Garza?!?!? Darn. This is not sounding good. I HOPE he's not as bad as his reputation....
Growing up across the border from Matamoros and speaking Spanish is a disqualification? Next thing I know, you'll tell me he has diplomatic experience.
This guy will pander to Mexico. Afterall he is MEXICAN and will feel a strong connection to the country and this might bring about Dual Loyalties.
On Track to Washington
By Kimberly Garcia
Republicans across the nation see Texas Railroad Commissioner Tony Garza as the future of their party. Such a strong declaration seems odd at first blush, because Garza is not your typical Republican.
Garza comes from Brownsville, Texas, a poor, predominantly Hispanic city along the Democratically entrenched Texas-Mexico border. Despite his law school education and party affiliation, Garza is a south Texan to his core. He's a down-home guy who's comfortable on both sides of the border, speaking both English and Spanish.
"Tony provided a great amount of leadership to county workers and the entire community in a very fiscally prudent manner," Martínez says, reflecting on Garza's tenure as Cameron County (Texas) judge. "He had a good understanding of the community. There are a tremendous amount of needs here and being fiscally responsible is a difficult thing to do. He made my job easier."
-Rosemary Martínez, a former aide
During eleven years in public office, Garza has championed causes not normally associated with Republicans. As chief executive of the county where he grew up, or Cameron County judge, Garza helped poor people gain access to critical health care, and to water and wastewater services in substandard developments called colonias. As secretary of state, he used computers to improve public access to government documents.
Still, Garza holds true to Republican ideals of limited government, free enterprise, strong families, and a strong military. "I'm not any less conservative than other Republicans," Garza says. "But I do realize there are issues we have to address. In terms of tone of discussion and in terms of building coalitions, maybe I'm not a typical Republican. You need to include other groups to get things accomplished. That hasn't always been a Republican hallmark."
Garza's unique combination of conservatism, compassion, and conciliatory spirit has served his political career well. He's blazing a path across Texas that could take him to Washington D.C., especially if his good pal Texas Governor George W. Bush becomes president of the United States.
"Tony has one of the most promising political futures in the state," says Railroad Commission Chairman Michael Williams. "Talent being one reason and respect being another. He has a wide base of support across the state. The number of Hispanics in the state is growing and Tony is the future of our party. It would behoove any president to highly consider him for a federal position, but that's up to the governor and Tony to make that decision."
Neither Garza nor Bush would speculate about Garza following Bush to the White House if Bush is elected president, but Garza has been joining Bush's presidential campaign trail whenever possible. Both men also expressed admiration for the other.
"It's premature to talk about those decisions," Bush spokesman Scott McClellan said of whether Garza would follow Bush to the White House. "Garza is a trusted friend and advisor of Governor Bush. He shares Governor Bush's commitment to reaching out to all walks of life. He's a rising star in the Republican Party and he's helping us broaden the base of the party."
"Maybe I'm not a typical Republican.
You need to include other groups to get
things accomplished. That hasn't always been a Republican hallmark."
About Bush, Garza says, "We're very close friends and his whole family has been very supportive of me. There's nothing I wouldn't do for G. W. Bush, but my focus right now has to be on being the best railroad commissioner I can be. If I do that, the future will take care of itself."
Considering Garza's impressive public service record, it's hard to imagine why Bush wouldn't invite him to Washington
. Garza started his political career with a bang. When elected Cameron County judge in 1988, he defeated a well-known Democrat who had been county judge for twelve years. Garza became at age 28 the youngest person and the first Hispanic Republican in the state to win a countywide office along the vast Texas-Mexico border.
Garza served in that capacity until 1994, when he made an unsuccessful bid for state attorney general. In 1995, he became Governor Bush's first appointee as secretary of state and one of Bush's select few senior advisors, particularly on border and Mexico-related issues.
Today, Garza is the highest-ranking minority in Texas as commissioner of one of the state's most powerful regulatory agencies. The three-member commission oversees regulation on the $60 billion oil and gas industry.
And that's not even mentioning Garza's accolades. Garza became the first recipient in 1999 of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly's Rising Star Award.
"Tony represents a new generation of political leaders," said Luigi Crespo, executive director of the assembly that serves as the Hispanic outreach arm of the Republican Party. "He's a role model for young Hispanics like myself. We're very proud of his achievements in Texas."
Garza also was a guest of former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich at President Clinton's State of the Union address in 1998.
"Gingrich sees Tony as an up-and-coming leader who's doing a lot at the state level and could do even more nationally," Garza's administrative assistant Jennifer Waisath says.
So how does a guy who didn't aspire to a political career end up on the brink of national politics?
Garza's parents sewed the seeds of his conservatism. All four of his grandparents were from Mexico. His father was a hard-working small businessman who thought he could make it in this country if the government left him alone.
Antonio Garza operated a Texaco station in the heart of downtown Brownsville from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. for nearly 26 years. He also was a World War II veteran who favored less taxes, less government, and a strong military. Sound familiar? Garza's mother, Lita, died from cancer when he was thirteen years old. She taught Garza the value of family and religion.
After Garza completed law school at Southern Methodist University in 1983, he returned to the Valley to practice law. He dabbled in supporting Republican political candidates, but his father's apolitical views sustained Garza's skepticism of government.
Garza was particularly wary of what he saw as "a good-ol'-boy Democratic fraternity that was more about favors than about good service," in the Valley. Instead of political activism, Garza tried to improve his hometown through community service, coaching youth sports and serving on the local health center's board of directors.
The experience taught him about the community's needs and about how much he enjoyed public service. By 1988, he was warming up to the idea of holding public office when the Republican Party approached him to run against a controversial Democrat for county judge. Garza began knocking on doors, and his friendship with Bush soon followed.
Bush called Garza during the race to offer help campaigning and raising money. Bush also showed up for Garza's swearing-in ceremony after he won the election.
Since then, Garza and Bush built a friendship on supporting one another and on sharing similar political styles. Both are noted for putting people at ease and for reaching out to a variety of people, Garza explains.
So far, Garza has yet to disappoint his prominent friend. Besides helping the indigent and ending a stalemate over two international bridges as Cameron County judge, Garza also helped the county improve its bond rating to the highest rating, which saved taxpayers, explained Rosemary Martínez, a former budget officer and administrator for Garza when he was county judge.
"Tony provided a great amount of leadership to county workers and the entire community in a very fiscally prudent manner," Martínez says. "He had a good understanding of the community. There are a tremendous amount of needs here and being fiscally responsible is a difficult thing to do. He made my job easier."
As secretary of state, Garza improved his office's Web site. He updated election results on election night. He posted the rules and regulations of every state agency, and he made state applications available online, says Gene Acuña, Garza's chief spokesman at the secretary of state's office and the railroad commission.
As railroad commissioner, Garza is trying to make oil permits available online. His proudest accomplishment so far is forging partnerships with two state agencies to plug abandoned oil wells that threaten important watersheds, Acuña said.
In one case, the commission is working with the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission to plug wells threatening the Spence Reservoir that supplies nearly 305,000 people with water in west Texas. In the other case, the commission is working with state's General Land Office to plug noncompliant oil and gas wells on state-leased land along the coast, Acuña said.
"We could not get to all those wells on our own and the agencies could not collect all the data on their own, so working together we can protect these water supplies," Acuña says.
"Some people were surprised the railroad commission would start partnerships like this. The commission doesn't usually look out for the long-term impact on the environment. Tony looks at the long-term impacts on people of this state. He looks at these partnerships in ways people haven't before, and he makes them work. That's what's unique about Tony Garza."
LINK
I wish more of the country was like Texas, actually. It's a great state.
I am ashame of some of the post that i have read here Tony garza is a hard worker a good republican.He was a honest judge and has been a big help to the gop in texas.He does now cowdown to any and should not he was elected in a 95% commiecrat dist.be thankful that some one of his quality has been given the nod.
Most notably, Garza was a member of the official U.S. delegation to the inauguration of Peru's President Alejandro Toledo in 2001. He also attended the White House State Dinner honoring Mexico's President and Mrs. Vicente Fox in 2001 and a dinner at the Crawford Ranch for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Previously, Garza has served on presidential delegations to observe federal elections and voter registration drives in Nicaragua and El Salvador. 