Solomon Ortiz was born in Robstown, Nueces County, Texas; his family had immigrated from Mexico.[3] As a boy, he held several odd jobs, including working as a shoeshiner and an ink fogger for The Robstown Record's letter press. Ortiz befriended, and became fascinated with, law enforcement officers.[4] He attended Robstown High School until the age of 19, when he dropped out after his father's death to help support his family.
Ortiz joined the United States Army in 1960, serving two years and earning his GED. He received basic training at Fort Hood, Texas, and served a tour of duty in Verdun and Vitry-le-François, France. Expressing his interest in law enforcement, Ortiz was reassigned to the 61st Military Police Company Criminal Investigation Office and received advanced military police training at Fort Gordon, Georgia.[4]
After returning to South Texas, Ortiz worked for three years as an insurance agent.
Early political career
In 1964, he was urged by friends to run for Nueces County constable, and was elected in 1965, defeating the incumbent in a runoff election.[5] He was elected to the county commissioners court of Nueces County in 1969, the first Hispanic to serve in that capacity. He remained in that position until 1976, when he was elected county sheriff, another first for a Hispanic in Nueces County.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
When the 27th District was created in 1982, Ortiz ran for the seat on a platform of jobs incentives and attention to education.[5] He won the Democratic primary run-off election with 52% of the vote,[6] defeating Republican State Representative Joe Salem.[7] In the general election, he won with 64% of the vote.[8]
He won re-election 13 times, dipping below 60% of the vote only four times before 2010. His lowest winning percentage was in 1992, when he defeated Republican Jay Kimbrough[9] 55%-43%.[10]
On November 2, election night, Ortiz appeared to have lost to the Republican challenger, Blake Farenthold, but Ortiz requested a recount.[2] Ortiz conceded after the November 22 recount. Farenthold narrowly defeated him 47.8%-47.1%, by a margin of just 770 votes. While Ortiz had won four of the district's six counties, he lost the two northernmost counties, San Patricio and his home county of Nueces.[11]
Tenure
Ortiz is a Democratic moderate. He is socially conservative, but economically liberal. For example, he is anti-abortion, but usually voted with his party on economic issues.[citation needed]
In 1983, as a freshman congressman, he was assigned to the U.S. Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control.[12] In 1993, Ortiz was named chairman of a House subcommittee that oversees the Gulf of Mexico.[13]
solomon, ortiz, solomon, porfirio, ortiz, born, june, 1937, american, former, politician, served, representative, texas, 27th, congressional, district, based, corpus, christi, serving, from, 1983, until, 2011, member, democratic, party, 2010, ortiz, narrowly, . Solomon Porfirio Ortiz born June 3 1937 is an American former politician who served as the U S representative for Texas s 27th congressional district based in Corpus Christi serving from 1983 until 2011 He is a member of the Democratic Party In 2010 Ortiz was narrowly defeated by Republican challenger Blake Farenthold 1 2 Ortiz s son Solomon Ortiz Jr is a former state representative Solomon OrtizMember of the U S House of Representatives from Texas s 27th districtIn office January 3 1983 January 3 2011Preceded byConstituency establishedSucceeded byBlake FarentholdPersonal detailsBorn 1937 06 03 June 3 1937 age 85 Robstown Texas U S Political partyDemocraticEducationDel Mar CollegeMilitary serviceAllegiance United StatesBranch service United States ArmyYears of service1960 1962 Contents 1 Early life education and business career 2 Early political career 3 U S House of Representatives 3 1 Elections 3 2 Tenure 3 3 Committee assignments 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksEarly life education and business career EditSolomon Ortiz was born in Robstown Nueces County Texas his family had immigrated from Mexico 3 As a boy he held several odd jobs including working as a shoeshiner and an ink fogger for The Robstown Record s letter press Ortiz befriended and became fascinated with law enforcement officers 4 He attended Robstown High School until the age of 19 when he dropped out after his father s death to help support his family Ortiz joined the United States Army in 1960 serving two years and earning his GED He received basic training at Fort Hood Texas and served a tour of duty in Verdun and Vitry le Francois France Expressing his interest in law enforcement Ortiz was reassigned to the 61st Military Police Company Criminal Investigation Office and received advanced military police training at Fort Gordon Georgia 4 After returning to South Texas Ortiz worked for three years as an insurance agent Early political career EditIn 1964 he was urged by friends to run for Nueces County constable and was elected in 1965 defeating the incumbent in a runoff election 5 He was elected to the county commissioners court of Nueces County in 1969 the first Hispanic to serve in that capacity He remained in that position until 1976 when he was elected county sheriff another first for a Hispanic in Nueces County U S House of Representatives EditElections Edit When the 27th District was created in 1982 Ortiz ran for the seat on a platform of jobs incentives and attention to education 5 He won the Democratic primary run off election with 52 of the vote 6 defeating Republican State Representative Joe Salem 7 In the general election he won with 64 of the vote 8 He won re election 13 times dipping below 60 of the vote only four times before 2010 His lowest winning percentage was in 1992 when he defeated Republican Jay Kimbrough 9 55 43 10 2010See also 2010 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas District 27 On November 2 election night Ortiz appeared to have lost to the Republican challenger Blake Farenthold but Ortiz requested a recount 2 Ortiz conceded after the November 22 recount Farenthold narrowly defeated him 47 8 47 1 by a margin of just 770 votes While Ortiz had won four of the district s six counties he lost the two northernmost counties San Patricio and his home county of Nueces 11 Tenure Edit Ortiz is a Democratic moderate He is socially conservative but economically liberal For example he is anti abortion but usually voted with his party on economic issues citation needed Committee assignments Edit 111th CongressCommittee on Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness Chairman Subcommittee on Seapower and Expeditionary Forces Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation Subcommittee on Highways and Transit Subcommittee on Water Resources and EnvironmentPrevious committeesIn 1983 as a freshman congressman he was assigned to the U S Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control 12 In 1993 Ortiz was named chairman of a House subcommittee that oversees the Gulf of Mexico 13 See also EditList of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States CongressReferences Edit Ortiz Farenthold recount expected next week The Brownsville Herald November 12 2010 a b Dem Rep Ortiz to seek re count in S Texas race Houston Chronicle Archived from the original on 8 November 2010 Retrieved 9 November 2010 ORTIZ Solomon P Biographical Information Biographical Directory of the United States Congress Retrieved 5 October 2010 a b U S Representative Solomon P Ortiz About Me United States House of Representatives Archived from the original on 4 October 2010 Retrieved 5 October 2010 a b Hispanic Americans in Congress Ortiz Retrieved 5 October 2010 Ourcampaigns com Ourcampaigns com Retrieved 2014 08 10 HOME Corpus Christi TX Corpus Christi Caller Times M caller com 2014 08 03 Archived from the original on 2012 04 26 Retrieved 2014 08 10 Ourcampaigns com Ourcampaigns com Retrieved 2014 08 10 San Antonio Express News Archive expressnews com nl newsbank com Retrieved 14 December 2017 Ourcampaigns com Ourcampaigns com Retrieved 2014 08 10 Ourcampaigns com Ourcampaigns com Retrieved 2014 08 10 The Durant Daily Democrat Google News Archive Search news google com Retrieved 14 December 2017 San Antonio Express News Archive expressnews com nl newsbank com Retrieved 14 December 2017 External links EditBiography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress Financial information federal office at the Federal Election Commission Profile at SourceWatch Appearances on C SPANU S House of RepresentativesNew constituency Member of the U S House of Representativesfrom Texas s 27th congressional district1983 2011 Succeeded byBlake FarentholdPreceded byKika de la Garza Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus1991 1993 Succeeded byJose E SerranoU S order of precedence ceremonial Preceded byPeter T Kingas Former US Representative Order of precedence of the United Statesas Former US Representative Succeeded byBill Thomasas Former US Representative Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Solomon Ortiz amp oldid 1122666511, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
