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 buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." Having a business name does not separ ...

woman from

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= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_ ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, who is the former commissioner representing employers on the Texas Workforce Commission, 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 Tex ...

, 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 Republic ...

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 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 co ...

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 Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

and

state attorney general The state attorney general in each of the 50 U.S. states, of the federal district, or of any of the territories is the chief legal advisor to the state government and the state's chief law enforcement officer. In some states, the attorney gener ...

. 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 specifical ...

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, 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 The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, or TABC (formerly the Texas Liquor Control Board), is a Texas public agency responsible for regulating, inspecting, and taxing the production, sale, and use of alcoholic beverages within the state. The agen ...

. 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 The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT ) is a government agency in the American state of Texas. Though the public face of the agency is generally associated with the construction and maintenance of the state's immense state highway system ...

. 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 abo ...

; 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 only dissenter on the council was the mayoral candidate

Ron Nirenberg Ronald Adrian Nirenberg (born April 11, 1977) is an American politician who is the mayor of San Antonio, Texas. Prior to his election, Nirenberg served as a member of the San Antonio City Council for District 8 for two terms. In 2013, 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 ...

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 resu ...

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 , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

-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 Hard ...

. 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