John Abney Culberson (born August 24, 1956) is an American attorney and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2019. A Republican, he served in in large portions of western Houston and surrounding Harris County. In his 2018 re-election campaign, he was defeated by Democrat Lizzie Fletcher. He subsequently began work as a lobbyist. Early life, education, and career Culberson was born in Houston, the son of Eleanor (née Abney) and James Vincent Culberson. His great-grandmother was Swedish. Culberson attended Lamar High School. He graduated from Southern Methodist University (SMU) in 1981 with a degree in history. He earned his Juris Doctor degree from South Texas College of Law in 1989. Texas House of Representatives During his time in law school, Culberson was elected to the Texas House of Representatives, serving his first term beginning in 1987. He was a member of the Republican Whip team, becoming Minority Whip in 1999 during his last term. Culberson began working for the law firm of Lorance and Thompson as a civil defense attorney after he graduated from law school. On August 1, 2008, to protest the House going into summer recess without discussing a pending energy bill, Culberson and other House Republicans stayed to make speeches about the energy bill in question. The Democratic leadership in the House, which controls services in the chamber, responded by cutting the microphones and cameras. Culberson used social media services Twitter and Qik to provide a live account of the proceedings. Culberson later compared this episode to the Iranian government's crackdown against dissidents who used Twitter to protest a restriction on foreign media in June 2009. U.S. House of Representatives Elections 2000 Culberson won the Republican nomination for the 7th District in 2000 after 15-term incumbent Bill Archer announced his retirement. His state house district included much of the congressional district's western portion. He finished first in the Republican primary — traditionally the real contest in what has historically been a heavily Republican district – and defeated Peter Wareing in the runoff. He won easily in November, taking about 75% of the vote. 2008 In 2008, Culberson defeated businessman Michael Peter Skelly with 56% of the vote. It was only the second time that a Democrat had even crossed 40 percent of the vote in this district. 2010 Culberson ran unopposed. 2012 Culberson was challenged by the Democratic nominee James