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  Williams, Michael
CANDIDATE DETAILS
AffiliationRepublican  
 
NameMichael Williams
Address
Austin, Texas , United States
EmailNone
Website [Link]
Born May 31, 1953 (70 years)
ContributorWishful Thinking
Last ModifedTX DEM
Dec 26, 2010 01:12am
Tags
InfoMichael L. Williams was initially appointed to the Texas Railroad Commission by former Governor George W. Bush in December 1998 to serve the unexpired term of Carole Keeton Rylander. Williams was elected by his fellow commissioners in September 1999 to chair the Commission. In November 2000, the people of Texas elected him to complete the term expiring in the year 2002. He is the first African American in Texas history to hold an executive statewide elected post and the highest-ranking African American in Texas state government.

He serves as an associate member on the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission and Chairs the Public Outreach Committee. He also represents the Railroad Commission of Texas on the Alternative Fuels Council, the Southern States Energy Board and the Coastal Coordination Council--a consortium of Texas state agencies concerned with coastal environmental matters. Williams is the Railroad Commission "point person" for the agency's regulatory reform and technology modernization efforts. In October 2001, Governor Rick Perry appointed Williams to the Governor's Task Force on Homeland Security.

Prior to his appointment to the Railroad Commission of Texas, Williams served as general counsel to a Texas-based high-tech corporation. He also has served in a volunteer capacity as the general counsel of the Republican Party of Texas, the chairman of the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission and on the Board of Directors of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce, the Texas Public Policy Foundation and Our Mother of Mercy Catholic School.

President George H. W. Bush appointed Williams to be Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education. Previously, Chairman Williams served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Law Enforcement at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In that capacity, he had oversight responsibility for the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Customs Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

He also served as Special Assistant to Attorney General Richard Thornburgh at the U.S. Department of Justice. In 1988, former U.S. Attorney General Ed Meese awarded Williams the Attorney General's "Special Achievement Award" for the conviction of six Ku Klux Klan members on federal weapons charges. He is a former federal prosecutor and a former assistant district attorney in his hometown of Midland, Texas.

The son of public school teachers, Williams earned a bachelor's, master's and law degree from the University of Southern California.


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Start Date End Date Type Title Contributor

NEWS
Date Category Headline Article Contributor
Jun 02, 2011 11:00pm Speculative Sources: Michael Williams May Switch to U.S. House Race  Article COSDem 
Jan 17, 2011 04:15pm Announcement Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams to resign, may run for U.S. Senate in 2012  Article DFWDem 

DISCUSSION
Importance? 0.00000 Average

FAMILY

INFORMATION LINKS
RACES
  05/29/2012 TX District 25 - R Primary Lost 10.50% (-14.61%)
  11/04/2008 TX Railroad Commissioner Won 52.13% (+7.78%)
  03/04/2008 TX Railroad Commissioner - R Primary Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
  11/05/2002 TX Railroad Commissioner Won 54.81% (+13.33%)
  11/07/2000 TX Railroad Commissioner - Special Election Won 77.01% (+61.18%)
  03/14/2000 TX Railroad Commissioner - Special R Primary Won 79.98% (+59.96%)
  01/20/1999 TX Railroad Commissioner - Appointment Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
ENDORSEMENTS
Dallas Mayor - May 12, 2007 R Gary Griffith