Michael J. Truncale
Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
Assumed office
May 16, 2019
Appointed byDonald Trump
Preceded byRon Clark
Personal details
Born
Michael Joseph Truncale

(1957-08-30) August 30, 1957[1]
Beaumont, Texas, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
EducationLamar University (BA)
University of North Texas (MBA)
Southern Methodist University (JD)

Michael Joseph Truncale (born August 30, 1957) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

Biography

Truncale was born in 1957 in Beaumont, Texas.[2] He earned his Bachelor of Arts from Lamar University in 1978, his Master of Business Administration from the University of North Texas in 1980, and his Juris Doctor from the Dedman School of Law in 1985.[3][4]

From 1985 to 2019, he was an associate turned partner at Orgain Bell & Tucker.[5]

Governor of Texas Rick Perry appointed Truncale a Regent of the Texas State University System for a four-year term and Governor Greg Abbott appointed him to a six-year term as a member of the state Prepaid Higher Education Tuition Board.[5]

In 2012, Truncale ran as a Republican for Texas's 14th congressional district, which was an open seat due to Ron Paul's retirement. He garnered 14.2% in the Republican primary, taking third place to Pearland City Councilwoman Felicia Harris and state Representative Randy Weber, the eventual winner.[6]

Federal judicial service

On January 23, 2018, President Donald Trump nominated Truncale to the seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas vacated by Judge Ron Clark, who had previously announced his decision to assume senior status on February 28, 2018.[5][7] On April 25, 2018, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[8] Under questioning by Democratic U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono, Truncale, who previously served as an election judge in Texas, said he had personally witnessed incidents of voter fraud. Hirono challenged him, saying that she did not believe the problem of voter fraud to be widespread.[9] On May 24, 2018, his nomination was reported out of committee by an 11–10 vote.[10]

On January 3, 2019, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate. On January 23, 2019, President Trump announced his intent to renominate Truncale for a federal judgeship.[11] His nomination was sent to the Senate later that day.[12] On February 7, 2019, his nomination was reported out of committee by a 12–10 vote.[13] On May 13, 2019, the Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by a 49–43 vote.[14] On May 14, 2019, his nomination was confirmed by a 49–46 vote.[15] Senator Mitt Romney was the only Republican to vote against him because he called Barack Obama an "un-American imposter" in 2011. Truncale said he was "merely expressing frustration by what I perceived as a lack of overt patriotism on behalf of President Obama.'"[16] He received his judicial commission on May 16, 2019.[17]

Electoral history

2012
Texas's 14th Congressional District – Republican Primary, May 29, 2012[18]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Randy Weber 12,088 27.60%
Republican Felicia Harris 8,287 18.92%
Republican Michael J. Truncale 6,212 14.18%
Republican Jay Old 6,143 14.02%
Republican Robert Gonzalez 4,302 9.82%
Republican Bill Sargent 3,328 7.60%
Republican John Gay 2,075 4.74%
Republican George Harper 813 1.86%
Republican Mark A. Mansius 554 1.26%
Total votes 43,802 100.00%
Runoff election

See also

References

  1. ↑ Senate Judiciary Committee Questionnaire, p. 7
  2. ↑ "Attorney Michael J Truncale – Lawyer in Beaumont TX". www.lawyercentral.com.
  3. ↑ Voruganti, Harsh (April 19, 2018). "UPDATED – Michael Truncale – Nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas". The Vetting Room. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Trump nominates four federal judges for Texas, including another Paxton aide to replace controversial 'Satan's plan' nominee". January 23, 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 "President Donald J. Trump Announces Tenth Wave of Judicial Candidates" White House, January 23, 2018 Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  6. ↑ Tribune, The Texas (January 11, 2018). "U.S. House of Representatives District 14 – The Texas Tribune". elections.texastribune.org.
  7. ↑ "Four Nominations Sent to the Senate Today". whitehouse.gov – via National Archives.
  8. ↑ United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Nominations for April 25, 2018
  9. ↑ Swoyer, Alex (April 25, 2018). "Michael Truncale, Trump judicial pick, saw voter fraud". The Washington Times. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
  10. ↑ Results of Executive Business Meeting – May 24, 2018, Senate Judiciary Committee
  11. ↑ "President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate Judicial Nominees", White House, January 23, 2019
  12. ↑ "Nominations Sent to the Senate", White House, January 23, 2019
  13. ↑ "Results of Executive Business Meeting – February 7, 2019" (PDF). Senate Judiciary Committee.
  14. ↑ "On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture: Michael J. Truncale to be U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Texas)". United States Senate. May 13, 2019.
  15. ↑ "On the Nomination (Confirmation Michael J. Truncale, of Texas, to be U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Texas)". United States Senate. May 14, 2019.
  16. ↑ Everett, Burgess (May 14, 2019). "Romney rejects Trump judicial pick who smeared Obama". POLITICO. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
  17. ↑ Michael J. Truncale at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
  18. ↑ "Race Summary Report – 2012 Republican Party Primary Election". Office of the Secretary of State of Texas. Government of Texas. Retrieved May 13, 2018.
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