Veasey was born on January 3, 1971,[1] to Connie and Joseph Veasey. With his parents and brother, Ryan, Veasey and his family lived in numerous rental houses in the Stop Six neighborhood of Fort Worth, Texas. When he was ten years old, his parents divorced, and Marc, Ryan and their mother moved in with their maternal grandmother in the Como neighborhood of Fort Worth.[2]
Veasey worked as a substitute teacher and sportswriter, as well as writing scripts for an advertising agency. One summer, he volunteered for U.S. Representative Martin Frost, and was hired as a field representative.[2] Veasey worked for Frost for five years.[5][6]
Texas House of Representatives
Elections
As a result of the 2003 Texas redistricting, Frost lost his reelection effort in 2004 to Pete Sessions. In 2004, Veasey challenged Democratic State Representative Glenn Lewis for Texas's 95th House district.[5] He defeated Lewis 54%-46% in the primary[7] and won the general election unopposed. He was reelected in 2006 (91%), 2008 (96%), and 2010 (100%).[2][8]
Tenure
Veasey represented Texas House District 95 from 2005 to 2013.[9] He was the chair pro tempore of the House Democratic Caucus.[10] He sponsored measures to create career and technology training in high schools, and authored HB 62, which honored Tim Cole, a Texas Tech University student wrongly convicted of raping a fellow student in 1985. Veasey also authored a bill requiring a study to lead to greater enforcement of the James Byrd Jr.hate crime bill.[11]
Committee assignments
Elections Committee
Environmental Regulation Committee
Pensions, Investments, and Financial Services Committee
Eleven candidates filed to run in the Democratic primary. Veasey finished first, with 37% of the vote, less than the 50% needed to win the primary outright. State Representative Domingo García ranked second with 25% of the vote, qualifying for the runoff election. Veasey won Tarrant with 49% of the vote, while Garcia won Dallas with 44% of the vote.[15] In the runoff, Veasey defeated Garcia, 53%-47%. He carried Tarrant with a 68% of the vote, as opposed to Garcia's 70% in Dallas.[16] In the general election, he defeated Republican Chuck Bradley, 73%-26%. He won Tarrant with 78% of the vote and Dallas with 66% of the vote.[17][18] Veasey is the first African-American U.S. Representative elected from Tarrant County.[19]
Veasey won re-nomination in the March 4 primary, defeating Tom Sanchez, 13,285 votes (73.5%) to 4,797 (26.5%).[20] He faced no Republican opponent in the general election but Jason Reeves qualified for the ballot as a Libertarian.[21]
2016
Veasey won re-nomination in the March 1 primary against activist Carlos Quintanilla with 63% of the vote. He lost Dallas County but won Tarrant County. He defeated Republican M. Mark Mitchell in the general election, 74% to 26%. Veasey spent $1.5 million on his campaign.
2018
Veasey again defeated Quintanilla in the primary, with 70% of the vote. In the general election he defeated Republican Willie Billups and Libertarian Jason Reeves with 76%.
2020
Veasey defeated Sean Segura in the primary, 64% to 36%. He was endorsed by the Dallas Morning News, which claimed Segura "lacks a cohesive knowledge of the district’s public policy needs."[22]
In the general election, Veasey beat Republican Fabian Cordova Vasquez and three minor candidates, including Quintanilla, with 67% of the vote, his weakest showing to date, largely due to Quintanilla's independent candidacy.[23]
Veasey defended Texas oil and interests in February 2021 when President Joe Biden canceled the Keystone XL pipeline and issued a moratorium on new oil and gas leases on federal lands and waters.[29]
