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United States Congressman

curt clawson

Congressman Curt Clawson has been coming to Southwest Florida since his family settled in Bonita Springs in 1993. After a successful career as a business leader and former college basketball player, Clawson moved to Southwest Florida in 2011. He soon became involved in local water issues.  

Urged by local leaders and motivated by his family’s generations of service to their country, Clawson decided in 2014 to run in a special election to fill the vacated seat in Florida’s 19th Congressional District.  Clawson won the election on messages of constitutional conservatism, growing the economy and unifying the Republican Party of Southwest Florida.  

Clawson was sworn into office by House Speaker John Boehner on June 25, 2014, one day after winning the special election by nearly forty percentage points. 

Born in Tacoma, Washington, Clawson attended Batesville High School in Batesville, Indiana – a hotbed of Indiana high school basketball. As a senior in high school, Clawson led the state of Indiana in scoring and was recruited by Purdue Head Basketball Coach Gene Keady, where he later helped his team win the 1984 Big Ten Championship. As a senior captain on that 1984 Team, Clawson is known for making the first 3-point basket in Purdue history and making two clutch free throws to clinch the Big Ten Championship.

After graduating from Purdue, Clawson served a year-long Ambassadorial Scholarship for Rotary International, enrolled in graduate MBA studies in Monterrey, Mexico, and took some time to play for the local university basketball team. Clawson began his working career in manufacturing in 1986, as a supervisor on a muffler production line in Columbus, Indiana for Arvin Industries – the world’s largest manufacturer of automotive exhaust systems.

In 1990, Clawson graduated from Harvard Business School with a Masters of Business Administration degree, sponsored by Arvin. He returned to Arvin and held a variety of senior management level positions. 

In 1995, Clawson joined AlliedSignal (now Honeywell) as President of the Filters and Spark Plugs Group, which manufactured Autolite® spark plugs and FRAM® filters.  In 1999, he became President and Chief Operating Officer of American National Can – the world's largest manufacturer of beverage cans.

In 2001, Clawson joined Hayes Lemmerz International, Inc., a global leader in wheel rim manufacturing.  He served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the company from September 2001 until his retirement in February 2012.  During his time at Hayes, Clawson successfully led the company out of the financial distress he inherited – without taking one penny of taxpayer money – saving thousands of jobs.

While at Hayes, Clawson established, and still principally funds, a shelter for homeless teen mothers on the east side of Detroit. He also stays active advising and mentoring young athletes in Southwest Florida. 

Clawson’s parents, Jack and Cherie, are residents of Bonita Springs.  When not in Washington, Curt enjoys spending time with them during the autumn of their lives. Together, they enjoy walking the beach, swimming in the Gulf, and watching beautiful sunsets.    Read More

Meet Curt

Biography

Congressman Curt Clawson has been coming to Southwest Florida since his family settled in Bonita Springs in 1993. After a successful career as a business leader and former college basketball player, Clawson moved to Bonita Springs in late 2011, where he currently resides. He soon became involved in local water issues. 

Urged by local leaders and motivated by his family’s generations of service to their country, Clawson decided in 2014 to run in a special election to fill the vacated seat in Florida’s 19th Congressional District. Clawson won the election on messages of constitutional conservatism, protecting Florida’s fragile ecosystem, growing the economy, and unifying the Republican Party of Southwest Florida. 

Clawson was sworn into office on June 25, 2014, one day after winning the special election by nearly forty percentage points. 

Born in Tacoma, Washington, Clawson attended Batesville High School in Batesville, Indiana – a hotbed of Indiana high school basketball. As a senior in high school, Clawson led the state of Indiana in scoring. He was recruited by now Hall-of-Fame Coach Gene Keady, the basketball coach at Purdue, where Clawson later helped his team win the 1984 Big Ten Championship. As a senior captain on that 1984 team, Clawson is known for making the first 3-point basket in Purdue history and for making two clutch free throws to clinch the Big Ten Championship.

After graduating from Purdue, Clawson served a year-long Ambassadorial Scholarship for Rotary International, and enrolled in graduate MBA studies in Monterrey, Mexico, where he took some time to play for the local university basketball team. 

In 1986, Clawson began what would be a 26 year career in manufacturing as a supervisor on a muffler production line in Columbus, Indiana for Arvin Industries – the world’s largest manufacturer of automotive exhaust systems.

In 1990, Clawson graduated from Harvard Business School with a Masters of Business Administration degree, sponsored by Arvin. He returned to Arvin and held a variety of senior management level positions in Europe and the United States.  

In 1995, Clawson joined AlliedSignal (now Honeywell) as President of the Filters and Spark Plugs Group, which manufactured Autolite® spark plugs and FRAM® filters. In 1999, he became President and Chief Operating Officer of American National Can – the world's largest manufacturer of beverage cans.

In 2001, Clawson joined Hayes Lemmerz International, Inc., a global leader in wheel rim manufacturing. He served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the company from September 2001 until his retirement in February 2012. During his time at Hayes, Clawson successfully led the company out of the financial distress he inherited – without taking one penny of taxpayer money – saving thousands of jobs.

While at Hayes, Clawson became involved, and still principally funds, a shelter for homeless teen mothers on the east side of Detroit. He also is active advising and mentoring young athletes in Southwest Florida. 

Clawson has spent much of his time in Congress building coalitions and passionately leading efforts to restore and preserve the waters and ecosystems of South Florida. He has proposed legislation to expedite needed repairs on the Herbert Hoover Dike that surrounds Lake Okeechobee, and has advocated for land purchase and a flow way south for filtration from Lake Okeechobee to relieve the discharges into the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie Rivers and their estuaries.  

During his first year in office, Clawson gave the national response to the President’s State of the Union Address for the Tea Party Express in January 2015.  

On February 29, 2016, the President signed into law a Congressional Bill (H.R. 890) authored by Clawson to place 17,044 acres of land in Collier County - in perpetuity  - into the Coastal Barrier Resources System (CBRS).  Clawson’s bill included coastal areas of Marco Island, Keewaydin Island, and Cape Romano – part of a pristine, picturesque Ten Thousand Islands chain that begins 20 miles south of Naples.  H.R. 890 created the largest grouping of CBRS units nationwide – protecting the Florida Everglades and ecosystem, aquatic plants and animals, other wildlife, and private properties from flood and storm damage.  

Clawson is a local fixture at Southwest Florida sporting events, ranging from high school football to men’s and women’s basketball games at FGCU.  He jokingly refers to the coffee shops of Southwest Florida as his “satellite offices” where he can often be seen meeting with constituents.  

Clawson’s father, Jack, is also a resident of Bonita Springs. When not in Washington, Curt enjoys spending time with his father watching basketball, football and other sports on TV.  Along with the rest of his family, they enjoy walking the beach, swimming in the Gulf, and watching beautiful sunsets.  Clawson’s beloved mother, Cherie, passed away in July 2015.