Esperanza "Hope" Andrade (born July 1, 1949) is a
business
Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for pr ...
woman from
San Antonio
("Cradle of Freedom")
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, subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State
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,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
, who is the former commissioner representing employers on the
Texas Workforce Commission
The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) is a governmental agency in the U.S. state of Texas that provides unemployment benefits and services related to employment to eligible individuals and businesses.
For employers, TWC offers recruiting, retenti ...
, an appointed position which she held from 2013 to 2015. From 2008 to 2012, she was
Secretary of State of Texas
The Secretary of State of Texas is one of the six members of the executive department of the State of Texas in the United States. Under the Constitution of Texas, the appointment is made by the governor of Texas, with confirmation by the Texas S ...
, an appointed position under
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Rick Perry
James Richard Perry (born March 4, 1950) is an American politician who served as the 14th United States secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019 and as the 47th governor of Texas from 2000 to 2015. Perry also ran unsuccessfully for the Republica ...
.
Texas Workforce Commissioner
An entrepreneur and business and community leader in San Antonio for more than three decades, Andrade was confirmed by the
Texas Senate as the workforce commissioner in March 2013. She succeeded
Tom Pauken
Thomas Weir Pauken (born January 11, 1944) is an American politician and member of the Republican Party.
Pauken is a former member and chairman of the Texas Workforce Commission. A former long-term resident of Dallas, who now resides in the reso ...
, a fellow
Republican who ran unsuccessfully three times for the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...
and
state attorney general. She held the workforce commission post until June 2015.
Texas Secretary of State
Andrade was appointed secretary of state by Governor Perry in 2008. As secretary of state, she was the state's chief elections officer, chief international protocol officer, and border commerce coordinator for the governor's office.
As the elections officer, she toured the state encouraging registration and high voter turnout. She supported the removal of nearly seventy thousand names from the voter rolls of individuals believed to be deceased, based largely on
Social Security
Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...
death records. However, some of the deleted names were of the living, and four individuals sued the state for having been wrongfully stricken from the rolls. Andrade also encountered controversy when prior to the November 6, 2012 general election she objected to the use of international observers examining Texas voting procedures.
She vacated the secretary of state's office on November 23, 2012, after nearly four-and-a-half years on the job. She was the sixth and longest-serving Texas Secretary of State and the second of three women in the post under Perry. Andrade is the first Hispanic woman to have served as the Texas Secretary of State. However, two Hispanic men, Roy Barrera, Sr., of San Antonio and
Henry Cuellar
Enrique Roberto Cuellar (born September 19, 1955) is an American attorney and politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he is considered one of the most conservative representatives in the De ...
, now a U.S. representative from
Laredo, held the position briefly in 1968 and 2001, respectively.
On November 27, 2012, Perry appointed
John Thomas Steen, Jr., also of San Antonio, to succeed Andrade as secretary of state. He is an attorney who previously served on the
Texas Public Safety Commission and the
Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. Steen contributed $56,000 to Perry's past gubernatorial campaigns.
Texas Transportation Commissioner
Prior to her appointment as Secretary of State, Andrade was appointed by Governor Perry to the
Texas Transportation Commission.
She became interim chair of the transportation commission in January 2008, upon the death of its previous chair,
Ric Williamson, a former member of the
Texas House of Representatives
The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abou ...
; she left the commission in May 2008.
Shortly thereafter, in July of the same year, Perry named her Secretary of State when
Samuel P. "Phil" Wilson resigned after one year in the position.
Contract for River Walk barges
On May 25, 2017, Andrade and Lisa Wong, her business partner in their company called Go Rio San Antonio, prevailed in a 10-1 vote from the San Antonio City Council for the $100 million contract to operate the barges on the
San Antonio River Walk
The San Antonio River Walk is a city park and special-case pedestrian street in San Antonio, Texas, one level down from the automobile street. The River Walk winds and loops under bridges as two parallel sidewalks lined with restaurants and shop ...
. The only dissenter on the council was the mayoral candidate
Ron Nirenberg, who unseated
Mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
Ivy Taylor
Ivy Ruth Taylor (born June 17, 1970) is the president of Rust College in Holly Springs, Mississippi, and the former Mayor of San Antonio, Texas, from 2014 through 2017. The former politician and urban planner was a nonpartisan officeholder, alth ...
in a
runoff election
The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resul ...
on June 10. In selecting Andrade and Wong, the council rejected City Manager Sheryl Sculley's recommendation to award the contract instead to the
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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-based Entertainment Cruises, the choice also of former Mayor
Phil Hardberger
Phillip Duane Hardberger (born July 27, 1934) is an American politician and lawyer who served as mayor of San Antonio, taking office in June, 2005. A Democrat, he was elected on a non-partisan ballot.
Life and career Family and early years
Hardb ...
. On receiving the contract, Andrade told Taylor and the council: "We not only know but we understand why the River Walk is indeed our crown jewel of our beautiful city. And we understand that the barge operation is the thread that weaves it all together."
[Josh Baugh, "Go Rio wins barge contract: Council scorns Chicago-based firm backed by Sculley," '']San Antonio Express-News
The ''San Antonio Express-News'' is a daily newspaper in San Antonio, Texas. It is owned by the Hearst Corporation and has offices in San Antonio and Austin, Texas. The ''Express-News'' is the third largest newspaper in the state of Texas, with ...
'', May 26, 2017, pp. 1, A6.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andrade, Esperanza
Secretaries of State of Texas
Living people
1949 births
Texas Republicans
Politicians from San Antonio
Businesspeople from Texas
Women in Texas politics
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American women politicians