Editing Ron Paul (section)

=== Elections ===
{{further|Texas's 14th congressional district}}

;1996 campaign
During 1996, Paul was re-elected to Congress after a difficult campaign. The [[Republican National Committee]] endorsed incumbent [[Greg Laughlin]] in the primary; Paul won with assistance from baseball pitcher, constituent, and friend [[Nolan Ryan]], tax activist and publisher [[Steve Forbes]]<ref name=ny/> and conservative commentator [[Pat Buchanan]] (the latter two of whom had run in the [[1996 Republican Party presidential primaries]]). Paul narrowly defeated Democratic attorney Charles "Lefty" Morris in the fall election, despite Morris' criticism over controversial statements in several [[Ron Paul newsletters|newsletters that Paul published]].

;1998–2013
In 1998 and 2000, Paul defeated Loy Sneary, a Democratic [[Bay City, Texas]], rice farmer and former [[Matagorda County]] judge.<ref name=drno/>
In the 2008 Republican primary,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/02/09/politics/p092049S41.DTL |title=Paul Vows to Remain a Republican in Race |work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |date=February 9, 2007 |access-date=February 12, 2007 |agency=Associated Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080411131229/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fn%2Fa%2F2008%2F02%2F09%2Fpolitics%2Fp092049S41.DTL |archive-date=April 11, 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> he defeated [[Friendswood]] city councilman [[Chris Peden]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/politics/stories/MYSA052207.EN.PAUL.94898f61.html |title=Paul gets primary challenger |author=Martin, Gary |date=May 22, 2007 |access-date=July 11, 2007 |work=[[San Antonio Express-News]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511091000/http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/politics/stories/MYSA052207.EN.PAUL.94898f61.html |archive-date=May 11, 2008}}</ref> with over 70 percent of the vote<ref>{{cite web |url=http://enr.sos.state.tx.us/enr/mar04_135_race4.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080709211901/http://enr.sos.state.tx.us/enr/mar04_135_race4.htm |archive-date=July 9, 2008 |date=March 4, 2008 |access-date=March 5, 2008 |title=2008 Republican Party Primary Election |publisher=[[Texas Secretary of State]]}}</ref> and ran unopposed in the general election.<ref>Gamboa, Suzanne (November 5, 2008) {{cite web |url=http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D948JSCG0.html |title=Olson upends Lampson in closely watched race |access-date=November 5, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208183914/http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D948JSCG0.html |archive-date=December 8, 2008}}, Dallas Morning News. Retrieved November 7, 2008.</ref> In the 2010&nbsp;Republican primary, Paul defeated three opponents with 80&nbsp;percent of the vote.<ref>{{cite news |last=Pershing |first=Ben |date=March 3, 2010 |url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/03/ron-paul-easily-fends-off-prim.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112123237/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/03/ron-paul-easily-fends-off-prim.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 12, 2012 |title=Ron Paul easily fends off primary challenges |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=July 17, 2010 |url-access=limited}}</ref> On July 12, 2011, Paul announced that he would not seek re-election to the House in order to pursue the [[Ron Paul 2012 presidential campaign|2012 presidential election]].<ref name="free">{{cite news |url=http://detnews.com/article/20110914/POLITICS03/109140373/Ron-Paul-attracts-loyal-following |title=Ron Paul attracts loyal following |work=The Detroit News |access-date=September 14, 2011}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} [http://www.oldhydepark.org/2011/09/13/ron-paul-attracts-loyal-following/ Alt URL] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140506164416/http://www.oldhydepark.org/2011/09/13/ron-paul-attracts-loyal-following/ |date=May 6, 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/07/the-end-of-the-ron-paul-era/241826 |title=The End of the Ron Paul Era? |author=Good, Chris |work=The Atlantic |date=August 5, 2011 |access-date=August 9, 2011 |url-access=limited}}</ref>