Joe Moody (politician)
Joe Moody | |
|---|---|
| Speaker pro tempore of the Texas House of Representatives | |
| Assumed office February 13, 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Charlie Geren |
| In office January 8, 2019 – July 15, 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Dennis Bonnen |
| Succeeded by | Charlie Geren |
| Member of the Texas House of Representatives from the 78th district | |
| Assumed office January 8, 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Dee Margo |
| In office January 13, 2009 – January 11, 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Pat Haggerty |
| Succeeded by | Dee Margo |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Joseph Edward Moody January 9, 1981 El Paso, Texas, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Adrianne Moody |
| Education | New Mexico State University (BA) Texas Tech University (JD) |
Joseph Edward Moody (born January 9, 1981) is a lawyer from El Paso, Texas, who serves as Speaker Pro Tempore of the Texas House of Representatives.[1] He represented District 78 since 2008 with the exception of the 82nd Texas Legislature where he was defeated by Dee Margo in the 2010 general election. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
Early life and education
Moody was raised in El Paso, Texas and attended Cathedral High School. His father, William Moody, served as a state district judge, and his mother, Magdalena Morales-Moody, was a school teacher. He attended New Mexico State University where he studied government and history. He went on to graduate from Texas Tech University School of Law.[2][3]
Elections
After graduating from law school in 2006, Moody helped his father Bill Moody campaign for the Supreme Court of Texas. He was an assistant district attorney in El Paso County when he ran against Louis Irwin in the Democratic primary leading up to the 2008 Texas House of Representatives election.[2] After winning the primary, he faced Republican Dee Margo in the general elections.[4]
Moody defeated Margo in the 2008 general election, winning by 3,200 votes.[5] Both ran against each other again in the 2010 Texas House of Representatives election where Margo won.[6] They faced each other a third time during the 2012 Texas House of Representatives election where Moody won.[7]
Moody won his fifth nonconsecutive term in the House in the general election held on November 6, 2018. With 31,361 votes (65.2 percent) and buoyed by the U.S. Senate candidacy of Beto O'Rourke, also an El Paso native, Moody beat Republican candidate Jeffrey Lane who finished with 16,741 votes (34.8 percent).[8]
Texas House of Representatives
Moody served as Speaker Pro Tempore in the 86th and 87th Legislatures, but was removed from the position by Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan on July 15, 2021, after Moody and other Democrats broke quorum by leaving the state on July 12, 2021 in protest of Republican sponsored voting legislation.[9][10] He was reappointed to the role in the 89th Legislature by Speaker Dustin Burrows.[11]
Moody has made criminal justice a primary focus of his time in the legislature[12] and has frequently served on the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence; Moody was the chair of the committee in 2017 and 2023.[13]
In the Robert Roberson case, Moody featured prominently in the effort to halt the execution, believing the case was eligible for appeal under Texas' junk science law.[14] In 2024, 84 members of the Texas House signed a petition to the Board of Pardons and Paroles to urge clemency in the case.[15] When the Board denied this request, the Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence, with Moody as the Chair, issued a subpoena for Roberson to testify before the committee in an attempt to force a delay of the execution.[16][17] The execution was delayed, but the Texas Supreme Court ruled that the committee had overstepped its bounds.[18] The committee issued more subpoenas before a new execution date was scheduled.[19] Roberson never testified before the committee, but in 2025 the court issued a stay of execution and ordered the case to be retried in light of the junk science law.[20][21]
Following the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Moody was selected to be Vice Chair of the committee investigating the causes and response by law enforcement.[22][23]
References
- ^ Burrows, Dustin. [Charlie Geren Standing Committee Appointments by Committee], Texas House of Representatives, February 13, 2025.
- ^ a b Grissom, Brandi (February 11, 2008). "Pair of Demos vie for chance to take back District 78". El Paso Times. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
- ^ "Rep. Moody Joe; biography". House.Texas.gov. Texas House of Representatives. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
- ^ Muench, Joe (March 16, 2008). "All quiet on the Margo-Moody front". El Paso Times. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
- ^ Aguilar, Julian (October 3, 2012). "It's Moody vs. Margo, Part Three, in El Paso's HD-78". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
- ^ Torres, Zahira (November 7, 2012). "Democrat Joe Moody edges Republican Dee Margo for District 78 House seat". El Paso Times. Retrieved November 22, 2013.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ McNamara, Jonathan (November 6, 2012). "Election Night Recap". Retrieved June 23, 2025.
- ^ "Election Returns". Texas Secretary of State. November 6, 2018. Archived from the original on November 8, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
- ^ Barragán, James. El Paso Democrat Joe Moody stripped of leadership position in Texas House after leaving state with Democrats, Texas Tribune, July 15, 2021.
- ^ Garrett, Robert T. Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan strips absent Democratic ally of chamber's No. 2 post, Dallas Morning News, July 15, 2021.
- ^ Barragan, James (February 13, 2025). "Texas House committee assignments extend power of experienced GOP leaders". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
- ^ Samuels, Alex (October 11, 2018). "Q&A: State Rep. Joe Moody on criminal justice and the Legislature". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
- ^ "Member profile for Joe Moody - Texas Legislative Reference Library". lrl.texas.gov. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
- ^ Powell, Adam. "Dallas Morning News names Rep. Joe Moody 'Texan of the Year' for work to halt execution". El Paso Times. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
- ^ Guo, Kayla (September 18, 2024). "Bipartisan Texas House majority urges clemency for man facing execution in shaken baby case". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
- ^ Davies, David Martin (October 9, 2025). "Robert Roberson granted stay of execution". KUT Radio, Austin's NPR Station. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
- ^ Andone, Dakin; Killough, Ashley (October 16, 2024). "Texas committee approves subpoena for death row inmate ahead of his execution". CNN. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
- ^ "Texas Supreme Court Paves Way for Execution in 'Shaken Baby' Case". November 15, 2024. Archived from the original on July 5, 2025. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
- ^ Guo, Kayla (December 17, 2024). "Texas House panel subpoenas death row inmate Robert Roberson a second time". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
- ^ "Texas man whose execution was halted in shaken baby case is again stopped from testifying". The Independent. December 20, 2024. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
- ^ Guo, Kayla (October 9, 2025). "Texas court blocks execution of death row inmate Roberson". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
- ^ Treisman, Rachel (July 18, 2022). "The Uvalde shooting shows that gun laws do matter, says official who worked on report". NPR. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
- ^ "Uvalde shooter wrote 'LOL' on white board in victims' blood, lawmaker tells emotional hearing". NBC News. April 19, 2023. Retrieved December 18, 2025.