Walter B. Jones Jr.

Walter Beaman Jones Jr. (February 10, 1943 – February 10, 2019) was an American politician who served twelve terms in the United States House of Representatives as a member of the Republican Party for North Carolina's 3rd congressional district from 1995 until his death in 2019. The district encompassed the coastal regions of North Carolina, from the Outer Banks and areas near the Pamlico Sound in the north, southwards to the northern suburbs of Wilmington. Jones's father was Walter B. Jones Sr., a Democratic Party congressman from the neighboring 1st district. Prior to his election to the U.S. House of Representatives, he served ten years in the North Carolina House of Representatives as a member of the Democratic Party and worked as a business executive.

He had been a Democrat like his father before changing parties in 1994, just before his first election to the U.S. House. Even after becoming a Republican, he frequently broke with the party over key issues. He supported the U.S. involvement in the Iraq War initially, but became one of its staunchest critics, arguing that the George W. Bush administration misinformed Congress with selective intelligence to win authorization for the war. He also was a critic of the Bush administration in their firing of federal prosecutors, and joined Democrats in supporting raises to the federal minimum wage. During the Obama administration, he voted against the Republican Path to Prosperity budget proposal of 2011, after which he was removed from key committee roles for defying party leadership. During the first Trump presidency, he was a frequent voice on the floor of Congress calling for scrutiny of the Trump presidency, including demanding the release of his tax returns and calling for investigations into alleged Trump presidential campaign involvement in the Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.

Having libertarian-leaning tendencies, he was a member of the Liberty Caucus.

Jones was the son of U.S. representative Walter B. Jones Sr. (1913–1992) and Doris (Long) Jones (1914–1984).

Jones was a lifelong resident of Farmville, a small town near Greenville, North Carolina. He attended Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Virginia and graduated in 1966 with a Bachelor of Arts from Atlantic Christian College (now Barton College) in Wilson, North Carolina, before serving four years (1967–1971) in the North Carolina National Guard. He worked as an executive with his family's business supply company.

Jones was first elected as a Democrat to the North Carolina House of Representatives in 1982 and served for five terms, until 1992. He represented Pitt County. He was known in the North Carolina House for his advocacy of campaign finance reform and lobbying reform.

After his father announced his retirement from Congress in 1992, Jones ran for his father's seat in North Carolina's 1st congressional district. He ranked first in the Democratic primary with 38% of the vote, but failed to reach the 40% threshold to win the nomination. In the run-off election, he was defeated by Eva Clayton, Chairwoman of the Warren County Board of Commissioners, by a margin of 55–45%. Clayton received support from three of the defeated primary candidates and from the African American community. Jones Sr. died before his term expired, and Clayton was elected to serve out the last two months of his term.

In 1994, he switched parties and ran in North Carolina's 3rd congressional district, which had absorbed a large chunk of his father's former territory. His race against incumbent Democrat Martin Lancaster was initially very close until Jones released a picture of Lancaster jogging with President Bill Clinton, whose socially liberal stances (especially on gays in the military) angered many voters in the district. Although Democrats had a large advantage in registered voters, the 3rd district had a very strong social conservative tint. Jesse Helms in particular had a large base of support there. As part of the 1994 Republican takeover of Congress, Jones defeated Lancaster 53–47%. With his victory, Jones became the first Republican to represent a significant portion of Eastern North Carolina in the House since Reconstruction.