Michael Cloud
Republican | Texas
Candidate Profile*
Conservative
*Additional information appears below for educational purposes; however, only data received prior to the candidate deadline was considered during Panel Evaluation.
BIOGRAPHY
Name
Michael Cloud
Party
Republican
Election Year
2020
Election
General
Race
U.S. Rep., Dist.27
Incumbent
Yes
Links
EDUCATION
Oral Roberts University, Tulsa, OK, B.S.
WORK & MILITARY
Bright Idea Media, Owner
Faith Family Church, Communications and Media Director
AFFILIATIONS
Faith Family Church, Member, Volunteer
POLITICAL OFFICES HELD
State Republican Executive Committee, 2
Victoria County Republican Chair, 7
POLITICAL OFFICES SOUGHT
(Candidate did not provide)
Race
Previous Races
SCORECARDS
CONSERVATIVE ORGANIZATIONS
2019
100%, 100% (cum.)†
2019-20
100%
2019-20
100%
2020
100%
2019
100%
2019-20
100%, 100% (cum.)†
2017-2018
100%
2019-20
100%
2017-18
100%
2019
A
2020
A
2019
99%
2019
97%, 97% (cum.)†
2019
96%, 96% (cum.)†
2019
84% (cum.)†
2019
82% (cum.)†
2019-20
94%, 81% (cum.)†
2019
|100%, 100% (cum.)†
2019-20
|100%
2019-20
|100%
2020
|100%
2019
|100%
2019-20
|100%, 100% (cum.)†
2017-2018
|100%
2019-20
|100%
2017-18
|100%
2019
|A
2019
|99%
2019
|97%, 97% (cum.)†
2019
|96%, 96% (cum.)†
2019
|84% (cum.)†
2019
|82% (cum.)†
2019-20
|94%, 81% (cum.)†
LIBERAL ORGANIZATIONS
2017-18
100%
2017-18
50%
2019-20
26%
2019
25%
2019
10%, 13% (cum.)†
2017-18
0%
2018
0%, 0% (cum.)†
2019
0%
2019
0% (cum.)†
2019
0%
2019
F
2017-18
|100%
2017-18
|50%
2019-20
|26%
2019
|25%
2019
|10%, 13% (cum.)†
2017-18
|0%
2018
|0%, 0% (cum.)†
2019
|0% (cum.)†
2019
|0%
2019
|F
ENDORSEMENTS*
*These endorsements were received after the deadline and were not considered in the Panel Evaluations and are for additional educational purposes only.
CONSERVATIVE (6)
*Family Research Council Action PAC
*Grassroots America: We the People
National Rifle Association (NRA) PVF
National Right To Life
Texans for Fiscal Responsibility (Empower Texans)
OTHER (3)
National Association of Home Builders
Texas Alliance for Life PAC (TAL)
Texas Medical Association (TEXPAC)
REPORTED BY CANDIDATE (3)
Texas Alliance for Life
Texans for Fiscal Responsibility
FreedomWorks
SELECTED CONTRIBUTIONS
CONSERVATIVE
GIVEN BY CANDIDATE (11)
Club for Growth (2018)
Daniel (Dan) Bishop (2019)
Donald Trump (2020)
Glenn Hegar (2015)
Local, County, and District Republican Organizations (2019)
RECEIVED BY CANDIDATE (59)
Adrian Smith (2018)
America Unlimited (2018)
American Principles (2018)
AX PAC (2018)
Battleground PAC (2018)
LIBERAL
GIVEN BY CANDIDATE (0)
RECEIVED BY CANDIDATE (2)
American Maritime Officers (2020)
National Air Traffic Controllers Association (2020)
OTHER INFORMATION
QUESTIONNAIRE
RIGHT TO LIFE
Human life begins at conception and deserves legal protection at every stage until natural death.
Strongly Agree
Abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, should not receive taxpayer funds or grants from federal, state, or local governments.
Strongly Agree
I support the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which requires health care providers to provide life-saving treatment for infants who survive an attempted abortion.
Strongly Agree
Under what circumstances should abortion be allowed?
In cases where the mother’s life is legitimately endangered, an exception would be understandable, but still a heartbreaking loss of a human life. In other cases, I would support policies that eliminate abortion to the greatest practical extent.
ECONOMY
It is the government’s responsibility to ensure everyone has a livable income.
Strongly Disagree
Free enterprise and the right to private property are essential elements of a productive economic system.
Strongly Agree
How would you guarantee Social Security benefits for future generations?
Social Security must not be affected for those at or near the retirement age but reforming the system for younger generations will be necessary to ensure its solvency. One option is raising the retirement age, to take effect gradually.
What government spending would you reduce in order to balance the budget?
The entire congressional budgeting process is broken, and I am committed to standing up against massive spending bills championed by House leadership. The Government Accountability Office produces an annual list identifying billions in wasteful spending. Congress refuses to stick to its own budget caps, raising the debt ceiling to accommodate huge omnibus bills. I support a sunset commission to evaluate and recommend ineffective programs for elimination.
Under what circumstances should taxpayers help pay off existing student loans?
The solution to student debt is not a taxpayer-funded bailout. The government’s past approaches to “making college affordable” have focused on making it easier to acquire debt and ignored the root cause: colleges increasing costs at more than double the rate of inflation. The solution is to hold colleges accountable and require them to be completely transparent with students about debt burdens & job prospects for the degrees they grant.
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
Governments should not discriminate against individuals, organizations or small businesses because of their belief that marriage is only a union of one man and one woman.
Strongly Agree
Religious liberty is at risk in the United States and deserves the highest level of protection in the law.
Strongly Agree
I promise to protect the freedom of Christians to share the Gospel and to practice Biblical principles.
Yes
What does "separation of church and state" mean to you?
The First Amendment was meant to protect of the right of people to freely exercise their faith, but lately it has been misconstrued to constrain the free exercise of faith. It is alarming when the state attempts to compel people of faith to participate in activities that violate their convictions, and I am committed to defending our nation's guarantee of religious liberty.
HEALTHCARE
It is the government’s responsibility to ensure everyone has health insurance.
Strongly Disagree
I support the elimination of private healthcare insurance.
Strongly Disagree
How would you promote healthcare coverage that is adequate, affordable and accessible for all?
There are several reasons for the rising costs of health care that include: increased administrative and regulatory costs, lack of price transparency, increased drug costs, lawsuit abuse, and Medicare fraud. A good place to start is returning accountability to the system by requiring service providers to publish their prices. This would begin to return consumer accountability to the system and restore the patient-care provider relationship. Limiting regulation and lawsuit abuse would go far to curb the expenses of excessive paperwork that can often cost more than actual medical care. Getting more people on the insurance rolls is not the answer. Adding layers of bureaucracy and mandating unneeded or unwanted services only raise the cost. We must look at how to bring the cost down and make health CARE more accessible to more people. To read more on my thoughts on this subject, see the issues page of my website at www.cloudforcongress.com.
NATIONAL SECURITY
The best way to maintain peace is through a strong military.
Strongly Agree
What should the United States do to help eradicate the threat of radical Islamic terrorism?
Peace through strength has been the philosophy of the United States through our history and is a necessary condition to keep radical terrorism from taking a foothold in our nation. We must maintain a strong United States military – including investing in defense against new paradigms of warfare including cyber and AI — knowing that evil is alive and well in the world and the Constitution makes it the federal government's responsibility to defend the United States from enemies foreign and domestic.
IMMIGRATION
I am in favor of construction of a wall and other necessary infrastructure on our border that gives complete control over entering and exiting the United States.
Agree
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) should be abolished.
Strongly Disagree
State and federal funds should be denied to any public or private entity, including but not limited to sanctuary cities, that are not in compliance with immigration laws.
Agree
Employers should be required to use E-verify to confirm the eligibility of their employees to work in the United States.
Agree
Who should be allowed to immigrate to the U.S. and under what circumstances?
Our immigration system is broken. An unwillingness to enforce the law over the past several decades has favored those who choose to break the law rather than go through the legal process. And Congress has been negligent in finding a solution to this serious problem. The first step in any immigration policy must be border security and enforcement, and Congress should pursue an “all of the above” approach, including building a wall where it makes sense.
EDUCATION
Taxpayer-funded public education should be guaranteed through college.
Strongly Disagree
VALUES
Judeo-Christian values established a framework of morality which is necessary for our system of limited government.
Strongly Agree
I support adding sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression as protected classes in non-discrimination laws.
Strongly Disagree
Briefly describe your spiritual beliefs and values.
My faith is at the core of who I am, informs my worldview and motivates my service to others and our nation. I am a graduate of Oral Roberts University and formerly served on staff at Faith Family Church in Victoria, Texas. My faith encourages me to give my best effort to work and life with integrity in my personal life and in service in Congress.
ABOUT YOU
When you consider your views on a wide range of issues from economic and social matters to foreign policy and immigration, which of the following best describes you overall?
Very Conservative
Please provide publicly available information validating your answer to the previous question.
During my first campaign I was endorsed my key conservative leaders like David Barton of WallBuilders, former Congressman Ron Paul, Governor Greg Abbott, Vice President Mike Pence, and National Right to Life Committee. In this election cycle, I have already been endorsed by Texas Alliance for Life, Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, FreedomWorks with a 100% voting record, and Heritage Action who scores both social and fiscal conservative issues. With Heritage Action, I have a 96% voting record currently – which is one of the top conservative scores.
Have you ever been convicted of a felony or been penalized for sexual misconduct? If so, please explain.
No.
Is there anything else you would like voters to know about you?
I am a husband, father, and grateful citizen of the United States. I have a passion for helping people and making a difference in our communities, state and nation. That’s why I’m working hard to represent our 27th District of Texas in Congress with integrity.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE & PUBLIC SAFETY
Mandatory minimum sentencing should be required and enforced for violent crimes.
Agree
2ND AMENDMENT
What restrictions on gun ownership are needed to protect public safety?
The right to keep and bear arms is essential to defend ourselves not only from others but also from tyranny. In general, data shows Americans are safer today from gun crime than at any time since the 1960s. As a father of three students and the husband of a teacher, I am especially aware of the need to improve school safety, but many “solutions” from the left would only make our families less safe.
OTHER IMPORTANT ISSUES
I support BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanction) against Israel if they refuse to allow the creation of a Palestinian state.
Strongly Disagree
I support the legalization of recreational marijuana.
Disagree
Reparations should be given to people on the basis of race.
Strongly Disagree
The Electoral College should be abolished.
Strongly Disagree
In priority order, what three areas of legislation do you propose to author or sponsor if elected?
Protecting the unborn has been a key priority, standing up for the Born-Alive Act & leading the successful effort to eliminate Obamacare’s hidden abortion tax. Another priority includes good governance - bills to term-limit Congress and to end Congress’s current practice of ignoring the cost of new debt when debating spending bills. I have also prioritized border security, leading trips for out-of-state congressmen to see the border crisis for themselves & working with the administration.
Is racism a threat to domestic security in the United States? Why or why not?
Racism is a terrible evil, and in the past our nation failed to live up to our founding principle that all men are created equal. I believe in Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream of a nation where people are judged, not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. While there is still work to be done, our nation has thankfully made tremendous progress to remove systemic forms of racial discrimination and move beyond racial division.
