Michael U. Villarreal (born August 19, 1971 in San Antonio) is an American state politician who served as a 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 ...

from a district centered in north central

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

. Villarreal served as Chair of the House Committee on Investments and Financial Services and was a member of the House Committee on Public Education. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

who served eight terms, Villarreal previously worked for San Antonio's SAMCO Capitol Markets, specializing in municipal finance.

Background

Villarrea is a graduate of Central Catholic High School in

, Texas. He holds an undergraduate economics degree from

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

and later studied economics at

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

and

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. He holds a Masters of Public Policy from

Harvard Kennedy School The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

. He is currently pursuing a doctorate in public affairs at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. Villarreal was named as one of Texas' best legislators by ''

Texas Monthly ''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. ''Texas Monthly'' was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy and has been published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. since 1998 and is ...

'' and has been commended by the local

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who be ...

for his legislative work to protect the environment. Villarreal resigned his seat in the State House in January 2015 to run for

Mayor of San Antonio The following is a list of mayors of San Antonio, Texas. San Antonio operates under a council–manager form of government.Kriston CappsWhy Julián Castro's Record as Mayor of San Antonio Doesn't Necessarily Tell Us Much About His Future at HUD ...

in the 2015 mayoral election. Villarreal came in third and did not qualify for the runoff.

References

External links

Representative's website

ballotpedia.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Villareal, Mike 1971 births Living people Harvard Kennedy School alumni Democratic Party members of the Texas House of Representatives Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Texas People from San Antonio Texas A&M University alumni 21st-century American politicians