Bill Keffer
{{short description|American politician}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name=William Ralph Keffer
|image =
|caption=
|office= Texas State Representative from District 107 (Dallas County)
|party=Republican
|term_start=January 14, 2003
|term_end=January 9, 2007
|preceded=Harryette Ehrhardt
|succeeded=Allen Vaught
|birth_name=William Ralph Keffer
|birth_date={{birth date and age|1958|9|15}}
|death_date=
|death_place=
|death_cause=
|resting_place=
|birth_place=McCamey, Texas, U.S.
|occupation=Attorney
|residence=Dallas, Texas
|spouse=Elizabeth Ann Pitcock Keffer
|children=Scott, Caroline, and Doug Keffer
|alma_mater=Southern Methodist University
University of Texas School of Law
}}
William Ralph Keffer (born September 15, 1958){{cite web|url=http://votesmart.org/candidate/biography/49243/william-keffer#.UkRr2RUo45t|title=William R. "Bill" Keffer|publisher=votesmart.org|accessdate=September 26, 2013}} is an attorney in Dallas, Texas, who was from 2003 to 2007 a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 107.{{cite web|url=http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/legeLeaders/members/memberDisplay.cfm?memberID=5569&searchparams=chamber=~city=~countyID=0~RcountyID=~district=~first=~gender=~last=Keffer~leaderNote=~leg=~party=Republican~roleDesc=~Committee|title=Bill Keffer|publisher=lrl.state.tx.us|accessdate=September 26, 2013}} His older brother, Jim Keffer, is a still-serving Republican House member from District 60 in Eastland, near Abilene, Texas.
Background
Keffer was born in McCamey in energy-rich Upton County in West Texas. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in the field of history in 1981 from Southern Methodist University in University Park, Texas. In 1984, he earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Texas School of Law in Austin. Since law school, Keffer has been affiliated with the law firm Vial, Hamilton, Koch, & Knox, the Atlantic Richfield Oil and Gas Company, the Dallas law firm Gardere & Wynne, and since 2001, the managing partner of Miller & Keffer,{{cite web|url=http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/scanned/members/bios/TLO/78th_Keffer_Bill.pdf|title=William R. "Bill" Keffer|publisher=lrl.state.tx.us|accessdate=September 26, 2013}} subsequently Miller Keffer Pedigo. Keffer's legal practice focuses on environmental and toxic tort cases stemming from the exploration, production, refining, and transportation of petroleum.{{cite web|url=http://www.mkp-law.net/william_keffer.htm|title=William R. Keffer|publisher=mkp-law.net|accessdate=September 26, 2013}}
Keffer is a board member of the Dallas chapter of the Federalist Society, a group of lawyers advocating strict construction of the Constitution of the United States He has been chairman of his neighborhood crime watch and president of his homeowner association. He has penned editorials for such publications as the Dallas Morning News, the Lone Star Report and the Lake Highlands Advocate magazine, named for the Lake Highlands section of north Dallas.
Keffer and his wife, the former Elizabeth Ann Pitcock (born 1959), have three children, Scott, Caroline, and Doug Keffer.
Political life
In Keffer's first election to the Texas House in 2002, he defeated the Democrat Theresa Daniel, 20,764 (58.4) to 14,786 (41.6 percent). In that same election John Cornyn was elected to the United States Senate, Rick Perry won his first full term as governor of Texas, and Greg Abbott was elected attorney general to succeed John Cornyn.{{cite web|url=http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist.exe |title=Texas general election returns, 2002 |publisher=elections.sos.state.tx.us |accessdate=September 26, 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20061108172637/http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist.exe |archivedate=November 8, 2006 }} Daniel was unopposed for the Democratic nomination for the seat, after the incumbent Democrat, Harryette Ehrhardt, declined to seek reelection. Keffer was unopposed for his second term in 2004 but unseated in 2006 by the Democrat Allen Vaught, 16,254 (50.1 percent) to 15,145 (46.7 percent). The remaining 3.2 percent was cast for the Libertarian candidate, Chris Jones.{{cite web|url=http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist.exe |title=Texas general election returns, 2006 |publisher=elections.sos.state.tx.us |accessdate=September 26, 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20061108172637/http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist.exe |archivedate=November 8, 2006 }}
While in the House, Keffer served on the House Insurance, Energy Resources, and Rules & Regulations committees.
In 2012, after a six-year absence from the legislature, Keffer tried to win the District 114 seat vacated in north Dallas by the retiring Republican Will Ford Hartnett, another Dallas lawyer. Keffer had represented the eastern part of the district when he was the District 107 representative.{{cite web|url=http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/headlines/20120724-bill-keffer-jason-villalba-battle-over-conservatism-taxes-in-texas-house-race-in-north-dallas.ece|title=Tom Benning, Bill Keffer, Jason Villalba battle over conservatism, taxes in Texas House race in North Dallas, July 24, 2012|publisher=Dallas Morning News|accessdate=September 26, 2013}}
In the May 29 primary, a third candidate, David Boone polled the critical 1,138 votes (11.4 percent), sufficient to force a second round of balloting on July 31 between Keffer, who led in the primary with 4,745 votes (47.5 percent), and another Dallas lawyer, the Hispanic Republican activist Jason Villalba, who finished with 4,114 ballots (41.2 percent).{{cite web|url=http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist.exe |title=Republican primary election returns, May 29, 2012 |publisher=elections.sos.state.tx.us |accessdate=September 25, 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20061108172637/http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist.exe |archivedate=November 8, 2006 }}
Keffer and Villalba clashed over who would be the more conservative lawmaker. Keffer carried the backing of U.S. Representative Jeb Hensarling of Texas's 5th congressional district, while Villalba was supported by presidential nominee Mitt Romney and retiring U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, who called him "the future", and Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert. Keffer endorsed a zero-based budgeting approach to control excessive state spending. Villalba said that he could move past partisanship and work with Democrats to increase the number of charter schools and expand educational funding. Keffer questioned, "How do we handle the state's money? How do we handle the taxpayers' money? What do we have to show for it?"
In the Republican runoff, which coincided with the high-profile Ted Cruz-David Dewhurst contest to choose the party nominee to succeed Senator Hutchison, Villalba reversed the order of finish from the primary to defeat Keffer, 6,100 (51.8 percent) to 5,683 (48.2 percent).{{cite web|url=http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist.exe |title=Republican primary runoff election returns, July 31, 2012 |publisher=elections.sos.state.us |accessdate=September 25, 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20061108172637/http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist.exe |archivedate=November 8, 2006 }} Villalba attributed his victor over Keffer to "shoe leather and determination."{{cite web|url=http://www.dmagazine.com/Home/D_Magazine/2012/October/Is_Jason_Villalba_the_Future_of_the_Texas_GOP.aspx|title=Zac Crain, Is Jason Villalba the Future of the Texas GOP? Meet the only political candidate that Mitt Romney has endorsed|publisher=D Magazine, October 2012|accessdate=September 25, 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927234605/http://www.dmagazine.com/Home/D_Magazine/2012/October/Is_Jason_Villalba_the_Future_of_the_Texas_GOP.aspx|archivedate=September 27, 2013}}
In the general election, Villalba defeated Democratic former Representative Carol Kent, 33,970 votes (54.2 percent to Kent's 28,762 (45.8 percent).{{cite web
|url=http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist.exe
|title=General election returns, November 6, 2013
|publisher=elections.sos.state.tx.us
|accessdate=September 25, 2013
|url-status=dead
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20061108172637/http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist.exe
|archivedate=November 8, 2006
}} Kent had served a term in District 102 from 2009 to 2011, having unseated Republican Representative Tony Goolsby in the 2008 general election.{{cite web|url=http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist.exe |title=2008 Texas general election returns |publisher=elections.sos.state.tx.us |accessdate=September 21, 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20061108172637/http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist.exe |archivedate=November 8, 2006 }}
{{Portal|Biography|Texas|Politics|Law}}
References
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{{succession box
| before=Harryette Ehrhardt
| title=Texas State Representative from District 107 (Dallas County)
| years=2003–2007
| after=Allen Vaught}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keffer, Bill}}
Category:Republican Party members of the Texas House of Representatives
Category:People from McCamey, Texas
Category:Politicians from Dallas
Category:Southern Methodist University alumni
Category:University of Texas School of Law alumni