Laredo is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and seat of Webb County, on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Founded in 1755, Laredo grew from a village to the capital of the short-lived Republic of the Rio Grande to the largest inland port on the Mexican border. Laredo's economy is primarily based on international trade with Mexico, and as a major hub for three areas of transportation: land, rail, and air cargo. The city is on the southern end of I-35, which connects manufacturers in northern Mexico through Interstate 35 as a major route for trade throughout the U.S. It has four international bridges and one railway bridge.
Mark Wells White Jr. was an American politician and lawyer who served as the 43rd governor of Texas from 1983 to 1987. He also held office as Secretary of State of Texas (1973–1977), and as Texas Attorney General (1979–1983).
Carole Stewart Keeton, formerly known as Carole Keeton McClellan, Carole Keeton Rylander and Carole Keeton Strayhorn, is an American politician and the former Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.
Enrique Roberto "Henry" Cuellar is an American attorney and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Texas's 28th congressional district since 2005. He is a member of the Democratic Party. His district extends from the Rio Grande to San Antonio's suburbs.
Antonio Rodolfo Sanchez Jr. is an American businessman and former politician. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
The San Antonio River Walk is a city park and special-case pedestrian street in San Antonio, Texas, one level down from the automobile street. The River Walk winds and loops under bridges as two parallel sidewalks lined with restaurants and shops, connecting the major tourist draws such as the Shops at Rivercenter, the Arneson River Theatre, Marriage Island, La Villita, HemisFair Park, the Tower Life Building, the San Antonio Museum of Art, the Pearl, and the city's five Spanish colonial missions, which have been named a World Heritage Site, which includes the Alamo. During the annual springtime Fiesta San Antonio, the River Parade features flowery floats that float down the river.
Wallace Bernard Jefferson is a former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Texas, who served from 2004 until October 1, 2013. In October 2013, he joined the law firm Alexander Dubose & Jefferson LLP as a name partner and now practices appellate law.
Kirk Preston Watson is an American attorney and politician who has served as the 59th mayor of Austin, Texas, since 2023, previously holding the office as the 54th mayor from 1997 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, he ran unsuccessfully for Texas Attorney General in the 2002 election, when he was defeated by Republican Greg Abbott, later governor of Texas. In 2006, Watson was elected to the Texas Senate from District 14.
Judith Pappas Zaffirini is an American politician serving as a Democratic member of the Texas State Senate from the 21st District, which includes her home city of Laredo in south Texas. Zaffririni is the first female dean of the Texas Senate. Zaffirini has been named among the "Top 100 Most Influential Hispanics in the United States" by Hispanic Business magazine. Zaffirini is the first Mexican American woman elected to the Texas Senate.
James Michael Jackson, known as Mike Jackson is a Republican former member of the Texas Senate representing the 11th District. He was also the President pro tempore of the Texas Senate, before running the United States House of Representatives in 2012. In this capacity, he was an acting governor of Texas while Governor Rick Perry campaigned for U.S. President and Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst was on holiday or campaigned for Perry.
Leticia Rosa Magdalena Aguilar Van de Putte (née San Miguel; born December 6, 1954) is an American politician from San Antonio, Texas. She represented the 26th District in the Texas Senate from 1999–2015. From 1991 to 1999, Van de Putte was a member of the Texas House of Representatives. In 2014, she was the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor but lost the general election, 58-39 percent, to her Republican senatorial colleague, Dan Patrick of Houston. Following that defeat, she then resigned from the Texas Senate to run for mayor of San Antonio, which she narrowly lost to Ivy Taylor, 52-48 percent.
Jose Antonio Menendez is a member of the Texas Senate for District 26. A member of the Democratic Party, he is a former member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 124. He won a special election on February 17, 2015, for the state Senate, to replace Leticia Van de Putte. She resigned to run, unsuccessfully as it developed, against the short-term incumbent, Ivy Taylor, for mayor of San Antonio, Texas. Menendez handily defeated fellow Democratic State Representative Trey Martinez Fischer for the right to succeed Van de Putte. Even though Menendez and Fischer remain political opponents, their relationship appears to have been civil.
The 2010 Texas gubernatorial election was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2010, to elect the governor of Texas. Incumbent Republican Governor Rick Perry ran successfully for election to a third consecutive term. He won the Republican primary against U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison and political newcomer, Debra Medina. The former mayor of Houston, Bill White, won the Democratic nomination. Kathie Glass, a lawyer from Houston and previous candidate for Texas Attorney General, won the Libertarian nomination. Deb Shafto was the nominee of the Texas Green Party. Andy Barron, an orthodontist from Lubbock, was a declared write-in candidate.
Susan Combs is an American politician, having served elected office in Texas and served as the Assistant Secretary of Policy, Management and Budget at the U.S. Department of the Interior as an appointed official under President Donald J. Trump.
The 2014 Texas gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 2014, to elect the governor of Texas. Incumbent Republican Governor Rick Perry, who had served since the resignation of then-Governor George W. Bush on December 21, 2000, declined to run for an unprecedented fourth full term, making this the first open election for governor of the state since 1990.
John Thomas Steen Jr., is a lawyer from San Antonio, Texas, who served as the Texas Secretary of State from 2012 to 2014. Steen was appointed by Governor Rick Perry on November 27, 2012, after Esperanza Andrade resigned four days earlier from the position that she had held for more than four years. Steen is Texas' 108th Secretary of State and one of six officials to have formed the Executive Department of state government.
Donna Sue Campbell is an American politician and physician who is the 25th District member of the Texas Senate. On July 31, 2012, she became the first person in Texas history to defeat an incumbent Republican senator, Jeff Wentworth of San Antonio, in a primary election.
Elma Teresa Ender is an American attorney, who was the youngest woman and the first Hispanic female to serve as a state district court judge in the U.S. state of Texas.
Esther Gonzalez-Arroyo Buckley was an educator in Laredo, Texas, USA, who from 1983 to 1992 was one of the eight members of the United States Commission on Civil Rights. She was appointed to the board by U.S. President Ronald W. Reagan.
Christi Leigh Craddick is an American politician. She is one of three members of the Railroad Commission of Texas, the elected regulatory body over oil, natural gas, utilities, and surface mining first established in 1891. She is a Republican. The commission ended all controls over railroads in 2005 but is still known as the "Railroad Commission" for historical reasons.
