Tomas Uresti

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Tomas Uresti
Member of the Texas House of Representatives
from the 118th district
In office
January 10, 2017 – January 8, 2019
Preceded byJohn Lujan
Succeeded byLeo Pacheco
Personal details
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseLeslie Marie Uresti
Residence(s)San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
WebsiteTomas Uresti for State Rep

Tomas Uresti is a Democratic former member of the Texas House of Representatives who represented District 118. He won the November 2016 general election and was sworn into office on January 10, 2017.[1][2] Uresti was defeated in the Democratic primary on March 6, 2018.[3]

Biography[edit]

Uresti served 13 years on the Harlandale ISD Board of Trustees and four years on the board of directors for the Bexar County Appraisal District before winning election as a state Representative in 2016.[4] He lost his bid for re-election in the March 6, 2018 Democratic primary to Leo Pacheco, an adjunct professor at San Antonio College and former chair of the Bexar County Democratic Party. Uresti's loss was attributed in part to blowback from the conviction of his younger brother, former State Senator Carlos Uresti,[5] on multiple counts of fraud and money laundering shortly before the primary.[6]

In 2021, Uresti ran for the San Antonio City Council, but was defeated in the June 5 primary by Phyllis Viagran.[7]

Legislative career[edit]

During the 2017 legislative session, Uresti was the House sponsor of Senate Bill 436, requiring Texas's Special Education Continuing Advisory Committee to comply with the Texas Open Meetings Act. The bill became law on September 1, 2017.[8][9] Later that year, Uresti helped facilitate the sale of the notorious "Safe Tire" dump in San Antonio, a long-standing hazardous waste site, to Copart, Inc., an international, online vehicle-auction company, which committed to cleaning up the site as part of the deal.[10][11]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Ura, Alexa (October 28, 2016). "Rematch in San Antonio to decide if House District 118 stays red". Texas Tribune. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  2. ^ "Texas 118th District State House Results: Tomas Uresti Wins". New York Times. December 13, 2016. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  3. ^ Walters, Edgar (March 6, 2018). "Texas Rep. Dawnna Dukes and three other Democrats lose their state House seats". Texas Tribune. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  4. ^ "Rep Uresti Member Page". Texas House of Representatives. January 25, 2018.
  5. ^ Cook, Wendy Lane (6 March 2018). "Incumbent State Reps. Tomas Uresti, Diana Arévalo Defeated in Democratic Primaries". Rivard Report. The Rivard Report. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  6. ^ Platoff, Emma (22 February 2018). "Jury finds state Sen. Carlos Uresti guilty of 11 felonies, leading to calls from Democratic colleagues to resign". Texas Tribune. Texas Tribune, Inc. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  7. ^ "Tomas Uresti".
  8. ^ "Bill: SB 436 Legislative Session: 85(R)". Texas Legislature Online. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  9. ^ Senate Research Center (2 June 2017). "Bill Analysis S.B. 436" (PDF). Capitol.Texas.gov. p. 2. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  10. ^ "$2.8 million cleanup of tire dumpsite begins in San Antonio". San Antonio Express-News. January 18, 2018.
  11. ^ Uresti, Tomas (16 January 2018). "It's time to clean up old tire dumps". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved 27 May 2018.

External links[edit]