Rick Galindo

Ricardo Galindo, III, known as Rick Galindo (born April 27, 1981) is a risk management consultant in his native San Antonio, Texas, and Republican one-term member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 117 in Bexar County. He narrowly unseated the one-term incumbent Democrat Philip Cortez in the November 4, 2014 general election.

Ricardo "Rick" Galindo, III
Member of the Texas House of Representatives from the 117th district
In office January 13, 2015 – January 9, 2017
Preceded by	Philip Cortez
Succeeded by	Philip Cortez
Personal details
Born	April 27, 1981 San Antonio, Texas, USA
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Valerie Deanna Tey Galindo (married 2008)
Children	Two daughters
Parents	Sylvia Tejeda and Oscar Hernandez Galindo
Residence	San Antonio, Texas
Alma mater	Central Catholic High School St. Mary's University
Occupation	Businessman

Cortez, however, returned to reclaim the seat in the general election held on November 8, 2016. Cortez polled 29,319 votes (51.3 percent) to Galindo's 27,783 (48.6 percent).[1]

Background

Reared on the Southside of San Antonio, Galindo is a son of Oscar Hernandez Galindo, a former civilian employee of the since-closed Kelly Air Force Base, and his mom Sylvia Tejeda former employee is southwestern Bell and USAA, and his wife, Valerie Galindo. He graduated from a parochial school, Central Catholic High School in downtown San Antonio. He subsequently received a degree in Finance and Risk Management from St. Mary's University in San Antonio. Having begun his career with the H. B. Zachry Company, Galindo is currently a risk manager for Spectrum Association Management. He and his wife, the former Valeria Deanna Tey (born 1979), a teacher with the Northside Independent School District, have two daughters.[2]

Political life

On March 4, 2014, Galindo won the Republican nomination for state representative over a former lawmaker, John Garza, 2,372 votes (64.6 percent) to 1,300 (35.4 percent).[3] Galindo then unseated Cortez, 12,835 votes (52.7 percent) to 11,521 (47.3 percent).[4]

Galindo describes himself as a "true conservative" who "will lead the fight for real conservative solutions that will grow our economy and create new jobs, improve our schools, protect the unborn and the infirm, preserve and defend our Second Amendment liberties and ensure our state government spends less and taxes less"[5]

Galindo carried the backing of the group Hispanic Republicans of Texas, which seeks to elect Hispanics to office on the Republican ticket.[6]

Galindo was narrowly defeated in his bid for a second term in 2016 by the man that he had unseated in 2014, Phillip Cortez. Galindo trailed with 27,783 votes (48.6 percent) to Cortez's 29,319 (51.3 percent). The 78 write-in votes for Carlos Antonio Raymond did not impact the outcome of the race.[7] In the campaign, Galindo had questioned Cortez's $7,500 monthly retainer in 2014 from the developer, L. H. Devco. Cortez pledged if retained by the firm to "introduce and educate various decision-making individuals and elected officials to L. H. Delco and its goals and objectives."[8] Galindo called Coretez's dealings "a flagrant abuse of the public trust."[8] Randall Buck Wood, an Austin elections lawyer, explained that a lawmaker "can't receive money for legislative efforts. You just can't do it. You can't be a lobbyist and a state rep at the same time. ... You can't be paid while you're in the legislature to advance the interests of a third party."[8]

References

1. "Election Results". Texas Secretary of State. November 8, 2016. Retrieved December 14, 2016.
2. "About Rick Galindo". rickgalindo.com. Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
3. "Republican primary election returns (House District 117), March 4, 2014". enr.sos.state.tx.us. Archived from the original on March 5, 2014. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
4. "General election returns, November 4, 2014". Texas Secretary of State. Archived from the original on January 9, 2014. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
5. "On the Issues". rickgalindo.com. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
6. Steve Walker (November 12, 2013). "Rick Galindo for State Rep. Dist. 117". walkerreport.blogspot.com. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
7. "Election Returns". Texas Secretary of State. November 8, 2016. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
8. Brian Chasnoff, "Cortez 'sold his office', incumbent says", San Antonio Express-News, October 1, 2016, pp. 1, A2