Lamar was recognized as Texan of the Year in 2019 by the bipartisan Texas Legislative Conference. He was ranked the most effective member of the House in the 112th Congress (2011-2012) in a study that was jointly conducted by the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University. According to the same study, he was ranked in the top 10 percent in effectiveness in the last eight Republican Congresses.
He was named Policymaker of the Year by Politico and Politico Pro for his work on patent reform legislation. According to Politico, “the lawmakers’ America Invents Act became the only major piece of tech legislation signed into law in 2011—a rare instance in which a bipartisan effort bore fruit.”