Rolando Pablos | |
---|---|
111th Secretary of State of Texas | |
In office January 6, 2017 –December 15, 2018 | |
Governor | Greg Abbott |
Preceded by | Carlos Cascos |
Succeeded by | David Whitley |
Commissioner of the Public Utility Commission of Texas | |
In office September 20,2011 –March 1,2013 | |
Governor | Rick Perry |
Preceded by | Barry T. Smitherman |
Succeeded by | Brandy Marty Marquez |
Personal details | |
Born | Sonora,Mexico | September 26,1967
Political party | Republican |
Education | St. Mary's University,Texas (BS,JD) University of Texas at San Antonio (MBA) University of Houston (MA) |
Rolando Burgoa Pablos (born September 26,1967) is an American executive,attorney,and Republican politician from the U.S. state of Texas. [1] He was sworn in as the 111th Secretary of State of Texas on January 5,2017. [2] On December 6,2018,Pablos announced his resignation as Secretary of State effective December 15. [3]
Born in Sonora,Mexico, [4] Pablos grew up in Ciudad Juárez,Chihuahua,and El Paso,Texas. [1] [5] He graduated from Cathedral High School in El Paso.
In 1992,he graduated from St. Mary's University in San Antonio,Texas,with a bachelor's degree in biology. He then earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Texas at San Antonio, [6] [7] a master's in Hospitality Management from the Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management at the University of Houston,and in 1998 a Juris Doctor from St. Mary's University School of Law. [8]
Pablos was described as the "driving force" behind the creation of the San Antonio campus of Hilton College,at which he formerly served as adjunct lecturer of hospitality law. [9]
Pablos formerly served as a Texas Public Utility Commissioner and then chaired the Texas Racing Commission. [1] He was nominated to serve as Texas Secretary of State by Republican Governor Greg Abbott and confirmed by the Texas Senate on February 14,2017. [10] [2] [11]
In March 2017,Pablos made his first international diplomatic mission to Mexico City,during which he affirmed the strong economic relationship between Texas and Mexico. After the trip,Pablos said he was "highly encouraged" by his meetings and discussions with both private and public sector officials,including representatives from the SENER,Mexico's energy ministry. [12]
Pablos co-founded Uriel Americas and served as chief executive officer of the Borderplex Alliance,a bi-national economic developmental corporation. [1]
In August 2017,as a new school year loomed,Pablos urged high school principals to register qualified students for voting. The principals,noted Pablos,are required under the state election code to serve as deputy voter registrars,in which capacity they are expected to distribute voter registration applications to students who will turn eighteen by election day. [13]
Writing in World Oil magazine in November 2017,Pablos expressed optimism that Mexico's energy reforms enacted in 2013 would provide Texas and Mexico "a new opportunity" to collaborate in cross-border energy trade,through what he calls the "Texas-Mexico Energy Nexus," adding that "the potential is enormous for Texas energy leaders to expand in a newly privatized Mexican energy market." [14] Pablos had made cross-border energy integration the focus of a Texas Border Trade Advisory Committee [15] meeting earlier that year. [16]
In March 2018,Pablos welcomed Aga Khan IV to Texas during his Diamond jubilee visit to the United States. [17]
San Antonio,officially the City of San Antonio,is a city in and the county seat of Bexar County,Texas,United States. The city is the seventh-most populous in the United States,the second-largest in the Southern United States,and the second-most populous in Texas. It is the 12th-most populous city in North America,with 1,434,625 residents as of 2020.
Hudspeth County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census,the population was 3,202. Its county seat is Sierra Blanca,and the largest community is Fort Hancock. The county is named for Claude Benton Hudspeth,a state senator and United States Representative from El Paso. It is northeast of the Mexico–U.S. border.
El Paso is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County,Texas,United States. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815,making it the 22nd-most populous city in the U.S. and the sixth-most populous city in Texas. The city has also the largest Hispanic population share of main cities in the U.S. with 81% of its population being Hispanic. Its metropolitan statistical area covers all of El Paso and Hudspeth counties in Texas,and had a population of 868,859 in 2020. El Paso has consistently been ranked as one of the safest large cities in the United States.
The University of Texas System is an American government entity of the state of Texas that includes 13 higher educational institutions throughout the state including eight universities and five independent health institutions. A ninth university will join the system at the start of the 2023–24 academic year. The UT System is headquartered in Downtown Austin. Its total enrollment of nearly 240,000 students is the largest university system in Texas. It employs 21,000 faculty and more than 83,000 health care professionals,researchers and support staff. The UT System's $30 billion endowment is the largest of any public university system in the United States. In 2018,Reuters ranked the UT System among the top 10 most innovative academic institutions in the world.
The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) is a public research university in San Antonio,Texas. With over 34,000 students across its four campuses spanning 758 acres,UTSA is the largest university in San Antonio and the eighth-largest by enrollment in the state of Texas. It is classified among "R1:Doctoral Universities –Very High Research Activity" and offers 159 degree options from its nine colleges.
Ciro Davis Rodriguez is an American politician and social worker who served as a U.S. Representative for Texas's 23rd congressional district,serving from 2007 until 2011. The district stretched from El Paso in the west to San Antonio in the east,a distance of some 500 miles (800 km). He previously represented the neighboring 28th congressional district from 1997 to 2005,and was a member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1987 to 1997. He serves as a justice of the peace for Bexar County. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
Gregory Wayne Abbott is an American politician,attorney,and former jurist serving as the 48th governor of Texas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party,he served as the 50th attorney general of Texas from 2002 to 2015 and as a member of the Texas Supreme Court from 1996 to 2001.
Texas's 23rd congressional district stretches across the southwestern portion of Texas. It is a majority Hispanic district and has been represented by Republican Tony Gonzales since 2021.
Robert Francis "Beto" O'Rourke is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 16th congressional district from 2013 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party,O'Rourke was the party's nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2018,a candidate for the presidential nomination in 2020,and the party's nominee for the 2022 Texas gubernatorial election.
Interstate 10 (I-10) is the major east–west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States. In the U.S. state of Texas,it runs east from Anthony,at the border with New Mexico,through El Paso,San Antonio,and Houston to the border with Louisiana in Orange,Texas. At just under 880 mi (1,420 km),the Texas segment of I-10,maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation,is the longest continuous untolled freeway in North America that is operated by a single authority. It is also the longest stretch of Interstate Highway with a single designation within a single state. Mile marker 880 and its corresponding exit number in Orange,Texas,are the highest numbered mile marker and exit on any freeway in North America. After widening was completed in 2008,a portion of the highway west of Houston is now also believed to be the widest in the world,at 26 lanes when including feeders.
Albert Garza Bustamante was an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives,representing Texas's 23rd district. A Democrat,he served as a member and one-time Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
Pete Peña Gallego is an American lawyer,politician,and higher education leader who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 23rd congressional district from 2013 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party,he previously served as a member of the Texas House of Representatives from the 68th district beginning in 1991. He was president of his alma mater,Sul Ross State University in Far West Texas,from 2020 through 2022 and continues to serve as president emeritus as he writes and speaks on issues related to college accessibility and affordability,particularly for first-generation students.
Rolando Gómez is an American film producer,screenwriter,freelance photographer,author and an alumnus of the 2021 National Hispanic Media Coalition Series Scriptwriters Program and the Writers Guild Foundation Veterans Project. In 2021 he was an on-set associate producer for the feature films,I Am Gitmo and Everything Will Be Fine in the End. and Quora honored him in 2016,2017 and 2018 as a Top Writer.
Trey Martinez Fischer,legally Ferdinand Frank Fischer III,is a Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives who represents the San Antonio-based 116th District,serving since 2019. He previously held this seat from 2000 through 2017. In January 2017,he was succeeded in the position by Diana Arevalo,the secretary for the Bexar County Democratic Party. In 2018,he unseated Arevalo in the Democratic primary for his former state House seat. He won the subsequent general election on November 6 over the Republican nominee Fernando Padron,32,375 votes to 13,612. Martinez Fischer returned to the House in January 2019.
The 2018 Texas gubernatorial election took place on November 6,2018,to elect the governor of Texas,concurrently with the election of Texas's Class I U.S. Senate seat,as well as other congressional,state and local elections throughout the United States and Texas. Incumbent Republican Governor Greg Abbott won re-election to a second term in office defeating Democratic nominee Lupe Valdez,the former sheriff of Dallas County,and Libertarian nominee Mark Tippetts,a former member of the Lago Vista city council.
Cannabis in Texas is illegal for recreational use. Possession of up to two ounces is a class B misdemeanor,punishable by up to 180 days in prison and a fine of up to $2000. Several of the state's major municipalities have enacted reforms to apply lesser penalties or limit enforcement,however.
Lisa Campos is the current director of athletics for the University of Texas at San Antonio. She previously served as athletic director for Northern Arizona University from 2012 to 2017,and as an associate athletic director at the University of Texas at El Paso from 2003 to 2012. Campos graduated from Colorado State University with both bachelor's and master's degrees. She graduated from the University of Texas at El Paso with a doctorate degree. Campos was named athletic director at the University of Texas at San Antonio on November 16,2017. Campos also represents Conference USA on the NCAA Division I Council.
The 2022 Texas gubernatorial election took place on November 8,2022,to elect the governor of Texas. Incumbent Republican governor Greg Abbott won re-election to a third term,defeating Democratic nominee and former Congressman,Beto O'Rourke. All statewide elected offices are currently held by Republicans. In his previous gubernatorial race in 2018,Abbott won with 55.8% of the vote.