French Hill (politician)

James French Hill (born December 5, 1956) is an American politician serving as the U.S. Representative for Arkansas's 2nd congressional district since 2015. He is a member of the Republican Party.

French Hill
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Arkansas's 2nd district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2015
Preceded by	Tim Griffin
Personal details
Born	James French Hill December 5, 1956 Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Martha McKenzie ​ (m. 1988)​
Children	2
Education	Vanderbilt University (BS)
Website	House website

Early life, education and career

President George H. W. Bush with French and Martha Hill.

Hill was born in Little Rock, Arkansas.[1] He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Vanderbilt University.[2] He attended the UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Management, where he earned a certified corporate director designation.[3]

From 1982 to 1984, Hill was an aide to Republican Senator John Tower.[1] He was a staffer on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.[1] Hill was executive secretary to President George H. W. Bush’s Economic Policy Council from 1991 to 1993, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Corporate Finance from 1989 to 1991.[1][4] Hill founded and was CEO and chairman of the Board Delta Trust and Banking Corporation in Little Rock until its acquisition by Simmons Bank in 2014.[5]

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

Official portrait for the 113th Congress

2014

Hill ran for the 2nd district U.S. House seat after fellow Republican Tim Griffin decided instead to run for lieutenant governor. Hill defeated Democratic nominee Pat Hays, the mayor of North Little Rock,[6] 52 to 44 percent.[7]

2016

Hill was renominated in the Republican primary over Brock Olree of Searcy (White County) and was reelected with 58% of the vote against the Democratic nominee, former Little Rock School District Board President Dianne Curry, and Libertarian nominee Chris Hayes of North Little Rock.

2018

In 2017, Arkansas's 2nd district was included on the initial list of Republican-held seats targeted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2018.[8] In the November general election, Hill defeated Democratic nominee Clarke Tucker with 52.1% of the vote to Tucker's 45.8%. Libertarian Joe Swafford received 2%.[9]

2020

Hill ran for another term. Sarah Huckabee Sanders endorsed Hill, speaking at a rally in support of him.[10] In the November general election, Hill defeated Democratic nominee Joyce Elliott.[11]

Tenure

As of September 2018, Hill had voted with his party 95% of the time and in line with President Trump's position 96.6% of the time.[12][13] On May 4, 2017, he voted to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and pass the American Health Care Act.[14][15] Hill voted for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.[16]

On April 17, 2020, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy appointed Hill to the COVID-19 Congressional Oversight Commission to oversee the implementation of the CARES Act.[17]

In 2020, the Hill campaign warned that opponent Joyce Elliott was "as dangerous as they come".[1] Hill warned that if elected, Elliott would "be a member of the Democratic conference and she'd be a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and her first vote would be for Speaker Pelosi to be the speaker of the House."[1]

Hill praised the Trump administrations handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.[1]

Committee assignments

• Committee on Financial Services
  • Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government-Sponsored Enterprises
  • Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

Caucus memberships

• Congressional Arts Caucus[18]
• Republican Study Committee[19]
• United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus[20]
• U.S.-Japan Caucus[21]

Electoral history

Arkansas's 2nd congressional district Republican primary election, 2014
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
Republican	French Hill	29,916	55.08
Republican	Ann Clemmer	12,400	22.83
Republican	Conrad Reynolds	11,994	22.08

Arkansas's 2nd congressional district election, 2014
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
Republican	French Hill	123,073	51.86
Democratic	Patrick Henry Hays	103,477	43.60
Libertarian	Debbie Standiford	10,590	4.46
Write-ins	Write-ins	190	0.08

Arkansas's 2nd congressional district Republican primary election, 2016
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
Republican	French Hill (inc.)	86,474	84.54
Republican	Brock Olree	15,811	15.46

Arkansas's 2nd congressional district election, 2016[22]
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
Republican	French Hill (inc.)	176,472	58.34
Democratic	Dianne Curry	111,347	36.81
Libertarian	Chris Hayes	14,342	4.74
Write-ins	Write-ins	303	0.1

Arkansas's 2nd congressional district election, 2018
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
Republican	French Hill (inc.)	132,125	52.1
Democratic	Clarke Tucker	116,135	45.8
Libertarian	Joe Swafford	5,193	2.0

Personal life

A ninth-generation Arkansan and a Roman Catholic,[23] Hill resides in Little Rock.[1] He and his wife, Martha McKenzie, have two children.[1]

References

1. "Hill, Elliott in tight race for U.S. House seat". Arkansas Online. October 18, 2020. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
2. Burnett, Lisa (May 20, 2014). "Hill gets GOP nod for District 2". Arkansas Online.,
3. "J. French Hill – 40 Under 40 – 1996". ArkansasBusiness.com. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
4. "2013 SMEI Arkansas Top Manager of the Year Award". SMEI.org. Sales and Marketing Executives International, Inc. Archived from the original on November 5, 2014. Retrieved January 11, 2015.
5. Friedman, Mark; Turner, Lance (March 24, 2014). "Simmons First to Buy Delta Trust for $66M". ArkansasBusiness.com. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
6. "GOP's French Hill wins US House seat in Arkansas". Associated Press. November 4, 2014. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
7. "Arkansas House results – 2014 Election Center – Elections and Politics from CNN.com". CNN. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
8. Cheney, Kyle (January 30, 2017). "Amid Democratic doldrums, DCCC identifies 2018 targets". Politico. Retrieved March 23, 2017.
9. "Arkansas Election Results: Second House District". New York Times. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
10. "Sarah Huckabee Sanders encourages Arkansas voters at French Hill rally". THV 11. October 31, 2020. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
11. Cushman, Paige (November 3, 2020). "French Hill wins re-election against Democratic opponent Joyce Elliott". KATV. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
12. Bycoffe, Aaron (January 30, 2017). "Tracking J. French Hill In The Age Of Trump". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
13. Willis, Derek. "Represent". ProPublica. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
14. "How the House voted to pass the GOP health-care bill". Washington Post. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
15. "How every member voted on health care bill". CNN. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
16. Almukhtar, Sarah (December 19, 2017). "How Each House Member Voted on the Tax Bill". The New York Times. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
17. "Hill named to panel overseeing virus aid". Arkansas Online. April 18, 2020. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
18. "Membership". Congressional Arts Caucus. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
19. "Member List". Republican Study Committee. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
20. "Our Members". U.S. House of Representatives International Conservation Caucus. Archived from the original on August 1, 2018. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
21. "Members". U.S. - Japan Caucus. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
22. "Arkansas Election Results". The New York Times. November 6, 2018. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
23. "Arkansas–2: J. French Hill (R)". Nationaljournal.com. Retrieved January 11, 2015.

External links

• Representative French Hill official U.S. House website
• French Hill for Congress
• French Hill at Curlie
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
• Appearances on C-SPAN