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Mario Gallegos, Jr.
Member of the Texas State Senate from the 6th district
Incumbent
Assumed office  1995
Preceded by	Dan Shelley
Succeeded by	Incumbent
Born	September 8, 1950 (1950-09-08) (age 57)
Nationality	American
Political party	Democratic
Profession	Retired firefighter

Mario Valentin Gallegos, Jr. (born 8 September 1950)^[1] is a Democratic politician in the U.S. state of Texas. He is the current senator from District 6 in the Texas Senate, which serves a portion of Harris County.

Contents 1 Political career 2 Personal life and health problems 3 Election History 3.1 Most recent election 3.1.1 2004 3.2 Previous elections 3.2.1 2002 3.2.2 1998 3.2.3 1994 3.2.4 1992 4 References 5 External links

Gallegos was a long-time firefighter with the Houston Fire Department and retired as a Senior Dispatcher after 22 years of service. He received a B.A. from the University of Houston.^{[citation needed]} In 1990, he was elected to the 72nd Legislature in the Texas House of Representatives from District 143, where he served two terms, from 1991 to 1995.

In 1994, Representatives Gallegos and Yolanda Navarro Flores and former Representative Roman O. Martinez squared off in the Democratic primary for a recently redrawn Senate District 6. Martinez received a plurality of the votes and faced Gallegos in a runoff. Gallegos secured the endorsement of former opponent Flores and won, and with no other candidates for the Senate seat, Gallegos became the first Mexican American elected to that body from Harris County.^{[citation needed]}

Gallegos faced no opposition in 1998 and was reelected to the Senate. In July 2001, Gallegos was named one of the worst legislators in Texas by Texas Monthly magazine in their biennial feature. The authors noted that Gallegos was “a retired firefighter who threw gasoline on every combustible issue,” and noted his penchant for injecting race into seemingly innocuous legislation.^[2]

Gallegos was unopposed in 2002, but in 2004, Gallegos was again challenged by Yolanda Navarro Flores in the Democratic primary. Amidst two separate lawsuits challenging his residency within District 6 boundaries, and revelations (and another lawsuit) regarding a 17-year affair with former stripper Susan Delgado,^[3] Gallegos won a close contest. In the 2004 general election, he faced Libertarian challenger Tony Deppenschmidt along with a write-in challenge from his former mistress, Delgado. Gallegos won handily with over 90% of the votes.

In July 2005, Gallegos was again named one of the worst legislators in Texas by Texas Monthly.^[4] Nevertheless, Gallegos was sworn in as Governor for one day on May 5th, 2007, in a Texas tradition honoring the Senate President Pro Tem.^[5]

On 10 March 2006, Gallegos released a statement acknowledging that he was in a one-month residential treatment program for his alcoholism.^[6] On 11 January 2007, Gallegos announced that he was suffering from cirrhosis of the liver, and would require a liver transplant,^[7] and on 19 January 2007, Gallegos received a liver transplant at the Texas Medical Center in Houston. According to a statement from Gallegos prior to the surgery, he will miss about 18 days of the Regular Session of the 80th Legislature.^[8]

Gallegos installed a hospital bed in the office of the sergeant-at-arms at the capitol building so that he could be nearby to prevent discussion of a bill requiring voter identification, against doctors' orders.^[9]

Texas general election, 2004: Senate District 6[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Mario V. Gallegos, Jr.	75,318	91.74	-8.24
	Libertarian	Tony Deppenschmidt	6,614	8.05	+8.05
	Write-In	Susan Delgado	160	0.19	+0.19
Majority			68,704	83.69	-16.31
Turnout			82,092		+51.65
	Democratic hold

Democratic primary, 2004: Senate District 6[11]
Candidate		Votes	%	±%
✓	Mario V. Gallegos, Jr.	6,484	53.92
	Yolanda Navarro Flores	5,541	46.07
Turnout		12,025

Texas general election, 2002: Senate District 6[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Mario V. Gallegos, Jr.	54,130	100.00	0.00
Majority			54,130	100.00	+43.41
Turnout			54,130		+43.41
	Democratic hold

Texas general election, 1998: Senate District 6[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Mario V. Gallegos, Jr.	37,746	100.00	0.00
Majority			37,746	100.00	-2.59
Turnout			37,746		-2.59
	Democratic hold

Texas general election, 1994: Senate District 6[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Mario V. Gallegos, Jr.	38,749	100.00	+57.52
Majority			38,749	100.00	+69.20
Turnout			38,749		-74.55
	Democratic gain from Republican

Democratic primary runoff, 1994: Senate District 6[15]
Candidate		Votes	%	±%
✓	Mario V. Gallegos, Jr.	9,613	57.19
	Roman O. Martinez	7,193	42.80
Turnout		16,806

Democratic primary, 1994: Senate District 6[16]
Candidate		Votes	%	±%
✓	Roman O. Martinez	9,026	37.91
✓	Mario V. Gallegos, Jr.	5,990	25.15
	Yolanda Navarro Flores	4,936	20.73
	David Thomas McCullough	3,857	16.19
Turnout		23,809

Texas general election, 1992: House District 143[17]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Mario V. Gallegos, Jr.	15,939	100.00
Majority			15,939	100.00
Turnout			15,939
	Democratic hold

Democratic primary, 1992: House District 143[18]
Candidate		Votes	%	±%
✓	Mario V. Gallegos, Jr.	4,732	59.75
	Don Jones	1,874	23.66
	R.J. 'Reggie' Gonzales	1,313	16.58
Turnout		7,919

• Official Biography on the Texas Senate website.
• Mario Gallegos, Jr. campaign website

Preceded by Albert Luna, III	Member of the Texas House of Representatives from District 143 (Houston) 1991–1995	Succeeded by Gerard Torres
Preceded by Dan Shelley	Texas State Senator from District 6 (Houston)(1) 1995 – present	Incumbent
Preceded by Royce West	President pro tempore of the Texas Senate 9 January 2007 – present	Incumbent
Notes & References
1. For the 74th through the 77th, Gallegos’ home city was Galena Park

v • d • e Current Texas State Senators

1: Eltife (R) • 2: Deuell (R) • 3: Nichols (R) • 4: Williams (R) • 5: Ogden (R) • 6: Gallegos (D) • 7: Patrick (R) • 8: Shapiro (R) • 9: Harris (R) • 10: Brimer (R) • 11: Jackson (R) • 12: Nelson (R) • 13: Ellis (D) • 14: Watson (D) • 15: Whitmire (D) • 16: Carona (R) • 17: Janek (R) • 18: Hegar (R) • 19: Uresti (D) • 20: Hinojosa (D) • 21: Zaffirini (D) • 22: Averitt (R) • 23: West (D) • 24: Fraser (R) • 25: Wentworth (R) • 26: Van de Putte (D) • 27: Lucio (D) • 28: Duncan (R) • 29: Shapleigh (D) • 30: Estes (R) • 31: Seliger (R)

Persondata
NAME	Mario Valentin Gallegos, Jr.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Houston, Texas politician
DATE OF BIRTH	8 September 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH	Harris County, Texas
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH