Preceded by District established Name Filemon Jr. Role U.S. Representative | Occupation Attorney, Politician Spouse Rose Vela Religion Catholicism | |
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Full Name Filemon Vela, Jr. Alma mater Georgetown UniversityUniversity of Texas School of Law Office Representative (D-TX 34th District) since 2013 Parents Filemon Vela, Sr., Blanca Vela Profiles | ||
Member of congress start date January 3, 2013 | ||
Texas Democrat slams Donald Trump in letter
Filemón Bartolomé Vela Jr. /ˈfɪləˌmɒn ˈvɛlə/ (born February 13, 1963) is an American lawyer and politician who has been the U.S. Representative for Texas's 34th congressional district since 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
Contents
- Texas Democrat slams Donald Trump in letter
- US Representative Filemon Vela Jr Visits Bowie Elementary
- Early life and education
- Law career
- 2012 election
- Tenure
- Committee assignments
- Personal life
- References
U.S. Representative Filemon Vela, Jr. Visits Bowie Elementary
Early life and education
Vela was born in Harlingen, Texas and raised in Brownsville, Texas. His father, Filemon Bartolome Vela Sr., was a long-serving United States federal judge. The Reynaldo G. Garza-Filemon B. Vela United States Courthouse in Brownsville is named in Judge Vela's honor. His mother, Blanca Sanchez Vela, served as Brownsville’s first female mayor from 1999 to 2003.
Filemon attended Saint Joseph Academy in Brownsville, Texas, and went on to graduate from Georgetown University in 1985. During his time at Georgetown, he served as an intern at the Federal Judicial Center – the research and education agency of the federal judicial system. He also served as an intern in Congressman Solomon P Ortiz’s Washington, D.C. office. Vela earned his J.D. from University of Texas at Austin School of Law in 1987.
Law career
For more than 20 years, Filemon practiced law in South Texas, as a plaintiff attorney. His legal practice focused on complex civil litigation. As a trial attorney, Filemon successfully represented clients who were the victims of racial discrimination, consumers who had been severely injured by defective products, and employees injured during work.
Some notable cases include Earl Shinhoster v. Ford Motor Company, in which Vela represented the family of deceased Director of the NAACP who was killed in a car rollover accident in what was the largest wrongful death settlements in Alabama history, and Robert Trevino v. Walmart, in which Vela represented a group of American farm workers who were told they could not shop in a Mississippi store.
Vela also represented several South Texas school districts. In Edinburg School District v. Landmark, Vela represented Edinburg to fight for more funding. In Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District v. Landmark, he represented the district in fighting contractors accused of building a poorly constructed school facility.
2012 election
Vela decided to run in the newly created Texas's 34th congressional district as a Democrat. In the May 29 primary, Vela ranked first in an 8-candidate field with 40% of the vote. In the July 31 run-off primary, Vela defeated Denise Saenz Blanchard 67% to 33%.
In the general election, Vela defeated Republican Jessica Bradshaw 62% to 36%, winning the election.
Tenure
In July 2013, he decided to quit the Congressional Hispanic Caucus because of his opposition to the Hoeven-Corker Amendment that tied border security with a pathway to citizenship. He said “erecting more border fence drives a wedge between border communities which are culturally united.”
Committee assignments
Personal life
Vela's wife, Rose, was a Republican justice on Texas’ 13th Court of Appeals from 2007 to 2012.