Mark Keough

Mark James Keough
Texas State Representative from District 15 (The Woodlands in Montgomery County)
Incumbent
Assumed office January 13, 2015
Preceded by	Steve Toth
Personal details
Born	1953 Place of birth missing
Nationality	American
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Kimberly Sparks Keough
Children	Four children
Residence	The Woodlands Montgomery County, Texas
Alma mater	Cedarville University Dallas Theological Seminary Grace Theological Seminary
Occupation	Christian pastor, radio host, educator Automobile sales manager
Religion	Non-denominational Christian

Mark James Keough (born 1953) is a businessman and a Christian pastor, radio host, and educator from The Woodlands, Texas, who is an incoming Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 15 in suburban Montgomery County north of Houston.

Background

Keough received a bachelor's degree from Cedarville University, a private institution in Cedarville, Ohio. He obtained master's degrees from Dallas Theological Seminary and Grace Theological Seminary in Winona Lake, Indiana. He also attended the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio. For more than two decades, Keough was engaged in automobile sales, including fourteen years as the general sales manager of Northside Lexus in north Harris County. He left the automobile business to establish Mark Keough Ministries, which includes the Pathfinders Fellowship of The Woodlands. In addition to his continuing work as a pastor and radio host, he has been the headmaster of a private Christian school.

Keough and his wife, the former Kimberly "Kim" Sparks, have four children.

Political life

On March 4, 2014, Keough won the Republican nomination to replace one-term Representative Steve Toth, another businessman and clergyman, who instead ran unsuccessfully against neighboring State Representative Brandon Creighton for the Texas State Senate. Keough polled 57.4 percent of the vote against his intraparty opponent, Bruce Tough, the chairman of The Woodlands township board of directors.Keough was then unopposed in the heavily Republican district in the November 4, 2014, general election.

Keough is the pastor of The Woodlands Bible Church and a vocal opponent of separation of church and state, a concept that he does not find in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Keough describes his political philosophy, accordingly:

There’s a real need for legislators in Austin who are there to serve the people, and not themselves. Too often, we fall into the habit of spending money like Washington, threatening the prosperity we have in Texas. This campaign will focus on the fiscally conservative, pro-life, low-tax policies that have made Texas a great place to live.

In 2015, Keough plans to introduce legislation to establish statewide victim-offender mediation for punishments with the goal of reducing recidivism in prisons. A member of the National Rifle Association, Keough plans to oppose gun-free zones in schools and churches. He would allow licensed gun owners to carry weapons in such zones. Keough favors the repeal of margins taxes on small businesses. He favors upgrading the penalties for the possession of child pornography from a third-degree to a second-degree felony. He proposes the abolition of sanctuary cities, those in which municipalities forbid the use of any local funds to enforce national immigration laws.

References

Texas House of Representatives
Preceded by Steve Toth	Texas State Representative for District 15 (The Woodlands in Montgomery County) Mark James Keough 2015–	Succeeded by Incumbent