With the resignation of Texas Secretary of State Esperanza "Hope" Andrade, will Gov. Rick Perry tap his longtime friend and supporter Cameron County Carlos Cascos to finish out her term in the footsteps of former county judge Tony Garza?
"The phone has been ringing off the hook," said a county receptionist. "Everybody is wondering whether Cascos would do if he was offered the position."Observers say Cascos, in the middle of his four-year term after getting reelected in 2010, would probably not leave if asked, but the lure of statewide office is hard to underestimate. Given the performance of his elections administrator, it might be something he might not desire.
However, Garza translated his appointment to the SOS to catapult his political career to be chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission and later as the Ambassador to Mexico under George W. Bush. Before he left office he married the heiress of the Corona beer fortune whom he later divorced.
Andrade was the first Hispanic woman to hold the post and announced her resignation effective on Friday. In a letter to Gov. Rick Perry, Andrade said her four and a half years as secretary of state and Texas’ chief elections officer has been “the highest honor of my professional life.” She is the fourth longest serving secretary of state in Texas history.She was a businesswoman and native of San Antonio and has presided over five statewide elections. Among the gains he mentioned in her letter of resignation she cited her efforts to increase outreach and information resources for voters during her tenure.
Voter registration reached a record high of 13.65 million in October in advance of this year’s general election. But her office came under some criticism earlier this year for seeking to have suspected dead persons removed from voter rolls – an effort that was later halted by a state judge after notices were sent to thousands of “living” voters who were told that their names were about to be removed from the rolls unless they took action.
Many wrote the SOS that – like Mark Twain – notice of their death was premature.
Dallas County election officials opted not to follow the secretary of state’s directive to purge voter rolls
Under her tenure, countless independent candidates had their petitions for different positions rejected for inconsequential discrepancies. Don De Leon, a Brownsville independent candidate sued Andrade even though his lawsuit was later dismissed.
She was appointed secretary of state by Gov. Perry in 2008 after previously serving as the chair of the Texas Transportation Commission. As secretary of state, Andrade also served as senior advisor to the governor for Texas border and Mexican affairs, and as the chief international protocol officer for the state.
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