and the current representative, Doug Miller, both from New Braunfels. The district now encompasses Comal, Gillespie, and Kendall counties, but prior to 2013, it also included Bandera County.

Background

A native of San Antonio, Macias is of Hispanic descent. In 1982, he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Texas A&M University in College Station. He held a scholarship for Reserve Officer Training Corps, was a member of the Ross Volunteers, and thereafter became a lieutenant colonel in the United States Air Force. He obtained two master's degrees, one in Business Administration from New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas, New Mexico, and one in Public Administration from North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina, when he resided in Cary in Wake County. Macias commanded the "Silver Flag", the USAF Civil Engineering Contingency Training Center at Tyndall Air Force Base east of Panama City, Florida. He commanded the 436th Civil Engineer Squadron at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware.
 
In recent years, Macias has worked for the Austin-based Texas Public Policy Foundation as a senior policy analyst for the Center for Economic Freedom. The foundation board of directors includes prominent Republicans Wendy Gramm and Ernest Angelo. Macias is also the co-founder and chief operating officer of EduNation, Inc., a higher education test preparation product and service provider.

He is the vice president of operations of Boyd/Kleypas & Associates in San Antonio, south of his residence in Bulverde. He and his wife, Susan, whom he married in 1984, have seven children. He has coached youth baseball and track and is certified through the Character Training Institute, a 501(c) organization, non-profit and tax-exempt and based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Macias is active in the Living Water Fellowship Church in Bulverde as a Bible teacher.

Political life

Elections of 2006 and 2008

Macias ran for the state House in the March 2006 Republican primary. He garnered financial support of the Texas Republican Legislative Campaign Committee, a pac that San Antonio physician and conservative political activist James R. Leininger personally gave over a million dollars. While Leininger intended to avoid attention regarding his role in the campaign, he was only large contributor to the PAC and nearly the sole source of campaign funds to the virtual newcomer Macias. Texas Republican Legislative Campaign Committee was created shortly before the election although it appeared from campaign contracts that the Leininger shell was laying the ground work months earlier. Leininger is also the founder and principal contributor of the Texas Public Policy Foundation. By a margin of only forty-six votes, Macias unseated the two-term incumbent, Carter Casteel, a former Comal County county judge. He polled 10,183 votes (50.1 percent) to her 10,137 ballots (49.9 percent). In the 2008 Republican primary, again where almost sole source came Leininger sources, Macias was defeated for a second term by Doug Miller, a former mayor of New Braunfels. Miller received 14,684 votes (50.02 percent) to Macias' 14,667 (49.97 percent), a margin of 17 votes.

Key legislative votes

In the 2007 legislative session, Representative Macias supported enhanced voter identification requirements; the new procedures finally took effect after many legal hurdles with the primary elections on March 4, 2014. He voted for the legislative ban on human papillomavirus vaccines though Governor Rick Perry had advocated compulsory immunizations of sixth-grade girls as a preventative against sexually-transmitted diseases. Macias voted against a pay increase for public school employees, but the measure passed, 90-56. He co-sponsored a bill to permit religious expression in Texas public school but did not vote on final passage, when the measure was approved by the House, 107-28. He voted against allowing casino gambling on Indian reservations;  the measure deadlocked 66-66 ikn the House, with 18 members not voting.

Opposition to Speaker Straus

Macias, who was voted by colleagues as "Freshman of the Year" in 2007, was a legislative ally of former Speaker Tom Craddick of Midland. As Macias left the House, the members voted to replace Craddick with the more moderate Representative Joe Straus of San Antonio. Macias issued a statement to constituents opposing the change in Speakers:

I have served with Joe Straus and have some true concerns. He is not conservative. Therefore, I don't think he will be the best representative of leadership for conservative Republicans or our great state. {He] made his initial move by garnering the support of seventy Democrats and fifteen Republicans. This alone will require his strong allegiance to the liberal Democratic Party and moderate Republicans.  Shouldn't the Republican Speaker be elected by Republicans and not by a predominance of Democrats along with a few moderate Republicans?  Now that would be best for our district and state.

Representative Straus has very limited experience, having served only one and a half sessions in the Texas legislature. What organization would elect a chairman of the board with four years of experience?  The Texas House needs an experienced, proven leader at the helm. That would be best for Texas.

The Heritage Alliance, a prominent conservative values organization, gave Representative Straus a 52 percent conservative score (the second to the lowest score earned by a Republican). That's not conservative.  To give you a gauge this same organization gave me a 91 percent conservative score. ... 

Not a single pro-life or pro-family group endorses Representative Straus. As reported in the news, he was one of twenty-three lawmakers who opposed a bill to block the government order requiring the HPV vaccine for all sixth-grade schoolgirls. He also opposed a bill to ban gay foster parenting.

Let me also note that Straus supports statewide gambling and opposes school choice for parents. Both of these positions are in opposition to our state and national Republican Party platforms. Joe Straus will not advance our conservative cause.

Legislative ratings

As a legislator, Macias was rated 97 percent conservative in 2007 by Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum, which is maintained in Texas by Cathie Adams, a former state chairman of the Texas Republican Party. Macias ranked 45 points higher than Carter Casteel's rating for her last term and 26 points higher than his successor Doug Miller in the 2013 session. The Young Conservatives of Texas ranked Macias 92 percent, compared to 53 percent for Casteel and 64 percent for Miller. He was rated 93 percent by Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, compared to 47 percent for Miller. The National Abortion Rights Action League ranked him 0 percent in 2007 but gave Casteel a 27 percent score. The Texas League of Conservation Voters rated him 38 percent.

References

 

Category:1960 births
Category:Living people
Category:People from San Antonio
Category:Politicians from Raleigh, North Carolina
Category:People from Panama City, Florida
Category:People from Dover, Delaware
Category:People from Bulverde, Texas
Category:Texas A&M University alumni
Category:New Mexico Highlands University alumni
Category:North Carolina State University alumni
Category:Members of the Texas House of Representatives
Category:Texas Republicans
Category:American politicians of Mexican descent
Category:United States Air Force officers
Category:Businesspeople from Texas
Category:Businesspeople from Raleigh, North Carolina
Category:21st-century American politicians
Category:American conservative people