If you didn't know it, you'd never think he was a United States Congressman when you meet Kenny Marchant for the first time. His unassuming manner, born of northeast Texas hardship, hasn't changed through his successes in both business and politics.

Kenny was born in the small town of Bonham, TX, home of the legendary Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Sam Rayburn.  From an early age, Kenny's parents, Helen, a stay-at-home mom, and Hobart , a barber and proud World War II veteran, instilled in Kenny the values of hard work, discipline, service to a cause greater than self-interest, and a patriotic love of country.  His parents' marriage, 58 years strong to this day, serves as an example of devotion that carries over into Kenny's own marriage, family life, and friendships.  

Reflecting back many years ago to when Kenny was just a child, Hobart recalls the story of a customer at the barber ship observing Kenny shining shoes after a long day of school.  Impressed by the hard-working young boy, the customer looked to Hobart and said, "That kid is going to amount to something someday."  Given Kenny's humble beginnings, no one could have guessed how true that comment would turn out to be.

At the age of eight, Kenny began his own newspaper route.  During the holiday season, he sold Christmas cards door-to-door as well as mistletoe he picked from trees.  At a local golf course that still serves the community, he collected loose golf balls, cleaned them up and sold them. During these formative years, Kenny learned the values of hard work and entrepreneurship that would serve him both in his private pursuits and public service.

A graduate of R. L. Turner High School in Farmers Branch, Kenny attended Southern Nazarene University in Bethany, OK and worked to pay his way through school by roofing houses. Although he moved to Kansas City, MO after graduation to attend Nazarene Theological Seminary, Kenny returned home a year later and started a roofing business. Relying on his natural business instincts and entrepreneurial spirit, Kenny soon expanded his roofing business into home construction and property development. Though he found success in this endeavor, Kenny encountered many regulatory hurdles he believed led many people to forego opening their own small business.

In 1980, while wrestling with the burdensome obstacles that confront many small business owners, he decided to run for a seat on the Carrollton City Council to push for change to stimulate the local economy.  Kenny won that election and served as a councilman from 1980 to 1984.  In 1984, Kenny was elected Mayor of Carrollton, an office he held until being elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1987.

As a state representative, Kenny earned his reputation as a savvy, behind-the-scenes legislator and consensus-builder, and was known for working across party lines to pass legislation. In the process, he was named "Top Ten Legislator" and "Peacemaker" by Texas Monthly and "Legislator of the Year" by the Texas Municipal League. Kenny's even-handed ability to bridge the partisan divide eventually led him to being named Chairman of the House Committee on Banking and Investments, where he authored legislation strengthening oversight of credit unions, allowing interstate branch banking, enforcing state laws relating to corporate fraud, securing public investments, and allowing access to home equity. In 1999, his colleagues elected him Chair of the House Republican Caucus, a position he held for four years. In the 2002 elections, led by their Caucus Leader Marchant, Texas Republicans held their first majority in the Texas House of Representatives since Reconstruction. Kenny was selected to serve as Chairman of the powerful State Affairs Committee.   

In 2004, after mid-term redistricting, Kenny decided to run for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Elected with 65% of the vote, Kenny represents the 24th Congressional District which includes parts of Bedford, Carrollton, Cedar Hill, Colleyville, Coppell, Dallas, Duncanville, Euless, Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, Grapevine, Hurst, Lewisville, Plano, Southlake, and Irving.

As a member of the Financial Services, Education & Labor, and Oversight & Government Reform Committees, Kenny has consistently supported tax cuts and opposed tax increases, while opposing wasteful government spending and advocating for greater transparency and accountability in the earmark process--stances which led Americans for Tax Reform to hail him as a "Hero of the Taxpayer." His pro-family record includes voting for legislation supporting a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman and supporting legislation that protects the rights of the unborn. Kenny also has co-sponsored legislation to protect Second Amendment rights and to stop illegal immigration. Recently, he has championed a comprehensive approach to solving the energy crisis that includes increased domestic energy exploration and production, as well as incentives for conservation and research into alternative and renewable energy technologies.  

When not immersed in the details of legislation, you probably will find Kenny tending to his ranch or reading a book--most likely mystery or non-fiction. A self-described history buff, he has read nearly every book published about Texans Speaker Sam Rayburn, who represented Bonham in Congress when Marchant was born, and LBJ, who was a skilled legislator and tactician in his days as a Congressman, Senator, and President of the United States.  Kenny also loves to travel and has done so extensively.  His interest in other cultures and his desire to meet people from all parts of the world have led him to travel to nearly every region of the globe.

Perhaps one of Kenny's most treasured projects has been his involvement in providing humanitarian aid through the Ken Marchant Foundation.  Established in 1989, the Foundation has funded church loans, mission projects and scholarships. Over the years, the Foundation has delivered clothing, medicine, and equipment to orphanages and hospitals throughout the world, including Russia, Bulgaria, and Mexico.  The Foundation has also assisted with the rebuilding of a church in Russia destroyed by the former Soviet regime.  The effort included sponsoring the church's choir to travel to the U.S. to raise funds to rebuild their church.  Kenny has utilized his personal resources to support many church causes and to help those in need with little to no fanfare--often doing so anonymously.

An intensely private man and devoted husband, father, and grandfather, Kenny enjoys nothing more than spending free time at home in Texas with his family, Donna, his wife of 33 year, their four children and two grandchildren.  A respected family man and statesman, Kenny certainly has--as predicted many years ago in his dad's barber shop--"amounted to something."