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Congressman Bill Flores endorses Renee Swann as successor for District 17 seat

Posted at 11:04 AM, Feb 08, 2020
and last updated 2020-02-08 15:20:41-05

WACO, TX — During a press conference held Saturday, Representative Bill Flores announced his endorsement of Renee Swann to become the first Congresswoman in the 100-year history of the Texas Congressional District 17.

“After I announced my decision to retire, I have received hundreds of requests for feedback and/or endorsements regarding the current slate of GOP candidates that are running in the Republican Primary to succeed me. Having made careful consideration and thoughtful reviews of each of those candidates, their experience, their positions on critical issues, the depth of their ties to this district, and the viability of their campaign operations, I have decided to make an endorsement. I am doing this for two reasons – first, to ensure that this Congressional district has the best possible representation in Congress, and second, to provide feedback to the numerous constituent requests I received regarding the large group of current candidates,” said Congressman Flores. “It has become obvious to me that Renee Swann is the best candidate to become our Republican nominee.”

In his endorsement announcement, Congressman Flores cited many factors for his decision to endorse Renee Swann, including deep ties to the community, background as a healthcare executive, commitment to follow in his footsteps and self-term limit in addition to a commitment to vote for limits on Congressman, and deeply held conservative values.

“I am truly honored by Congressman Flores’s faith in me and I am so thankful for the example that he set by the way he has represented our community over the last decade. For good reason, Congressman Flores is widely respected throughout every corner of our district,” said Renee Swann. “We both come from backgrounds in the business community where we felt the heavy-hand of federal regulations and mandates. I share his vision of delivering limited-government results that empower the people of this district instead of government and I am hopeful I will be as effective as Congressman Flores has been in exemplifying what it means to be a true citizen servant.”

Renee Swann is a former healthcare executive and Waco small-business Chief Operations Officer at the Brazos Eye Surgery of Texas. Together with her husband of 42 years, they have cared for more than 50,000 of their central Texas neighbors and friends. A limited-government conservative, Renee wants to fight federal overregulation and harmful mandates from destructive policies like Obamacare.

Pete Sessions, who is also running or Flores' District 17 seat, responded to the endorsement of Swann:

“Congressman Bill Flores financially contributed to four people running to succeed him, then asked one of them to return the contribution for pledging to join the House Freedom Caucus. Now he has endorsed the candidate that his own consultant is working for in this race. When I am elected to represent CD-17, I will begin with more seniority than Rep. Flores has now. That seniority will help deliver highway funding, support our research institutions, promote our agriculture community and protect Waco and Bryan-College Station in redistricting. That same seniority will help me also deliver on the key issues facing our nation: changing our immigration laws, building the southern border wall and balancing the budget. Most importantly, Rep. Flores knows nothing can be done for the Republican agenda in the House unless Republicans take back the majority. Having led the campaign to defeat Nancy Pelosi in 2010, Bill knows that I can help do that again. A freshman member of Congress will not be as effective in helping to win the majority, and Rep. Flores knows that. It took him three terms to get on Energy and Commerce.”