Orlando Sanchez (born 14 October 1957 in Havana,Cuba) is an American politician,elected three times as Treasurer of Harris County,Texas (2006),[1] 2010,[2] and 2014.[3][4] Dylan Osborne was elected to succeed him in the November,2018 election that saw most Republicans in county-wide offices replaced by Democrats.[5]
A naturalized citizen,Sanchez has made political history as the first Latino immigrant to be elected to a citywide position in Houston,when he won the at-large seat on the city council,to which he was twice re-elected in consecutive terms,serving 1995–2001. In 2001 and 2003 he ran for mayor of Houston,gaining an alliance with Republican Anglos and generating high voter turnout in the Hispanic community. Both times he made it to the runoffs. When elected as Treasurer of Harris County,he was the first Latino immigrant to win a countywide,non-judicial elected office in that county.
Early life and education
Sanchez was born in Havana,Cuba to native Cuban parents. His parents emigrated after the Cuban Revolution when he was a young child. The family stayed for a brief time in Venezuela,[6] before settling in Houston in 1962. Sanchez has lived here since. Former Harris County Judge Roy Hofheinz hired Sanchez's father,Orlando Sanchez-Diago,[7] as a broadcaster to be the "Spanish voice" of the Colt .45s baseball club,which subsequently was renamed the Houston Astros.[8]
Sanchez joined the Republican Party and first ran for office in 1992 as the Republican nominee for Texas House District 132. In 1993 he was a candidate for Houston City Council in District C.[10]
In 1995,Sanchez successfully ran citywide for at-large position on the Houston City Council,where he served three terms,January 1996 to January 2002,stepping down due to term limits. He was the first Latino immigrant to be elected citywide in Houston's history. The Harris County Republican Party awarded Sanchez the 'Political Courage Award' for his vote to cut property taxes in Houston for the first time in decades.[11]
In 2001,Sanchez ran for Mayor of the City of Houston against the two-time incumbent Lee P. Brown,the former police chief of the city,and a fellow city councilman,Chris Bell. Sanchez,who gained 40% of the vote,faced Brown,who had 43%,in a run-off;Chris Bell received 16% of the ballots cast.[12][13] The centerpiece of Sanchez' campaign was public safety:he called for four fire fighters on each fire truck as the minimum needed to preserve lives and safety of the force,gaining the union's endorsement.[14] On September 11,2001,fire fighters helping victims in the World Trade Center attacks became national heroes;[15] this helped to elevate the profile of Sanchez' cause. In October 2001,Houston Fire Captain Jay Janhke was killed while putting out a fire. Mayor Brown was strongly criticized and the Fire Department policy changed its policy,staffing four fighters per truck as the standard for each call.[16]
In the non-partisan election,Sanchez developed a coalition that included the Hispanic community,Asian business leaders,Republicans and independent voters.[17] Historically,Hispanic turnout in Houston races hovered around 10%,but nearly 18% of Hispanic voters turned out in this race,with more than 77% voting for Sanchez.[18]
Voter turnout in the 2001 mayoral race between Sanchez and Brown was historic. In addition to the near doubling of Latino voter turnout,the total number of voters in the December run-off remains the highest in Houston's history as of 2015. Sanchez narrowly lost the race by 10,702 votes.[19]
In 2003,Sanchez ran for mayor against Bill White,a businessman and well-connected Democrat,and Sylvester Turner,a state representative and former candidate for mayor against then-Mayor Bob Lanier.[20] Sanchez had improved his name identification in this race. Since his 2001 campaign,he had been offered several other opportunities,but said,"I knew,standing on that podium,looking at the crowd,that I would run again in 2003," Sanchez said. "It's what I want to do and be. When I start something,I stick to it."[21] Sanchez made the run-off,[22] but lost to Bill White in the general election.[23]
He was elected Harris County Treasurer in 2006 making him the first Latino immigrant in Harris County to be elected to a countywide non-judicial office.[24] Sanchez was reelected in 2010 and again in 2014. He lost in 2018 to Dylan Osborne,54%-46%.[25]
County Treasurer
As County Treasurer,Sanchez oversaw Harris County's multiple bank accounts,paid the county's expenses and was an independent set of eyes in overseeing spending of county taxpayer dollars. The treasurer's office won several transparency awards after Sanchez took office including Sunny Awards for transparency in 2010 and 2011 from the Sunshine Review[26][27] and achieved Platinum Level in the Texas State Comptroller's Leadership Circle for Transparency in Local Government Reporting.[28]
Controversy
Three days before his tenure as Harris County Treasurer expired in December 2018,Sanchez held a press conference in the parking lot across from the Houston Independent School District administrative building in which he called for the Texas Education Agency to take control of HISD schools. The press conference was preempted with strong criticism by a crowd of parents,teachers,and activists opposed to his position who chanted "Go away,TEA","shame",and "You got voted out." After the crowd peppered him with questions and criticisms for some time,one person splashed him with several ounces of water.[29] Sanchez would later sue the protester for $1 million,claiming "past and future mental anguish."[30]
Piney Point Village is a city in Harris County, Texas, United States. The population was 3,128 at the 2020 census. Piney Point Village is the wealthiest place in Texas, as ranked by per capita income. It is part of a collection of upscale residential communities in west Houston known as the Memorial Villages.
Lee Patrick Brown is an American politician, criminologist and businessman; in 1997 he was the first African-American to be elected mayor of Houston, Texas. He was re-elected twice to serve the maximum of three terms from 1998 to 2004.
Robert Christopher Bell is an American politician, attorney, and former journalist. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and South Texas College of Law. Bell served five years on the Houston City Council from 1997 to 2001, followed by one term in the United States House of Representatives from Texas's 25th Congressional District in Houston from 2003 to 2005.
William Howard White is an American attorney, businessman and politician who was the 60th mayor of Houston from 2004 to 2010. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the Democratic nominee for Governor of Texas in the 2010 election, in which he lost to Republican Rick Perry. Before serving as Mayor, White was an attorney and businessman and served as U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1995. White is on the membership roster of the Council on Foreign Relations.
John Harris Whitmire is an American attorney and politician who has served as the 63rd mayor of Houston, the most populous city in Texas, since 2024. A member of the Democratic Party, Whitmire was previously a member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1973 until 1983, and the Texas State Senate from 1983 to 2023. In the state senate, he represented District 15, which included much of northern Houston.
The 2006 Texas gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 2006, to elect the governor of Texas. The election was a rare five-way race, with incumbent Republican governor Rick Perry running for re-election against Democrat Chris Bell and Independents Carole Keeton Strayhorn and Kinky Friedman, as well as Libertarian nominee James Werner.
Annise Danette Parker is an American politician who served as the 61st Mayor of Houston, Texas, from 2010 until 2016. She also served as an at-large member of the Houston City Council from 1998 to 2003 and city controller from 2004 to 2010.
Adrian Garcia is an American politician and the current County Commissioner for Precinct 2 in Harris County, Texas. Garcia spent 23 years with the Houston Police Department, before becoming a city councilman. Garcia served six years as a Houston City Councilman, eventually becoming Mayor Pro-Tempore under former Mayor Bill White. In 2008, he became Sheriff of Harris County. In 2015, Garcia stepped down from post as Sheriff to run for Mayor of the City of Houston. Garcia won the general election to be Commissioner of Precinct 2 for Harris County on November 6, 2018, after advancing from the primary on March 6, 2018. Garcia ran for re-election in 2022 and won the election against former Precinct 2 commissioner Jack Morman, with 52.6% of the vote.
The 2001 Houston mayoral election took place on November 6, 2001. Incumbent Mayor Lee Brown was re-elected to a third term. Officially the race was non-partisan. None of the candidates received a majority of the votes, so a run-off election was held on December 1, 2001.
The Houston LGBTQ+ Political Caucus is the South's oldest civil rights organization dedicated solely to the advancement of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights. It was founded in 1975, and is the largest LGBTQ political organization in the city of Houston and Harris County. It is known locally simply as "The Caucus". The Caucus is nonpartisan and endorses candidates on the basis of their support for LGBTQ rights, regardless of political party or candidate's sexual orientation.
The 2014 United States Senate election in Texas was held on November 4, 2014, to elect a member of the United States Senate. Incumbent Republican senator and Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn ran for re-election to a third term. Primary elections were held on March 4, 2014. Since no Democratic candidate received over 50% in the first round of the primary, a runoff election was required on May 27, 2014. David Alameel, who came in first in the primary, won the runoff and became his party's nominee. In the general election, Cornyn defeated Alameel in a landslide.
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.
The 2015 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 3. The off-year election included a special election for Speaker of the House. There were also gubernatorial and state legislative elections in a few states; as well as numerous citizen initiatives, mayoral races, and a variety of other local offices on the ballot.
Ronald Eugene Reynolds is an American politician and disbarred lawyer who represents District 27 in the Texas House of Representatives. He was first elected in 2010. Reynolds is the first African American elected to represent Fort Bend County in the Texas House of Representatives since the Reconstruction era.
Proposition 1 was a referendum held on November 3, 2015, on the anti-discrimination ordinance known as the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO). The ordinance was intended to improve anti-discrimination coverage based on sexual orientation and gender identity in Houston, specifically in areas such as housing and occupation where no anti-discrimination policy existed. Proposition 1 asked voters whether they approved HERO. Houston voters rejected Proposal 1 by a vote of 61% to 39%.
The 2019 Houston mayoral election was decided by a runoff that took place on December 14, 2019 to elect the Mayor of Houston. Incumbent mayor Sylvester Turner defeated attorney Tony Buzbee in the runoff by 56.04% to 43.96%. No candidate won a majority of the vote during the general election on November 5, 2019 where Turner received 46% of the vote and Buzbee received 29%.
Christopher George Hollins is an American attorney and politician who is the City Controller of Houston. He previously served as interim Harris County Clerk from June 2020 to November 2020. He is known for overseeing the 2020 United States presidential election in Harris County; many of his policies received resistance from state Republican officials.
The 2022 Wisconsin State Treasurer election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the next state treasurer of Wisconsin. Incumbent Democratic Party Treasurer Sarah Godlewski chose not to seek re-election, instead unsuccessfully running for US Senate.
The 2023 Houston mayoral election was held on November 7, 2023, with a runoff on December 9 because no candidate won a majority of the vote in the first round. It was held to elect the mayor of Houston, Texas. Incumbent Democratic mayor Sylvester Turner was term-limited and could not seek re-election to a third term in office. Municipal elections in Texas are officially nonpartisan.
Christian Dashaun Menefee is an American attorney and politician who currently serves as County Attorney for Harris County, Texas. Elected in 2020, Menefee is the youngest person and first African-American to serve as chief civil lawyer for the largest county in Texas.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
United States of America 
United States Air Force 
Texas Air National Guard 
