Bill Flores

In late 2009 Flores entered the Republican primary for the 17th District, held by 10-term Democratic incumbent Chet Edwards.[13] Flores claimed his worries about the future of "the American dream" inspired him to run for Congress.[6] He committed a half million dollars of his own money to self-fund his campaign.[14]

In the Republican primary runoff on April 13, he had defeated Rob Curnock[15] by a 64–36 percent margin.[16] The size of his primary victory was a surprise to many political observers because Curnock was the 2008 nominee and he held Edwards' 2008 vote total close to 50 percent, despite being heavily outspent.[17] During the Republican primary, Flores received the endorsement of former Republican U.S. Senator Phil Gramm[18] After the primary win, Flores was also endorsed by George H. W. Bush, John McCain,[19] Mitt Romney, and Mike Huckabee.[6]

Through December 21, 2010, Flores' campaign raised $3.5 million, of which $1.49 million came from Flores himself. He spent $3.3 million overall.[20]

On November 2, 2010, Flores defeated Edwards with 62 percent of the vote.[21][22][23] This was the largest margin of defeat for a Democratic incumbent in the 2010 cycle.

Flores won his fourth term in the U.S. House in the general election held on November 8, 2016. With 149,417 votes (60.8 percent), he defeated Democrat William Matta, who trailed with 86,603 ballots (35.2 percent) and Libertarian Clark Patterson with 9,708 (4 percent).[24]

Flores won his fifth term in the U.S. House in the general election held on November 6, 2018. With 134,375 votes (56.9 percent), he defeated Democrat Rick Kennedy, who trailed with 97,574 ballots (41.3 percent) and Libertarian Peter Churchman with 4,415 (1.9 percent).[25]

Upon his swearing-in, Flores became the first Republican to represent Waco in Congress since Reconstruction. Flores supports limited government and lower taxes; an end to the spending of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act; making the Bush-era tax cuts permanent; anti-abortion positions; and stronger enforcement at the U.S. Mexico border.[26] Flores supports the building of new nuclear power plants to assist the U.S. in becoming energy self-sufficient. He also supports incentives for the development of solar and wind power.[27] Flores is a member of the Conservative Republican Study Committee and the Congressional Hispanic Conference.

Flores supported President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order to temporarily curtail Muslim immigration until better screening methods are devised. He stated that "Taking 120-day breath to evaluate the effectiveness of our vetting program is a smart thing to do."[28]

In December 2020, Flores was one of 126 Republican members of the House of Representatives who signed an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania, a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which Joe Biden prevailed[29] over incumbent Donald Trump. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked standing under Article III of the Constitution to challenge the results of the election held by another state.[30][31][32]

On November 18, 2014, Flores was elected to the Chairmanship of the House Republican Study Committee. Flores was elected on the second ballot, securing 84 votes to South Carolina Representative Mick Mulvaney's 57.[33]

During his tenure in Congress, Flores had blocked constituents from contacting him through social media.[34]

• Committee on Energy and Commerce
  • Subcommittee on Energy and Power
  • Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy
  • Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation
• Committee on Veterans' Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity
  • Subcommittee on Health

• House Baltic Caucus[35]
• Congressional Western Caucus[36]
• Veterinary Medicine Caucus[37]
• Congressional Hispanic Conference

• On July 18, 2013, Flores introduced the Protecting States’ Rights to Promote American Energy Security Act (H.R. 2728; 113th Congress).[38] The bill would require the federal government to defer to individual states about regulations governing hydraulic fracturing.[39] It passed the House of Representatives on November 20, 2013.[40]