Bob Hall

Robert Lee Hall III (born March 5, 1942) is an American politician who is a Republican member of the Texas State Senate. Aligned with the Tea Party movement, he succeeded fellow Republican Bob Deuell, whom he unseated by three hundred votes in the Republican runoff election held on May 27, 2014.

Early life and education

Hall graduated in 1960 from George D. Chamberlain High School in Tampa, Florida. In 1964, Hall received a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from The Citadel.

Political career Hall ran against incumbent State Senator Bob Deuell in 2012 but failed to meet constitutional residency requirements. He unseated Deuell in a Republican primary runoff election, 18,230 votes (50.4 percent) to 17,930 (49.6 percent). Hall defeated Libertarian Party nominee, Don Bates, in the November 4 general election.

In the 2018 Republican primary, Hall was challenged by state representative Cindy Burkett, who ran as a politically moderate alternative to him. Hall defeated her in the March 6, 2018, primary election. Hall won his second state Senate term in the general election held on November 6, 2018. With 152,659 votes (59.4 percent), he defeated future Texas Democratic Party chair Kendall Scudder, who finished with 104,528 (40.6 percent).

In 2019, Hall became chairman of the Agriculture committee.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Hall promoted misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines, including the debunked conspiracy theory that COVID-19 vaccines skipped animal testing. He encouraged people to not take the vaccine.

He has said of Muslims that they are “required by Sharia to lie” in order to “stay below the radar of being aggressive.”

Personal life Hall and his wife, the former Sarah Kay Smith, a native of Ladonia in Fannin County in East Texas, live in Tailwind Airpark in Edgewood, a community for pilots and aviation enthusiasts which has its own runway and hangars. The couple is Southern Baptist and has three adult sons.

Electoral history