Preceded by John Garza Name Philip Cortez Website [1] | Spouse(s) Leticia Cortez Succeeded by Rick Galindo Political party Democratic Party | |
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Born July 7, 1978 (age 45) ( 1978-07-07 ) Alma mater University of Texas at San Antonio Service/branch United States Air Force Reserve captain Education University of Texas at San Antonio Residence San Antonio, Texas, United States | ||
Member spotlight representatives philip cortez naomi gonzalez roland gutierrez
Philip A. Cortez (born July 7, 1978) is a Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives. He previously served as a State Representative for House District 117 during the 83rd Legislative Session. From 2007 to 2012, he was a member of the nominally nonpartisan San Antonio City Council, on which he was a firm ally of then Mayor Julian Castro.
Cortez is a captain in the Air Force Reserve, having originally joined the Air Force as an enlisted airman.
In the November 6, 2012 general election, Cortez unseated the freshman Republican John Garza. In his first term, Cortez was named the top Democratic freshman by Capitol Inside.
In the November 4, 2014 general election, Cortez was narrowly unseated by the Republican Rick Galindo, who won his party primary on March 4 with 2,372 votes (64.6 percent). Galindo thwarted the primary comeback bid waged by former Representative John Garza, who trailed with 1,300 votes (35.4 percent) of the ballots cast. In the November 4 general election, Galindo defeated Cortez, 12,835 votes (52.7 percent) to 11,521 (47.3 percent).
Cortez returned in 2016 to unseat Galindo, who trailed in the general election with 27,783 votes (48.6 percent) to Cortez's 29,319 (51.3 percent).
Cortez's younger brother, Joseph Cortez (born 1983), is a candidate for the District 6 seat on the San Antonio City Council in the municipal election scheduled for May 6, 2017. Joseph Cortez seeks to succeed the term-limited Ray Lopez, for whom he was the policy and communications advisor during the preceding three years.