Anthony Glenn Buzbee is an American lawyer and politician. In 2019, Buzbee ran for mayor of

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, Texas, but lost to incumbent

Sylvester Turner Sylvester Turner (born September 27, 1954) is an American attorney and politician who is serving as the 62nd mayor of Houston, Texas. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Turner was a member of the Texas House of Re ...

Early life and education

Buzbee grew up in

Atlanta, Texas Atlanta is a city in Cass County, northeastern Texas, United States. According to the 2010 U.S. census, the city had a population of 5,675, which decreased to 5,433 in 2020. History Atlanta was established in 1872 with the building of the Texas ...

, on a farm with his parents and three siblings. Buzbee earned a B.S. in Psychology 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 a J.D. from the

University of Houston Law Center The University of Houston Law Center is the law school of the University of Houston in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1947, the Law Center is one of 12 colleges of the University of Houston, a state university. It is accredited by the American Bar A ...

. Buzbee was the Battalion Commander of the

NROTC The Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) program is a college-based, commissioned officer training program of the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. Origins A pilot Naval Reserve unit was established in September 19 ...

Midshipman Battalion and a member of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets. The Buzbee Leadership Learning Center on the Quadrangle is named in his honor.

Career

He began his legal career as an attorney at Susman Godfrey LLP in Houston. In 2000, he founded the Buzbee Law Firm. Buzbee appeared on the cover of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' magazine in November 2010 regarding his role in the litigation against BP following the

Deepwater Horizon oil spill The ''Deepwater Horizon'' oil spill (also referred to as the "BP oil spill") was an industrial disaster that began on 20 April 2010 off of the coast of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect, considered ...

in the Gulf of Mexico. The article described him as "one of the most successful trial lawyers in Texas". As of April 6, 2021, Buzbee represents at least twenty-one clients alleging sexual misconduct against NFL Quarterback

Deshaun Watson Derrick Deshaun Watson (born September 14, 1995) is an American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players ...

. In 2021, Buzbee filed a $750 million lawsuit against rapper Travis Scott on behalf of 120 victims who died or were injured during the

Astroworld Festival crowd crush On November 5, 2021, a fatal Crowd collapses and crushes, crowd crush occurred during the first night of the 2021 Astroworld Festival, a music event founded by American musician Travis Scott that was held at NRG Park in Houston, Texas. Eight p ...

. Buzbee is also a property developer. He owns Buzbee Properties, a real-estate firm focused on various suburbs in the

Greater Houston Greater Houston, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land, is the fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States, encompassing nine counties along the Gulf Co ...

area. He also owns some properties in Florida.

Politics

In 2002, Buzbee unsuccessfully ran for the 24th District of the Texas State House as a Democrat, losing to Republican

Larry Taylor Samuel Lawrence Taylor (June 26, 1942 – August 19, 2019) was an American bass guitarist, best known for his work as a member of Canned Heat from 1967. Before joining Canned Heat he had been a session bassist for The Monkees and Jerry Lee Le ...

by 17 points. From August 2003 to April 2005, Buzbee was chair of the Galveston County Democratic Party. In 2012, Buzbee supported

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 ...

's presidential campaign with financial support and the use of his private jet. Buzbee also served as one of Perry's debate coaches. In 2016, Buzbee hosted a fundraiser at his River Oaks mansion for then presidential candidate

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

. Later on, following the release of the Access Hollywood tape, Buzbee disavowed Trump and stated his intention to write-in veteran Dan Moran for president. Subsequently, Buzbee gave $500,000 to Trump's inauguration committee.

Houston mayoral run

On October 30, 2018, Buzbee announced he would be running in the 2019 Houston mayoral election, challenging incumbent

Houston Mayor The following is a list of people who have served as mayor of the city of Houston in the U.S. state of Texas. Until 2015, the term of the mayor was two years. Beginning with the tenure of Bob Lanier, the city charter imposed term limits on offi ...

, on a platform of universal pre-K, infrastructure improvement, crime reduction, and expanding access to 5G broadband. Following the November 5, 2019, election Buzbee garnered 28% of the vote, enough to make it into a runoff with Turner who had 47% of the vote in unofficial returns. Buzbee lost to Turner in the runoff election.

Personal life

Buzbee married Zoe Benson in 1991 and they have four children together. Buzbee and Benson divorced in 2017. Buzbee became engaged to Frances Moody in 2020. In March 2016, Buzbee was arrested in Harris County on suspicion for

driving while intoxicated Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...

. In December of the same year, the Harris County District Attorney, Devon Anderson, personally dismissed the case. Controversy ensued when it was revealed that Buzbee completed the year-long probation program in only eight months and had contributed to Anderson's election campaign in 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buzbee, Tony 1968 births Living people Texas A&M University alumni Texas lawyers University of Houston Law Center alumni