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James Randy Forbes (born February 17, 1952) is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U.S. representative for , serving from 2001 to 2017.
Prior to joining the United States Congress, he was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, Virginia State Senate, and Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia. Forbes formerly served as Chairman of the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee.
During the Donald Trump administration, Forbes was reviewed as a prospective choice for Secretary of the Navy.Multiple sources:
Forbes campaigned for Trump in the 2016 presidential election. Forbes was passed over twice for the first-round and second round nominations of Secretary of the Navy. Bilden was formally nominated as Navy Secretary on Jan. 25 after back-and-forth reports in the media as to whether he or former congressman Randy Forbes would get the job.
Forbes served as a senior distinguished fellow at the U.S. Naval War College from February through December 2017. Former Representative Randy Forbes joins Naval War College faculty, U.S. Naval War College, February 14, 2017
Forbes founded Project Blitz, a radical Christian organization focused on providing state legislators with model legislation to "inject religion into public education, attack reproductive healthcare, and undermine LGBTQ equality using a distorted definition of “religious freedom”," according to watchdog Blitzwatch.
He received his Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1977. Forbes worked in private practice for Kaufman & Canoles PC.
He was first elected to the House in 2001 to fill a vacancy caused by the death of ten-term Democratic Congressman Norman Sisisky; defeating Democratic State Senator Louise Lucas 52–48%.[9] After the 4th district was Redistricting as part of redistricting, he ran unopposed by Democrats in 2002 and 2006. In 2004, he faced Jonathan R. Menefee, and won with 65% of the vote. He faced Wynne LeGrow in the 2010 election, and was easily re-elected with 62% of the vote. In 2012, he defeated Chesapeake City Councilwoman Ella Ward with 57% of the vote.
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Forbes was the founder and chairman of the Congressional Prayer Caucus and the Congressional China Caucus. He championed a plan to rebuild the Navy to 350 ships as chairman of the House Seapower Subcommittee.
On February 8, 2016, he announced that he would run for election to Virginia's 2nd Congressional District in November 2016 after a court-ordered redistricting saw the 4th absorb most of the majority-black areas around Richmond. The new map turned the 4th from a Republican-leaning swing district into a strongly Democratic district. He did so while at the same time announcing that he would continue to live in Chesapeake, which remained in the 4th; members of the House are only constitutionally required to live in the state they represent. Forbes stated that his seniority gave him a chance to become the first Virginian to chair the House Armed Services Committee. The 2nd District was being vacated by fellow Republican Scott Rigell.
Forbes accused state Delegate and former U.S. Navy SEAL, Scott Taylor, of criminal activity for speeding violations and missing a court appearance, including a scheduled hearing when Taylor was deployed with the Navy. On June 14, 2016, Forbes was defeated in the Republican primary by Scott Taylor by a margin of 52.5% to 40.6%, with a third candidate, C. Pat Cardwell IV, receiving 6.8% of the vote. Taylor went on to win the general election on November 8, 2016.
Forbes received $801,606 in campaign financing from donors in the defense industry during his tenure in Congress. The largest donors to Forbes over his Congressional career have been defense contractors serving the U.S. Navy for aviation and ship construction, including Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems, Leidos and Huntington Ingalls.
After leaving Congress in 2017, Forbes joined the Government Law & Policy Practice’s Federal team at Greenberg Traurig as a senior director.
In 2013, Forbes publicly opposed military action in both Libya and Syria. In 2014, he promised to promote President Obama's call for funds for action in Syria.
In 2014, Forbes voted to address cuts imposed by sequestration with a $1.4 billion cut to operations, maintenance, and training funds, rather than mothballing 11 cruisers and three amphibious warships.
The bill included $14 billion in prizes and $10 billion in grants ($10 billion of which would have supported nuclear fusion research); provisions to establish a summit to discuss the challenge of energy independence; and creation of a commission to offer recommendations to fulfill the goal of becoming energy independent within 20 years. On June 26, 2009, the bill was offered as an amendment in the nature of a substitute for the Waxman/Markey-sponsored American Clean Energy and Security Act. The amendment was rejected by the House of Representatives 255–172.
| + : Results 2000–2014 : Republican Primary Results, 2016 ! Year ! ! Democratic ! Votes ! Pct ! ! Republican ! Votes ! Pct ! ! 3rd Party ! Party ! Votes ! Pct | |||||||||||||
| 2000 | Norman Sisisky ** | 189,787 | 99% | (no candidate) | Write-ins | 2,108 | 1% | ||||||
| 2001 | Louise Lucas | 65,190 | 48% | J. Randy Forbes | 70,917 | 52% | |||||||
| 2002 | (no candidate) | 108,733 | 98% | Write-ins | 2,308 | 2% | |||||||
| 2004 | 100,413 | 35% | J. Randy Forbes | 182,444 | 64% | ||||||||
| 2006 | (no candidate) | J. Randy Forbes | 150,967 | 76% | Albert P. Burckard, Jr. | Independent Green | 46,487 | 23% | |||||
| 2008 | 135,041 | 40% | J. Randy Forbes | 199,075 | 60% | ||||||||
| 2010 | 74,298 | 38% | J. Randy Forbes | 122,659 | 62% | ||||||||
| 2012 | 150,190 | 43% | J. Randy Forbes | 199,292 | 57% | ||||||||
| 2014 | 75,270 | 38% | J. Randy Forbes | 120,684 | 60% | Bo Brown | Libertarian | 4,427 | 2% | ||||
| 2016 | 21,406 | 53% | J. Randy Forbes | 16,552 | 41% | Pat Cardwell | Republican | 2,773 | 7% |
*Write-in and minor candidate notes: In 2004, write-ins received 170 votes. In 2006, write-ins received 886 votes. In 2008, write-ins received 405 votes. In 2010, write-ins received 432 votes. In 2014, write-ins received 257 votes.
** Sisisky died on March 29, 2001; Forbes won the 2001 special election to fill out the remainder of his term.
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