RICHARD PEÑA RAYMOND STATE REPRESENTATIVE, DISTRICT 42 Richard Peña Raymond was born in nearby Alice and raised in Benavides, TX (population 1,900) graduating from the high school there. He got involved in politics as a very young man fighting political corruption in his home county of Duval. Representative Raymond received a B.A. from The University of Texas at Austin, majoring in Government and minoring in History. He later received a J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law. Before being elected to the Texas Legislature, he worked for United States Senators Lloyd Bentsen from Texas and Paul Simon from Illinois. He also worked for Texas Land Commissioner Garry Mauro and Texas Railroad Commissioner Bob Krueger. In 1992,Raymond first ran for and was elected to the Texas House of Representatives, where he would represent a rural South Texas District that included the counties of Duval, Jim Wells, Live Oak, Wilson, Atascosa, McMullen and La Salle. After serving in the Texas House for six years, he then ran for Texas Land Commissioner. Although he received nearly 1.5 million votes as the Democratic Party nominee, he lost to Republican David Dewhurst. Two years later, in January 2001, Mr. Raymond was once again elected to the Texas House of Representatives, this time by the voters of Laredo,TX, and has served in the House since. He now serves as Chairman of the Defense & Veterans’ Affairs Committee while also serving on the State Affairs Committee. Representative Raymond has authored and passed many bills during his career regarding job creation, higher education, transportation, health care and public safety. He also passed bills putting the words “In God We Trust” in the Texas House of Representatives Chamber and on Texas License plates. He is a proud father and lifelong, die-hard Dallas Cowboys and Texas Longhorns fan.
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