Trey Radel

Trey Radel

Republican Party

Prior offices

U.S. House Florida District 19

Successor: Curt Clawson

Predecessor: Theodore E. Deutch

---

Compensation

Net worth

(2012) $4,069,612

Education

Bachelor's

Loyola University, Chicago

Personal

Religion

Christian: Catholic

Profession

Founder, Trey Communications, LLC

Contact

Personal website

Trey Radel (b. Henry Jude "Trey" Radel III on April 20, 1976, in Cincinnati, OH) was a Republican member of the U.S. House representing the 19th Congressional District of Florida. He was first elected on November 6, 2012, and took office on January 3, 2013. On January 27, 2014, Radel announced his resignation from Congress.

He was arrested in the District of Columbia on October 29, 2013, for possession of cocaine. He was charged with misdemeanor possession of cocaine. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to one year of supervised probation and fined $250.

On November 20, 2013, Radel announced that he would take a leave of absence in order to enter a substance abuse treatment facility in Florida. On December 19, 2013, Radel left rehab, where he was seeking treatment for his alcohol addiction. He did not discuss future political plans at that point and added, "Politics and re-election are the last thing on my mind right now." A month later, Radel resigned from his seat.

Biography

Radel was born in Cincinnati, OH, on April 20, 1976.

Education:

• 1999: B.A., Loyola University

Career

• 2013-2014: U.S. House of Representatives, District 19
• Before winning election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012, Radel hosted one of Florida’s Conservative TV & Radio Talk Shows – Daybreak, on TV-6 & 92.5 Fox News.

Outside of radio, Radel ran Trey Communications LLC, a media relations company. Before the TV & radio show, Radel served southwest Florida as a journalist, working as both an anchor and as a reporter.

Noteworthy events

Arrested for cocaine possession

Radel was arrested in the District of Columbia on October 29, 2013, for possession of cocaine. He was then charged on November 19, 2013, in D.C. Superior Court with misdemeanor possession of cocaine. He appeared in court on November 20, 2013. The charge carried a statutory maximum of six months in prison and a fine of $1,000.

House Speaker John Boehner commented on the incident, "Members of Congress should be held to the highest standards, and the alleged crime will be handled by the courts. Beyond that, this is between Rep. Radel, his family, and his constituents."

Sentencing

Radel pleaded guilty on November 20, 2013, to misdemeanor cocaine possession. According to court reports, Radel bought $260 worth of cocaine from an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agent in October 2013.

He was sentenced to one year of supervised probation and fined $250. Radel also announced plans to enter an in-patient rehab program in Florida.

Substance abuse rehabilitation

Radel announced on November 20, 2013, a leave of absence in order to enter a substance abuse treatment facility in Florida. He also said he would donate his congressional salary to charity during his leave.

On December 19, 2013, Radel left rehab, where he was seeking treatment for his alcohol addiction. He did not discuss future political plans and added, "Politics and re-election are the last thing on my mind right now."

Ethics investigation

The House Ethics Committee announced on December 16, 2013, the launch of a formal investigation into alleged misconduct by Radel.

Radel apologized

On January 8, 2014, after returning to Washington D.C., Radel apologized to House Republicans for his cocaine bust, saying that the episode helped bring him closer to his wife and child.

Republican response

• Greg Walden, chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, initially said he would refrain from comment on whether Radel should resign until he hears what he has to say about the incident.

Walden said on November 20, 2013, that he had not talked to Radel since he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of cocaine possession. He also said that “he’s going to need to explain what happened, and then make some decisions.”

• Lenny Curry, the chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, asked Radel to step down on November 25, 2013.

Curry released a statement saying, "The people of Florida’s 19th Congressional District need a Congressman who is 100 percent focused on the needs of Southwest Florida. Therefore, Congressman Radel should step down and focus his attention on rehabilitation and his family.”

• Terry Miller, Lee County GOP chair, and Mike Lyster, the chairman of the Collier County Republicans, issued identical statements on November 25, 2013, that Radel should step down. They also added if he runs for re-election in 2014, Radel “would not enjoy our support."

“While the decision to complete the current term is his alone to make, we strongly encourage him to reflect on his ability to remain effective and that a return to Congress may serve only as an impediment to his recovery,” the pair said in separate statements. “We feel it is in the best interests of all involved that he resign immediately. We hope that he can focus solely on his rehabilitation and allow the citizens to begin their own healing process. We thank Trey for his service and wish only the best for him and his family.”

• Speaker John Boehner, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy have not said that Radel should resign, but rather that it is up to Radel, his family and constituents.

John Boehner commented on the incident, "Members of Congress should be held to the highest standards, and the alleged crime will be handled by the courts. Beyond that, this is between Rep. Radel, his family, and his constituents."

• Governor Rick Scott (R)

Scott called for Radel to resign on November 26, 2013. In a statement he said, "I agree with the party chairman. Look, Trey's going through some hard times. My prayers and my wife's prayers are with his family, but we have to hold all of our elected officials to the highest standard."

• Pam Bondi, Florida Attorney General

“As a career prosecutor, I understand the devastating effects that addiction can have on one’s life,” Bondi said on November 27, 2013. “While I understand that this is a challenging time for Trey and his family, I believe that he should resign.”

• The Southwest Florida Young Republicans (SWFL Young Republicans)

The group voted on December 2, 2013, to support Radel's decision to stay in the post, despite pressure to step down. The group also approved a statement, but took no position on whether Radel should seek re-election in 2014.

The group issued the following statement:

“Last night, the SWFL Young Republicans met to have an open and honest discussion regarding Congressman Trey Radel. We believed that it was important for our members, many of which are new to the political process, to be able to voice their opinion on whether our congressman should be encouraged to remain in office through the remainder of his term or resign. Following our discussion, a vote of our membership was held. The resulting vote was that sixty percent of our members supported Congressman Radel remaining in office for the balance of his term. Our members took no action on re-election, but solely on completing the current term of office. Our members believed that the restrictions placed on constituent services combined with the lack of voting representation that would be created by a congressional vacancy would place Southwest Florida and the Republican Party at a severe disadvantage. A special election would be costly and take 4-6 months. Our district would then face another election shortly thereafter. Based upon this realistic assessment of the situation, we chose to support continued representation at the Congressional level . Although we do not condone Congressman Radel’s actions, we do not believe that the constituents of our district should lose representation due to those actions.”

• Newt Gingrich compared Radel to Anthony Weiner, and indicated that while Radel's constituents could forgive him in time, he cautioned about a relapse.

“I think the burden is on him to prove that he [has] genuinely been rehabilitated. He needs to slow down, focus on rehabilitation and people will be patient...Does he come out of rehab genuinely changed or is it all a gimmick? If it’s a gimmick, he won’t survive. The example we had with Weiner in New York is that people will forgive you once. They won’t forgive you twice.”

Democratic response

• Nancy Pelosi

Pelosi did not call for Radel to resign, but on November 21, 2013, she did attempt to link Radel’s behavior to the move by Republicans to cut food stamps and require recipients to get drug tested before receiving benefits.

“The inconsistency on the Republican side to say, we’re going to cut $40 billion out of food stamps and by the way you should be drug tested before you can get food stamps, when people are voting to do that are engaged in that activity."

Campaign staffers leave D.C. office

Two staffers from Radel's Washington, D.C. office left in November 2013 to take positions with Endeavor Strategic Communications. Endeavor, the public relations and communications firm founded by former Darrell Issa aide Kurt Bardella, Radel's communications director and former digital director.

Committee assignments

U.S. House

2013-2014

Radel served on the following committees:

• Committee on Foreign Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Middle East and North Africa
  • Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere
• Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
  • Subcommittee on Aviation
  • Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation
  • Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials

Key votes

===113th Congress=== The second session of the 113th Congress enacted into law 224 out of the 3215 introduced bills (7 percent). Comparatively, the 112th Congress had 4.2 percent of introduced bills enacted into law in the second session. For more information pertaining to Radel's voting record in the 113th Congress, please see the below sections.

National security

DHS Appropriations

Radel voted in favor of HR 2217 - the DHS Appropriations Act of 2014. The bill passed the House on June 6, 2013, with a vote of 245 - 182 and was largely along party lines.

Keystone Pipeline Amendment

Radel voted against House Amendment 69, which would have amended HR 3 to "require that the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, in consultation with the Department of Homeland Security, conduct a study of the vulnerabilities of the Keystone XL pipeline to a terrorist attack and certify that necessary protections have been put in place." The amendment failed on May 22, 2013, with a vote of 176 - 239 and was largely along party lines.

CISPA (2013)

Radel voted in favor of HR 624 - the CISPA (2013). The bill passed the House on April 18, 2013, with a vote of 288 - 127. The bill permitted federal intelligence agencies to share cybersecurity intelligence and information with private entities and utilities. The bill was largely supported by Republicans, but divided the Democratic Party.

NDAA

Radel voted against HR 1960 - the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014. The bill passed the House on June 14, 2013, with a vote of 315 - 108. Both parties were somewhat divided on the vote.

Economy

2014 Budget

On January 15, 2014, the Republican-run House approved H.R. 3547, a $1.1 trillion spending bill to fund the government through September 30, 2014. The House voted 359-67 for the 1,582-page bill, with 64 Republicans and three Democrats voting against the bill. The omnibus package included 12 annual spending bills to fund federal operations. It increased the paychecks of federal workers and military personnel by 1 percent, increased Head Start funding for early childhood education by $1 billion, reduced funding to the Internal Revenue Service and the Environmental Protection Agency, and protected the Affordable Care Act from any drastic cuts. Radel voted with the majority of the Republican Party in favor of the bill.

Government shutdown

See also: United States budget debate, 2013

On September 30, 2013, the House passed a final stopgap spending bill before the shutdown went into effect. The bill included a one-year delay of the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate and would have also stripped the bill of federal subsidies for congressional members and staff. It passed through the House with a vote of 228-201. At 1 a.m. on October 1, 2013, one hour after the shutdown officially began, the House voted to move forward with going to a conference. In short order, Sen. Harry Reid rejected the call to conference. Radel voted to approve the stopgap spending bill that would have delayed the individual mandate.

The shutdown ended on October 16, 2013, when the House took a vote on HR 2775 after it was approved by the Senate. The bill to reopen the government lifted the $16.7 trillion debt limit and funded the government through January 15, 2014. Federal employees also received retroactive pay for the shutdown period. The only concession made by Senate Democrats was to require income verification for Obamacare subsidies. The House passed the legislation shortly after the Senate, by a vote of 285-144, with all 144 votes against the legislation coming from Republican members. Radel voted against HR 2775.

Immigration

Morton Memos Prohibition

Radel voted in favor of House Amendment 136 - Prohibits the Enforcement of the Immigration Executive Order. The amendment was adopted by the House on June 6, 2013, with a vote of 224 - 201. The purpose of the amendment as stated on the official text is to "prohibit the use of funds to finalize, implement, administer, or enforce the Morton Memos." These memos would have granted administrative amnesty to certain individuals residing in the United States without legal status. The vote largely followed party lines.

Healthcare

Healthcare Reform Rules

Radel voted in favor of House Amendment 450 - Requires Congressional Approval for Any Rules Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The amendment was adopted by the House on August 2, 2013, with a vote of 227-185. The amendment requires all changes to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act be approved by Congress before taking effect. The vote was largely along party lines.

Keep the IRS Off Your Healthcare Act

Radel voted in favor of HR 2009 - Keep the IRS Off Your Healthcare Act of 2013. The bill passed through the House on August 2, 2013, with a vote of 232-185. The bill would prevent the IRS and Treasury Secretary from enforcing the powers provided to them in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The vote largely followed party lines.

Social issues

Amash amendment

Radel voted against House Amendment 413 - Prohibits the National Security Agency from Collecting Records Under the Patriot Act. The amendment failed on July 4, 2013, by a vote of 205-217. The amendment would have prohibited the collection of records by the National Security Agency under the Patriot Act. Both parties were split on the vote.

Issues

National security

American response in Syria

See also: United States involvement in Syria

Radel was among a large percentage of Florida’s U.S. House delegation that did not support military strikes in Syria.

Elections

2014

See also: Florida's 19th Congressional District special election, 2014

A special election was held for Radel's seat following his resignation on January 27, 2014.

2012

See also: Florida's 19th Congressional District elections, 2012

Radel ran in the 2012 election for the U.S. House to represent Florida's 19th District. Radel won the nomination on the Republican ticket. Candidates wishing to run were required to file by the signature filing deadline of June 8, 2012. The primary elections were held on August 14, 2012. Radel won the nomination in the Republican primary on August 14, 2012. He was elected on November 6, 2012.

U.S. House, Florida District 19 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Trey Radel	62%	189,833
	Democratic	Jim Roach	35.8%	109,746
	Independent	Brandon Smith	2.2%	6,637
Total Votes				306,216
Source: Florida Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

U.S. House, Florida District 19 Republican Primary, 2012

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Trey Radel	30%	22,284
Chauncey Goss	21.5%	15,994
Paige Kreegel	17.7%	13,148
Gary Aubuchon	15.5%	11,486
Byron Donalds	14%	10,376
Joe Davidow	1.4%	1,026
Total Votes		74,314

Campaign themes

2012

Radel's campaign website listed the following priorities:

• Foster an environment for job creation

Excerpt: "Before, we can deal with spending, Trey believes we need to grow our economy. Business owners, both small and large, will tell you they spend far too much time working for the federal government, and not themselves. Whether it is a complicated tax code or dealing with heavy-handed government regulations, our government today inhibits business."

• Pay down the national debt

Excerpt: "Having run a business, Trey believes that there is a simple economic rule that Washington needs to abide by: don’t spend more money than you take in. Both Republicans and Democrats have been far too comfortable mortgaging away our children’s future. Trey wants to put a stop to this now."

• Repeal Obamacare and End Other Job-Killing Regulations

Excerpt: "Our country has prided itself on freedom and liberty. Regulations like Obamacare not only place severe restrictions on our freedom and choice but also threaten the economic livelihood of this country. Obamacare in particular essentially forces individuals to buy a private product just because they are American."

Campaign finance summary

Ballotpedia currently provides campaign finance data for all federal- and state-level candidates from 2020 and later. We are continuously working to expand our data to include prior elections. That information will be published here as we acquire it. If you would like to help us provide this data, please consider donating to Ballotpedia.

Personal Gain Index

See also: Personal Gain Index (U.S. Congress)

The Personal Gain Index (U.S. Congress) is a two-part measurement that illustrates the extent to which members of the U.S. Congress have prospered during their tenure as public servants.
It consists of two different metrics:

• Changes in Net Worth
• The Donation Concentration Metric

PGI: Change in net worth

See also: Changes in Net Worth of U.S. Senators and Representatives (Personal Gain Index) and Net worth of United States Senators and Representatives

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org, Radel's net worth as of 2012 was estimated between $1,707,224 and $6,432,000. That averages to $4,069,612, which is lower than the average net worth of Republican representatives in 2012 of $6,956,438.47. Radel ranked as the 89th most wealthy representative in 2012. Between 2011 and 2012, Radel's calculated net worth increased by an average of 33 percent per year. Between 2004 and 2012, the average annual percentage increase for a member of Congress was 15.4 percent.

Trey Radel Yearly Net Worth
Year	Average Net Worth
2011	$3,071,051
2012	$4,069,612
Growth from 2011 to 2012:	33%
Average annual growth:	33%
Comparatively, the American citizen experienced a median yearly decline in net worth of -0.94%.

The data used to calculate changes in net worth may include changes resulting from assets gained through marriage, inheritance, changes in family estates and/or trusts, changes in family business ownership, and many other variables unrelated to a member's behavior in Congress.

Analysis

Ideology and leadership

See also: GovTrack's Political Spectrum & Legislative Leadership ranking

Based on an analysis of bill sponsorship by GovTrack, Radel was a centrist Republican as of June 12, 2013.

Like-minded colleagues

The website OpenCongress tracks the voting records of each member to determine with whom he or she votes most and least often. The results include a member from each party.

Radel most often votes with:

• Erik Paulsen
• Jim Matheson

Radel least often votes with:

• Chris Gibson
• Mark Pocan

Lifetime voting record

See also: Lifetime voting records of United States Senators and Representatives

According to the website GovTrack, Radel missed 0 of 89 roll call votes from January 2013 to July 2014. This amounts to 0.0 percent, which is better than the median of 2.5 percent among current congressional representatives as of July 2014.

National Journal vote ratings

See also: National Journal vote ratings

Each year National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of Congress voted in the previous year.

2012

Information on 2012 vote rating is unavailable.

Voting with party

2013

Trey Radel voted with the Republican Party 94.5 percent of the time, which ranked 170th among the 233 House Republican members as of June 2013.

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Radel and his wife had their first child, a boy, in December 2011.

2013 worst year

Radel was named by The Hill as the member of Congress who had the worst year on Capitol Hill in 2013.

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for "Trey + Radel + Florida + House"

Trey Radel News Feed

See also

• Florida
• United States congressional delegations from Florida
• United States House of Representatives
• Florida's 19th Congressional District
• Florida's 19th Congressional District special election, 2014
• Misconduct in the 113th Congress (2013-2014)

External links

Suggest a link

• Campaign website
• U.S. House website

• Social media:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
• Biographies:
  • U.S. Congress
  • Wikipedia
• Political profiles:
  • GovTrack
  • CongressMerge
  • Project Vote Smart
  • Roll Call
• Financial (federal level):
  • FEC contributions
  • OpenSecrets.org
• Interest group ratings:
  • Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions:
  • On The Issues
  • Project Vote Smart
• Legislation:
  • Congress.gov
• Public statements:
  • Project Vote Smart
• Voting record:
  • Project Vote Smart
  • Washington Post
• Media appearances:
  • C-SPAN
• Media coverage:
  • Washington Post

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Theodore E. Deutch (D)	U.S. House of Representatives - Florida District 19 2013-2014	Succeeded by -

[show]

Florida's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Marco Rubio (R)

Rick Scott (R)

Representatives

District 1

Matt Gaetz (R)

District 2

Neal Dunn (R)

District 3

Kat Cammack (R)

District 4

Aaron Bean (R)

District 5

John Rutherford (R)

District 6

Michael Waltz (R)

District 7

Cory Mills (R)

District 8

Bill Posey (R)

District 9

Darren Soto (D)

District 10

Maxwell Frost (D)

District 11

Daniel Webster (R)

District 12

Gus Bilirakis (R)

District 13

Anna Luna (R)

District 14

Kathy Castor (D)

District 15

Laurel Lee (R)

District 16

Vern Buchanan (R)

District 17

Greg Steube (R)

District 18

Scott Franklin (R)

District 19

Byron Donalds (R)

District 20

Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D)

District 21

Brian Mast (R)

District 22

Lois Frankel (D)

District 23

Jared Moskowitz (D)

District 24

Frederica Wilson (D)

District 25

Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D)

District 26

Mario Diaz-Balart (R)

District 27

Maria Elvira Salazar (R)

District 28

Carlos Gimenez (R)

Republican Party (22)

Democratic Party (8)