Cyndi Taylor Krier

Background

Krier was born in Beeville in Bee County in south Texas to Robert Stevens Taylor (1914–1978) and the former Mary McGuffin (1916–2002). Her parents divorced when she was eight years of age, and she relocated with her mother to Dinero, an unincorporated community in Live Oak County near George West, Texas. There, her maternal grandfather and then her grandmother served as postmaster. That post office has since been closed because of the lack of population in Dinero. Krier's mother was for thirty years a postal employee in Beeville. In 2008, on the recommendation of U.S. Representative Lamar Smith and the Texas congressional delegation, the post office 10250 John Saunders Road in San Antonio was named for Krier.

Krier was an honor student and a basketball player. She attended San Antonio College and then Trinity University, both in San Antonio, before she transferred to the University of Texas at Austin to major in journalism. In Austin, she began working in the campaigns of various Republican candidates. After graduation from UT in 1971, she was subsequently employed by the Republican Party of Texas and edited a statewide newsletter. Thereafter, in 1975, she obtained her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Texas School of Law in Austin.

In 1974, she was an intern in the White House. Upon her return to Texas, she worked on the staff of Republican U.S. Senator John G. Tower. In 1976, she worked in the campaign for President Gerald R. Ford, Jr., who was soundly defeated in the Texas primary by former Governor Ronald W. Reagan of California but still won the Republican nomination, only to lose to Democrat Jimmy Carter of Georgia in the general election. In April 1979, Krier joined the law firm of Lang, Lado, Green, Coghlan & Fischer and specialized in civil cases. She actively recruited women into Republican political causes. She was vice chairman of the Bexar County GOP from 1979 to 1981, during which time Reagan won the party's presidential nomination and then unseated Carter. Krier served on a bipartisan commission to propose legislative reforms on a task force for women and minorities established by Governor Bill Clements, the first Republican governor of Texas since 1873.

State senator

In 1984, running under the Reagan-Bush national ticket, Krier challenged the Democratic state Senator Robert L. "Bob" Vale (1931–1992). She actively sought the support of women from both major parties., having employed the slogan: "A Senator We Can Be Proud Of." In unseating Vale, Krier became the first woman and the first Republican to represent San Antonio in the state Senate. Similarly in 1972, Betty Andujar had become the first woman and the first Republican to represent Fort Worth in the Senate, but Andujar was defeated for reelection two years before Krier arrived in the chamber.

Krier was also the only woman senator for the first two years of her service, until joined in 1987 by the still-serving Judith Zaffirini of Laredo. In the 1985 legislative session, Krier worked to reform state laws dealing with child abuse and family violence. In the Senate, she sponsored eighty bills which became law, with emphasis on family violence and alternative dispute resolutions. She served on the Senate Finance, Education, and Jurisprudence committees as well as the Texas Legislative Council. Senator Krier supported the expansion of business opportunities through tourist development and job-training programs.

In 1988, under the Bush-Quayle ticket, Krier was reelected to the Senate and continued her concentration on family violence.

As county judge

In 1992, Krier did not seek a third term in the Senate but ran for the administrative position of Bexar County judge. It was noted that more conservative state senators were entering the chamber at that time, and Krier, as a moderate Republican, believed that her influence in the body would diminish. While seeking the county judgeship, Krier received contributions from the conservative Christian and anti-abortion interest group, Texans for Governmental Integrity, founded by James Leininger, sometimes called the "Daddy Warbucks of Social Conservatism" in Texas. Krier defended Leininger from his detractors and said at the time that the conservative figure was not seeking to "define and control agendas ... [and was] not...behind the scenes trying to manipulate things."

As with the state Senate, Krier was both the first woman and the first Republican county judge in the history of Bexar County. She was elected as a Republican even though national Democrats Bill Clinton and Al Gore succeeded in carrying Bexar County in both 1992 and 1996. As judge, Krier pushed for the building of a new county jail and again concentrated her emphasis on remedies to the problem of family violence.

Later years

In December 2000, Krier served on the transition team when Lieutenant Governor Rick Perry succeeded to the governorship upon the election of George W. Bush to the U.S. presidency. Krier also served on the exploratory committee of Lieutenant Governor Bill Ratliff of Mt. Pleasant, who succeeded Perry in the second position but did not seek a full term in the 2002 election, when the office was won by Republican David Dewhurst.

Months later, Perry named Krier to a six-year term on the regents of the University of Texas System. She was for a time the vice chairman of the board and the chairman of the Academic Affairs Committee. she also served on the committees of (1) Audit, Compliance, and Management Review, (2) Finance and Planning, and (3) Health Affairs Committee. She was also the regents' representative to the board which handles the leasing of university lands for oil and natural gas exploration and development.

On August 28, 2001, Krier became the vice president for Texas governmental relations for the insurance company USAA. Still active in civic matters, Krier is affiliated with the American Bar Association, Chamber of Commerce, the American Cancer Society, and the United Way. She is Episcopalian.

Krier's husband, Joe Krier, and his younger brother, Stephen Thomas Krier of Lubbock, Texas, who is also an attorney, were born to Roland C. Krier (1916–1990) and the former Marie Antoinette Litzow (1922–2009). The senior Kriers were natives of Wisconsin, who later lived in Lubbock. Marie Krier relocated to San Antonio after her husband's death.

In addition to the post office, Krier is honored with the naming of the Cyndi Taylor Krier Juvenile Correctional Treatment Center at 3621 Farm Road in San Antonio.