Francis Rooney

Francis Rooney (left) during an audience with Pope Benedict XVI. with Laura Bush (2nd from right) and her daughter Barbara (2006)

Laurence Francis Rooney III (born December 4, 1953 in Tulsa , Oklahoma ) is an American diplomat and politician . Since January 3, 2017, he has represented the state of Florida in the US House of Representatives .

Career

Francis Rooney studied law at Georgetown University, among other things. But he did not work as a lawyer. Instead, he went to the family-owned construction company Manhattan Construction Company . This company has been owned by his family for four generations and has built well-known structures in the USA, including some stadiums, university buildings and the visitor center in the Capitol in Washington, DC . Since 2008, Rooney has not only held the majority stake, but is also the managing director of this company.

Politically, he joined the Republican Party . Between 2005 and 2008 he was to succeed Jim Nicholson Ambassador of the United States at the Holy See . In the 2016 congressional election , Rooney was elected to the US House of Representatives in the 19th  electoral district of Florida against the Democrat Robert Neeld, where he succeeded Curt Clawson , who was no longer running, on January 3, 2017 .

Rooney and his wife, Kathleen, have three grown-up children. He lives in Naples , Collier County .

Web links

• Biography at Project Vote Smart
• Biography at Ballotpedia
• Francis Rooney in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Francis Rooney in the nndb (English)