Marc Veasey, the Democrat from the newly drawn 33rd District, has enjoyed a relatively smooth political ascent. Since his first campaign in 2004, he has won elections for state office with at least 90 percent of the vote and, despite a hard-fought primary in 2012, pulled away with an easy victory in the fall. Thanks to the district's heavy Democratic leanings, the win made him a lock in the general election.
Veasey , a commercial real-estate broker, was born and still lives in Fort Worth. In an interview, he credits his involvement in politics to his uncle, who worked for Fort Worth's Jim Wright, speaker of the House from 1987 to 1989. After watching a White House press briefing on television in his mid-teens, Veasey remembers asking his uncle what it would take to get such a job. He was advised to get a college degree.
Veasey excelled in high school classes related to government and politics, something he attributes in part to the U.S. News and World Report subscription his mother gave him. He held jobs at a Burger King and a supermarket in high school.
After graduating from Texas Wesleyan University, Veasey held a string of jobs, including substitute teaching, writing phone-book ads, and working for former Texas Rep. Martin Frost. As a Frost staffer, he worked to attract a grocery store to a poor section of Fort Worth to create jobs and enable residents to buy fresh produce. He also worked to secure transportation funding for the district's roads.
