"Rich" Nugent (born May 26, 1951) is an American retired law enforcement officer and former United States Congressman.

On November 2, 2010, Richard Nugent defeated Democratic nominee James Piccillo, to replace retiring Congresswoman Ginny Brown-Waite.

[6] After high school Nugent joined the Illinois Air National Guard for six years.

[10] Republican Congresswoman Ginny Brown-Waite decided not to run for re-election in the 5th Congressional District of Florida, due to health concerns.

[18] Nugent beat Tea Party favorite Jason Sager in the primary and won against Democrat Jim Piccillo in the general election.

He opposed the $700 billion bailout by President George W. Bush, a temporary fix for de-regulation of the banking and finance industries, two unfunded Bush-era wars, and a decades-long wage decrease.

[22] In 2010 Nugent signed a pledge sponsored by Americans for Prosperity promising to vote against any Global Warming legislation that would raise taxes.

[23] Nugent opposed the passage of President Barack Obama's health care legislation and has vowed to work for its repeal.

He has stated that he is open to listening to anybody's plan to save and reform Medicare so long as benefits are completely unchanged for those 55 and up.

[26] In January 2015, Nugent was removed from that committee, in an apparent retribution for voting against John Boehner as House Speaker.

[3] Among the reasons given for leaving office, Nugent cited a desire to spend more time with family: "After five years of living out of a suitcase, saying goodbye almost weekly to my beloved wife, and seeing pictures of the grandkids instead of spending more of that quality time with them, the tug of being apart from family has just become too great.