Carlos Uresti

Raised on the South Side of San Antonio in a family with seven siblings, Uresti enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves at the age of 18, rose to the rank of Captain and earned the Navy Achievement Medal during his four years of active duty as a combat engineer.

Since graduating from St. Mary's University School of Law in 1992, he has been in private practice in San Antonio. A 1997 special election brought Uresti to the Texas House of Representatives, where he served for nine years before he was elected to represent District 19 in the Texas Senate.

At more than 35,000 square miles and containing all or part of 17 counties, it is one of the largest legislative districts in the nation, and covers about one-third of the Texas-Mexico border. In previous legislative sessions, Uresti opposed Voter ID and Sanctuary Cities legislation, and as a member of the Redistricting Committee he fought for new political boundaries that recognized the explosive growth of the Hispanic population in Texas.

Uresti currently serves as vice chairman of the Administration Committee and the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee, and is a member of the Health and Human Services, Natural Resources, and Transportation committees. He was selected by his colleagues in 2010 to serve as chairman of the Senate Hispanic Caucus.