Texas Leaders Say Sharp Will Give Texas the “Strongest Possible Voice
For Texas From His First Day On the Job”

 

(AUSTIN) — Texas’ Democratic state senators today endorsed John Sharp for the United States Senate, saying that his financial expertise and proven political leadership make him “the strongest possible voice for Texas from his first day on the job.”

 

“This is an economic emergency, and it’s important to send the best we have to solve it,” said Kirk Watson (D-Austin) in announcing the strong show of support.  “John Sharp is our best, and he will give Texas the strongest possible voice in the United States Senate from his first day on the job.”

 

Watson, the former Austin mayor and chairman of the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, said voters are looking for seasoned skills in their next U.S. Senator as the nation tries to recover from the worst financial collapse since the Great Depression.

 

Joining Watson in the endorsement were:

 

      Wendy Davis of Fort Worth
     Mario Gallegos, Jr. of Houston
     Juan ‘Chuy’ Hinojosa of McAllen
     Eddie Lucio, Jr. of Brownsville
     Eliot Shapleigh of El Paso
     Carlos Uresti of San Antonio
     Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio
      Royce West of Dallas
     John Whitmire of Houston
     Judith Zaffirini of Laredo

 

(Rodney Ellis of Houston couldn’t be reached.)

 

“Texans know that John will tackle the crippling federal budget deficit without sacrificing vital public services,” Watson said.  “That’s a unique skill at this unique moment in history.”

 

The endorsement helped consolidate the momentum behind Sharp in the yet-to-be-scheduled special election to replace U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, who is running for Texas Governor in next year’s election and has announced that she will resign after the March 2010 primary.

 

Himself a former member of the Texas Senate, Sharp earned his master’s in public administration from Texas State University in San Marcos while working full-time as a budget examiner for the Legislative Budget Board in Austin.  He was vice chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee as a state representative and named Outstanding Freshman by Texas Monthly magazine.  He was elected to the Texas senate in 1982 and appointed to the powerful Senate Finance Committee.  He later was elected statewide to the Texas Railroad Commission and served as the energy agency’s chairman.

 

As State Comptroller, Sharp created the Lone Star Card, which eliminated waste and fraud in the federal food stamps program, and the Texas Tomorrow Fund, the popular pre-paid college tuition program to make college affordable for thousands of middle-class Texas families.

 

After leaving the Comptroller’s Office, Sharp created the Travis Fund for the families of Texas-based soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq, and co-founded Texans to Cure Cancer, the largest anti-cancer initiative ever launched in the state.