Leticia Van de Putte

Leticia R. San Miguel Van de Putte[1] (born 6 December 1954)[2] 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, 58-38 percent, to her Republican senatorial colleague, Dan Patrick of Houston.[3] 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.

Leticia Van de Putte
Member of the Texas Senate from the 26th district
In office November 10, 1999 – March 4, 2015
Preceded by	Gregory Luna
Succeeded by	Jose Menendez
Member of the Texas House of Representatives from the 115th district
In office January 8, 1991 – November 9, 1999
Preceded by	Orlando Luis Garcia
Succeeded by	Mike Villarreal
Personal details
Born	Leticia San Miguel 6 December 1954 Tacoma, Washington, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Pete Van de Putte
Children	6
Education	University of Houston University of Texas, Austin (BS)
Website	Campaign website

Early life

Van de Putte was born in Tacoma, Washington, the oldest of five children of Daniel and Isabel San Miguel, a sixth-generation Tejano family. Her father was stationed at Fort Lewis when she was born.[4] The family returned to San Antonio, where she was subsequently reared. Van de Putte has six children and six grandchildren with her husband, Pete.

Education and career as pharmacist

Van de Putte is a 1973 graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School in San Antonio.[4] She was accepted to the University of Houston pharmacy program, following in the footsteps of her grandfather, who was a practicing pharmacist. After meeting her husband and getting married while in pharmacy school, she transferred to the University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy, from which she graduated in 1979.

Upon graduation, she worked for her grandfather's pharmacy before buying her own business in the Loma Park area of San Antonio. She currently works part-time at the Davila Pharmacy on San Antonio's West Side.[5]

Van de Putte became a Kellogg Fellow at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1993.

Political career

Texas House of Representatives

Van de Putte began her legislative career with her 1990 election to the Texas House of Representatives (District 115).

Texas Senate

Van de Putte represented Texas Senate District 26, which consists of a large portion of San Antonio and Bexar County, from 1999–2015. She has represented the district ever since she won a special election to the Senate in 1999. In 2003, she was appointed Chair of the Texas Senate Democratic Caucus, a position she held until 2011. Van de Putte was appointed chair of the Veteran Affairs and Military Installations Committee in 2003,[6] and was a member of the Senate Committees on Education, State Affairs, and Business and Commerce. She was also co-chair of the Joint Committee on Human Trafficking.[7]

She considered running in the 2010 race for governor against Republican Rick Perry, but instead decided to run for re-election in the Texas Senate in June 2009.[8]

On 25 June 2013, Wendy Davis gave an 11-hour filibuster in an attempt to run out a special legislative session so that a vote could not be held on Texas Senate Bill 5. At about 15 minutes to midnight, Van de Putte confronted the Presiding Officer, State Senator Robert L. Duncan, a Republican from Lubbock, who she said had ignored her repeated motions earlier. Van de Putte asked him, "at what point must a female senator raise her hand or her voice to be recognized over the male colleagues in the room?"[9] Her question was immediately met with cheers and applause by the spectators in the gallery. The applause delayed the legislative session past the midnight deadline, effectively ending the legislative session without a vote on the bill. This bill was ultimately passed in a special session ordered by then Governor Rick Perry.[10][11]

On 8 January 2013, Van de Putte was elected President Pro Tempore of the Texas Senate's 83rd Regular Session.

Coinciding with her announcement to run for Mayor of San Antonio, Van de Putte resigned from the Senate once her successor Jose Menendez was elected, ending nearly 24 years of work at the Texas Capitol.[12]

National politics

Van de Putte speaks during a press conference before the start of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado, flanked by her fellow co-chairs and the convention chair.

At the national level, Van de Putte is an active and deeply involved member of many political organizations, including the National Assessment Governing Board, the American Legacy Foundation Board, and the National Conference of State Legislatures, of which she served as president from 2006 to 2007. In addition, she led the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators as president from 2003 to 2005.

In 2008, Van de Putte served as a co-chair of the 2008 Democratic National Convention along with Governor Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas and Atlanta, Georgia Mayor Shirley Franklin, while Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi served as permanent chair.[13]

In 2016, Van de Putte was selected as the chair of the 2016 Democratic National Convention rules committee.[14] She has endorsed Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.[15]

2014 lieutenant governor campaign

In November 2013, Van de Putte announced that she would be running for lieutenant governor in the 2014 elections.[16]

She ran unopposed in the Democratic primary but lost to Republican Dan Patrick in the general election.[3]

2015 mayoral campaign

On 19 November 2014, Van de Putte announced her candidacy for Mayor of San Antonio in the 2015 mayoral election.[12] After finishing first with 30% of the vote in the general election, Van de Putte qualified for the runoff election on 13 June 2015.[17] Despite running a hard campaign, Van de Putte lost the runoff election 52-48 percent to Ivy Taylor.[17]

Election history

Uncontested primary elections are not shown.

2015

San Antonio Mayor, 2015
Regular election, 9 May 2015[18]

Candidate		Votes	%	±
✓	Leticia Van de Putte	25,982	30.43%
✓	Ivy Taylor	24,245	28.40%
	Mike Villarreal	22,246	26.06%
	Tommy Adkisson	8,344	9.77%
	Paul Martinez	1,877	2.20%
	Cynthia Brehm	1,497	1.75%
	Douglas Emmett	221	0.26%
	Michael "Commander" Idrogo	221	0.26%
	Cynthia Cavazos	201	0.24%
	Raymond Zavala	196	0.23%
	Rhett Smith	111	0.13%
	Julie Iris Oldham (Mama Bexar)	103	0.12%
	Gerard Ponce	97	0.11%
	Pogo Mochello Reese	29	0.03%
Turnout		85,370	11.89%*

* Vote percentage include all of Bexar County, with a total of 12,316 either voting in another municipal election or casting no ballot for San Antonio mayor.

San Antonio Mayor, 2015
Runoff election, 13 June 2015[19]

Candidate		Votes	%	±
✓	Ivy Taylor	50,659	51.70%
	Leticia Van de Putte	47,328	48.30%
Turnout		97,987	14.12%

2014

Texas lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2014[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dan Patrick	2,718,406	58.13
	Democratic	Leticia Van de Putte	1,810,720	38.72
	Libertarian	Robert Butler	119,581	2.55
	Green	Chandra Courtney	27,651	0.59
Majority			907,686	19.41%
Total votes			4,676,358	100
Turnout				33.34
	Republican hold

2012

Texas general election, 2012: Senate District 26[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Chris Christal	10,557	6.03	+6.03
	Democratic	Leticia R. Van de Putte (Incumbent)	140,757	80.42	-1.02
	Libertarian	Nazirite R. Flores Perez	22,904	13.08	-5.47
	Independent	Deborah L. Parrish	801	0.45	+0.45
Turnout			175,019		+4.11
	Democratic hold

2008

Texas general election, 2008: Senate District 26[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Leticia R. Van de Putte (Incumbent)	136,913	81.44	+24.34
	Libertarian	Steve Lopez	31,194	18.55	+15.69
Majority			105,719	62.89	+45.83
Turnout			168,107		-9.13
	Democratic hold

2004

Texas general election, 2004: Senate District 26[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Jim Valdez	74,070	40.04	+40.04
	Democratic	Leticia R. Van de Putte (Incumbent)	105,625	57.10	-42.90
	Libertarian	Raymundo Alemán	5,295	2.86	+2.86
Majority			31,555	17.06	-82.94
Turnout			184,990		+149.44
	Democratic hold

Democratic primary, 2004: Senate District 26[24]

Candidate		Votes	%	±
	Johnny Rodriguez	3,685	18.06
✓	Leticia R. Van de Putte (Incumbent)	16,723	81.94
Majority		13,038	63.89
Turnout		20,408

2002

Texas general election, 2002: Senate District 26[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Leticia R. Van de Putte (Incumbent)	74,163	100.00	0.00
Majority			74,163	100.00	0.00
Turnout			74,163		-29.88
	Democratic hold

2000

Texas general election, 2000: Senate District 26[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Leticia R. Van de Putte (Incumbent)	105,771	100.00	+32.46
Majority			105,771	100.00	+64.92
Turnout			105,771		-16.86
	Democratic hold

Democratic primary, 2000: Senate District 26[27]

Candidate		Votes	%	±
	David McQuade Leibowitz	11,232	45.63
✓	Leticia R. Van de Putte (Incumbent)	13,381	54.37
Majority		2,149	8.73
Turnout		24,613

1999

Special election: Senate District 26, Unexpired term[28]
2 November 1999

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Leo Alvarado, Jr.[29]	12,473	21.02
	Democratic	Lauro Bustamante, Jr.	4,245	7.16
	Republican	Anne Newman	6,768	11.41
	Democratic	Leticia Van de Putte[29]	27,139	45.74
	Republican	Mark Weber	8,702	14.67
Turnout			59,327
	Democratic hold

References

1. Texas Department of State Health Services, Vital Records (23 October 1977). "Marriage record No. 117996 (Henry P. Van de Putte to Leticia San Miguel)". Rootsweb.com. Archived from the original (Third party index of marriage records for Bexar County, Texas) on 26 May 2005. Retrieved 5 January 2007.
2. Office of the Secretary of State (Texas) (13 September 2002). "State Senate Candidates for 2002 General Election". Archived from the original on 13 February 2008. Retrieved 27 December 2006.
3. "Office of the Secretary of State 2014 General Election Election Night Returns". Texas Secretary of State. Archived from the original on 5 November 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
4. Tressler, Sarah (1 January 2014). "A brief history of Leticia Van De Putte". San Antonio express-news.
5. "Pharmacists in politics". American Pharmacists Association. 1 September 2012. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
6. "State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte". The Texas Tribune.
7. "Leticia Van de Putte papers". Texas Archival Resources Online.
8. "Sen. Van de Putte said she wouldn't run for governor but Sen. Watson should". El Paso Times. 23 June 2009. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
9. Reilly, Mollie (26 June 2013). "Leticia Van De Putte, Texas Legislator, Slams Male Colleagues During Abortion Filibuster". Huffington Post.
10. Martinez, Fidel. "A GIF tribute to Leticia Van de Putte's badass mic drop". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
11. Teitelbaum, Ben. "5 Moment From Wendy Davis's Epic Filibuster". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
12. "Van de Putte Resigning to Run for San Antonio Mayor". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
13. "Democrats Announce 2008 Convention Chairs". Democratic National Committee. 2 July 2008. Archived from the original on 26 September 2008. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
14. "Van de Putte gets high-profile role at Dem convention". San Antonio Express-News. 23 March 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
15. "San Antonio Rally Key to Clinton's National Strategy". The Texas Tribune. 12 October 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
16. Kilday Hart, Patricia (13 November 2013). "Sources: Van de Putte will run for lite guv, announcement tomorrow". Retrieved 18 January 2014.
17. http://home.bexar.org/el45a.htm
18. "San Antonio Mayor". Kens 5. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
19. "Taylor Becomes San Antonio's First Elected Black Mayor". Rivard Report. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
20. "Office of the Secretary of State 2014 General Election Election Night Returns". Texas Secretary of State. Archived from the original on 5 November 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
21. "Office of the Secretary of State: 1992 – Current ELECTION HISTORY". Archived from the original on 15 August 2011. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
22. "2008 General Election". Office of the Secretary of State (Texas). Archived from the original on 9 January 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
23. "2004 General Election". Office of the Secretary of State (Texas). Archived from the original on 9 January 2014. Retrieved 5 January 2007.
24. "2004 Democratic Party Primary Election". Office of the Secretary of State (Texas). Archived from the original on 9 January 2014. Retrieved 5 January 2007.
25. "2002 General Election". Office of the Secretary of State (Texas). Archived from the original on 9 January 2014. Retrieved 5 January 2007.
26. "2000 General Election". Office of the Secretary of State (Texas). Archived from the original on 9 January 2014. Retrieved 5 January 2007.
27. "2000 Democratic Party Primary Election". Office of the Secretary of State (Texas). Archived from the original on 9 January 2014. Retrieved 5 January 2007.
28. "1999 Special Election for State Senate". Office of the Secretary of State (Texas). Archived from the original on 9 January 2014. Retrieved 5 January 2007.
29. Houston Chronicle News Services (12 November 1999). "New senator takes oath". Houston Chronicle. p. A39. Retrieved 5 January 2007. Van de Putte, a Democrat, assumed the Senate seat after receiving the most votes in a special election 2 Nov.. She was to be in a runoff with state Rep. Leo Alvarado, but he withdrew.

External links

• Senate of Texas – Senator Leticia R. Van de Putte official TX Senate website
• leticiaformayor.com official campaign website
• Project Vote Smart – Senator Leticia R. Van de Putte (TX) profile
• Follow the Money – Leticia R. Van de Putte
  • 2006 2004 2002 2000 1998 campaign contributions
• Appearances on C-SPAN