Peter P. Flores (born January 30, 1960) is an American politician. He represented

District 19 A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

in the

Texas Senate The Texas Senate ( es, Senado de Texas) is the upper house of the Texas State Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing single-member districts across the U.S. state of Texas, with populations of approximately 806,000 per cons ...

from 2018 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he was the first Hispanic Republican Texas State Senator in Texas history, and he was the first Republican to be elected in District 19 since 1879 during the

Reconstruction Era The Reconstruction era was a period in American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865) and lasting until approximately the Compromise of 1877. During Reconstruction, attempts were made to rebuild the country after the bloo ...

. In the 2020 election, Flores was defeated by his Democratic challenger. Flores won the Republican nomination for Texas State Senate District 24 on May 24, 2022, defeating Raul Reyes by 60% to 40%.

Early life

Flores's parents, Margarito and Lilia Flores, retired in

Laredo, Texas Laredo ( ; ) is a city in and the county seat of Webb County, Texas, United States, on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Laredo has the distinction of flying seven flags (the flag of t ...

. Flores grew up in South Texas. He graduated from Laredo Martin High and attended

Laredo Junior College Laredo College (LC) is a public community college in Laredo, Texas. Founded as Laredo Junior College in 1947, it is part of the Laredo Independent School District. As defined by the Texas Legislature, the official service area of LC includes the ...

before graduating 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 ...

. Flores worked as a farm technician for Texas A&M Veterinary School then was accepted to the Texas Game Warden Academy in 1985.

Career

Flores retired as a Colonel Game Warden for Texas Parks and Wildlife. He is a former leader of

Texas Parks and Wildlife The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) is a Texas state agency that oversees and protects wildlife and their habitats. In addition, the agency is responsible for managing the state's parks and historical areas. Its mission is to manage ...

's statewide law enforcement division. He was the first Hispanic to hold that position.

Texas Senate

In 2016, Flores ran for the Texas Senate

, losing to Democratic incumbent

Carlos Uresti Carlos "Charlie" Uresti (born September 18, 1963) is an American attorney and Democratic politician from San Antonio, Texas. From November 2006 until his resignation in June 2018, he served as a member of the Texas State Senate representing S ...

with about 40% of the vote. District 19 is geographically the largest district in the Texas Senate, with about 400 miles of the Texas–Mexico border, and it contains all or part of 17 counties spread over more than 35,000 square miles in the southwestern portion of the state. The district is 66% Hispanic.

2018 special election

Uresti resigned from his senate seat after being convicted of federal

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...

and

money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...

charges in February 2018, and a special election was called. Flores ran for the seat again, and in an upset, Flores won the September 18, 2018, special election for state senate district 19 over former state representative and U.S. Congressman

Pete Gallego Pete Peña Gallego (born December 2, 1961) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Texas's 23rd congressional district from 2013 to 2015. A member of the Democratic P ...

57% to 43%. Flores took 81% of the

Medina County, Texas Medina County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 50,748. Its county seat is Hondo. The county is named for the Medina River. The extreme northern part of the county lies within the Edw ...

vote, yielding him a 3,000-vote lead, which Gallego could not overcome. Flores served out the remaining two years and three months of a term formerly held by Uresti. Flores was endorsed by

U.S. Senators The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

John Cornyn John Cornyn III ( ; born February 2, 1952) is an American politician and attorney serving as the senior United States senator from Texas, a seat he has held since 2002. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the Senate majority whip for ...

and

Ted Cruz Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas from ...

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 ...

Greg Abbott Gregory Wayne Abbott (born November 13, 1957) is an American politician, attorney, and former jurist serving as the 48th governor of Texas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 50th Tex ...

, and

Lt. Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a " second-in-com ...

Dan Patrick Dan Patrick may refer to: * Dan Patrick (ice hockey) (born 1938), Canadian ice hockey player * Dan Patrick (politician) (born 1950), Lieutenant Governor of Texas and political and sports radio journalist * Dan Patrick (sportscaster) (born 1956), Ame ...

. During the campaign he stated that his focus would be on property tax reform, economic development, support for law enforcement, support for the unborn, and support for the

2nd Amendment The Second Amendment (Amendment II) to the United States Constitution protects the right to keep and bear arms. It was ratified on December 15, 1791, along with nine other articles of the Bill of Rights. In ''District of Columbia v. Helle ...

2020 general election

Flores ran for re-election in 2020. He lost to Democratic nominee Roland Gutierrez by three points. The election ended with the district going towards the Democrats, having the Republican-led State Senate losing their supermajority.

2022 State Senate election

Flores won the Republican primary runoff for State Senate District 24 on May 24, 2022, defeating Raul Reyes 59% to 41%. Flores has the backing of Lt. Governor Dan Patrick and former incumbent of the seat, Dawn Buckingham, who resigned the seat to run for the statewide office of land commissioner. Flores won in the

General Election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

against democratic opponent, Kathy Jones-Hospod.

Political positions

Property tax reform

Flores supports lowering Texas's property taxes. He believes that Texas taxpayers are overtaxed and the current tax rates are unsustainable. He wants to change the way property is being appraised. He wants a uniform methodology of appraisal that is consistent throughout Texas, instead of having 254 different counties using 254 different ways, limiting the role of individual chief appraisers in the each county. He wants the appraisers to be accountable to the voters. He wants the members of the board of appraisal districts to be voted in office, instead of appointed by taxing entities, making them directly accountable to the voters, removing the buffer that separates the taxing entities and the voters that currently exists. He has said, "The system is broken. We need some meaningful tax reform so you and I can keep our houses and we won’t be taxed out of our property. We want to pay our fair share, but it’s not right to have a system that’s not fair and equitable."

Abortion

Flores identifies as

pro-life Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...

Personal life

Flores and his wife Elizabeth, married in 1982, live in Pleasanton, Texas, where he decided to retire after working for 27 years as a state peace officer. They have two children and two grandchildren.McGuinness, Dylan
Flores wants to bring everyman style of governing to Texas Senate
''

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 ...

'', September 19, 2018. Flores has six sisters who are all school teachers.

Electoral history

References

External links

Pete Flores
Peter Flores' Biography from Vote Smart {{DEFAULTSORT:Flores, Pete 1960 births Living people Republican Party Texas state senators Texas A&M University alumni 21st-century American politicians American law enforcement officials American politicians of Spanish descent Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Texas People from Atascosa County, Texas People from Laredo, Texas Latino conservatism in the United States