David Van Os
Encyclopedia
David Van Os is a Texas attorney
and a populist
democrat. He is a prominent figure in the Democratic Party
of the U.S. state
of Texas
and a frequent Democratic candidate for public office. A three-time Democratic nominee for statewide office, he is a self-styled "People's Democrat" and civil rights
attorney.
, the son of Seymour and Francene Van Os, David Van Os excelled in school. He was a National Honor Society
and National Merit Finalist, Kilgore High School. Attended University of Texas at Austin
on scholastic General Motors
Scholarship, 1968-1972; Graduated UT With Honors, May 1972. Selected University of Texas Junior Fellow, 1970 and Entered University of Texas Law School with academic scholarship, 1973; Graduated from the University of Texas Law School with J.D. Degree, 1976. Van Os was honored with Human Rights Research Council Distinguished Research and Writing Award, UT Law School, 1974. Recipient of the 2005 Spine Award by the Backbone Campaign. He served on Board of Directors and as Assistant Treasurer, Texas Equal Access to Justice Foundation, by appointment of the Texas Supreme Court, 1985-1995. In 1990 he was honored with President’s Citation for Achievement in Civil Rights by the NAACP. The Texas Women’s Political Caucus named him "GOOD GUY OF THE YEAR" in 2002.
He married Rachel Barrios-Van Os, a native of San Antonio
. They have one son, B.J. and three daughters, Kay Cee, Maya and Leya.
A political activist, Van Os attended his first Democratic State Convention in 1972 and attended every one through 2006. He served as President, Northeast Austin Democrats, 1978-1980, Democratic Precinct Chairman #132, Travis County, 1981-1988, County Democratic Chairman, Travis County, 1996-1998, Chairman, North East Bexar County Democrats, 2000-2003, Life Member, NAACP Member and Legal Panelist, American Civil Liberties Union, and Member of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement.
Van Os served as general counsel for the Texas AFL-CIO
from 1983 to 1989 and was named Civil Libertarian of the Year, Central Texas ACLU, 1990 and was in-house District Counsel for the Communications Workers of America in Austin from 1981 through 1984; he continued serving as District Counsel for CWA after co-founding a private law firm in 1984, and remains CWA's District Counsel for its five-state District 6. His primary professional concentration has been in classical labor law and workers' rights on the side of unions, serving as legal counsel and trial attorney for a number of labor unions at the international and local union levels over the space of 33 years and continuing at the current time. Other major labor clients of Van Os have included Steelworkers (USW), Carpenters (UBC),Electrical Workers (IBEW), Sheet Metal Workers, Fire Fighters, Musicians (AFM), Deputy Sheriffs of Bexar County, Texas AFL-CIO, and others. Van Os and his wife, Rachel, met on a CWA picket line in 1994. In the 1980s and early 1990s he also represented the NAACP and LULAC in a series of controversial voting rights lawsuits and desegregation suits involving the City of Austin and the Austin Independent School Board. While in law school and in the early years of his career Van Os was mentored in the practice of law by prominent Texas labor and civil rights attorneys Sam Houston Clinton (later a long-serving Judge on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals) and David R. Richards. He spent the first 23 years of his legal career in Austin before he and Rachel moved their growing family to San Antonio in 1999. After moving to San Antonio he continued to be involved in high-profile issues such as obtaining a temporary restraining order on behalf of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) that temporarily halted the unpopular closing of Kelly Air Force Base. Another prominent client was Bill Burkett
in the Killian documents
affair, later known as Rathergate, of 2004. Van Os continues to advocate for constitutional rights, civil rights, and worker rights as an active legal counselor and litigator. He is the owner and managing attorney of the law firm of David Van Os & Associates, P.C., of San Antonio Texas. The law firm consists of three attorneys, Van Os and his associates Matt Holder and Ricardo Alberto Garcia, concentrating in Constitutional law, union-side labor law, and civil rights
. He lost to Republican incumbent Greg Abbott by a three-to-two margin. In 2004, he again sought a Supreme Court seat but lost to appointed Republican incumbent Scott Brister
.
at public hearings in the summer of 2006.
During his 2006 race for Attorney General of Texas
, he vowed to fight for the people of Texas against the large monopolistic oil, insurance and media conglomerates, saying he'd "Fight them until hell freezes over and then fight them on the ice." Much of his funding for his 2006 campaign came from contributions of $20 to $100 from low to medium income donors who met him during his 254 county "Whistle stop" Campaign Tour or read about him on the blogs. His opponent, Republican
incumbent Greg Abbott
entered the race with over six million dollars in his campaign war chest.
As the Democratic nominee for attorney general, Van Os took his campaign directly to the people. He pledged to visit all 254 counties in Texas during the 2006 election cycle. With his wife Rachel Barrios-Van Os, who served as his campaign manager, he visited each courthouse and spoke on the courthouse square.
His last five "Whistle Stops" were in Tarrant County
on October 16, Dallas County
on October 17, Harris County
on October 18, Travis County
on October 19 and his home county of Bexar
on October 20. Local supporters joined him on the courthouse steps as he proclaimed his determination to "return Texas Government back to the people" denouncing the "bought and paid for perversion of the American political process." In Tarrant, truckdrivers passing on the street, acknowledged him by honking their horns when they saw the signs with his campaign message "MESSAGE TO BIG OIL -- I'm coming after you." During much of 2006 gasoline prices had soared to a record of over three dollars a gallon and dipped rapidly a month before the general election by at least a dollar a gallon. Many people suspected that the timing of the rise and fall was due to political manipulation. Supporters of David Van Os funded billboards in many counties in Texas with the following message: "MESSAGE TO BIG OIL - I'M COMING AFTER YOU!"
His opponent, Abbott, received considerable money from insurance companies. Van Os vowed to use the office of the Attorney General's office, if elected, to enforce the anti-trust provisions of the Texas and U.S. Constitutions, especially in regards to insurance company pricing. His other billboard message during the 2006 Attorney General's race was: "INSURANCE GOUGERS - I'M COMING AFTER YOU"
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
and a populist
Populism
Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...
democrat. He is a prominent figure in the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
of the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and a frequent Democratic candidate for public office. A three-time Democratic nominee for statewide office, he is a self-styled "People's Democrat" and civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
attorney.
Early years
Born February 19, 1950 in Kilgore, TexasKilgore, Texas
Kilgore is a city in Gregg and Rusk Counties in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the home of Kilgore College, and was also the childhood home of famous classical pianist Van Cliburn...
, the son of Seymour and Francene Van Os, David Van Os excelled in school. He was a National Honor Society
National Honor Society
The National Honor Society is a recognition program for high school students in grades 10-12 in the United States and in several other countries...
and National Merit Finalist, Kilgore High School. Attended University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
on scholastic General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
Scholarship, 1968-1972; Graduated UT With Honors, May 1972. Selected University of Texas Junior Fellow, 1970 and Entered University of Texas Law School with academic scholarship, 1973; Graduated from the University of Texas Law School with J.D. Degree, 1976. Van Os was honored with Human Rights Research Council Distinguished Research and Writing Award, UT Law School, 1974. Recipient of the 2005 Spine Award by the Backbone Campaign. He served on Board of Directors and as Assistant Treasurer, Texas Equal Access to Justice Foundation, by appointment of the Texas Supreme Court, 1985-1995. In 1990 he was honored with President’s Citation for Achievement in Civil Rights by the NAACP. The Texas Women’s Political Caucus named him "GOOD GUY OF THE YEAR" in 2002.
He married Rachel Barrios-Van Os, a native of San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
. They have one son, B.J. and three daughters, Kay Cee, Maya and Leya.
A political activist, Van Os attended his first Democratic State Convention in 1972 and attended every one through 2006. He served as President, Northeast Austin Democrats, 1978-1980, Democratic Precinct Chairman #132, Travis County, 1981-1988, County Democratic Chairman, Travis County, 1996-1998, Chairman, North East Bexar County Democrats, 2000-2003, Life Member, NAACP Member and Legal Panelist, American Civil Liberties Union, and Member of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement.
Law career
He was admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and every United States District Court in Texas serving in federal appeals courts, state appeals courts, federal and state trial courts. His accomplishments as an attorney earned him recognition such as: Named one of Texas’ Super Lawyers by Texas Monthly in 2003, 2004, and 2005; http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/courts/entries/2008/07/16/david_lee_powell_cop_killer_lo.html?cxntfid=blogs_austin_legal Named in Best Lawyers in America since 1986, by survey of fellow attorneys; Rated AV by Martindale-Hubbell, the highest possible evaluation in legal ability and professional ethics, by survey of fellow attorneys; Member, College of the State Bar of Texas Fellow, Texas Bar Foundation;Van Os served as general counsel for the Texas AFL-CIO
AFL-CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, commonly AFL–CIO, is a national trade union center, the largest federation of unions in the United States, made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 11 million workers...
from 1983 to 1989 and was named Civil Libertarian of the Year, Central Texas ACLU, 1990 and was in-house District Counsel for the Communications Workers of America in Austin from 1981 through 1984; he continued serving as District Counsel for CWA after co-founding a private law firm in 1984, and remains CWA's District Counsel for its five-state District 6. His primary professional concentration has been in classical labor law and workers' rights on the side of unions, serving as legal counsel and trial attorney for a number of labor unions at the international and local union levels over the space of 33 years and continuing at the current time. Other major labor clients of Van Os have included Steelworkers (USW), Carpenters (UBC),Electrical Workers (IBEW), Sheet Metal Workers, Fire Fighters, Musicians (AFM), Deputy Sheriffs of Bexar County, Texas AFL-CIO, and others. Van Os and his wife, Rachel, met on a CWA picket line in 1994. In the 1980s and early 1990s he also represented the NAACP and LULAC in a series of controversial voting rights lawsuits and desegregation suits involving the City of Austin and the Austin Independent School Board. While in law school and in the early years of his career Van Os was mentored in the practice of law by prominent Texas labor and civil rights attorneys Sam Houston Clinton (later a long-serving Judge on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals) and David R. Richards. He spent the first 23 years of his legal career in Austin before he and Rachel moved their growing family to San Antonio in 1999. After moving to San Antonio he continued to be involved in high-profile issues such as obtaining a temporary restraining order on behalf of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) that temporarily halted the unpopular closing of Kelly Air Force Base. Another prominent client was Bill Burkett
Bill Burkett
Bill Burkett was the CBS source in the Killian documents affair of 2004. He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel from the Texas Army National Guard....
in the Killian documents
Killian documents
The Killian documents controversy involved six documents critical of President George W. Bush's service in the Air National Guard in 1972–73...
affair, later known as Rathergate, of 2004. Van Os continues to advocate for constitutional rights, civil rights, and worker rights as an active legal counselor and litigator. He is the owner and managing attorney of the law firm of David Van Os & Associates, P.C., of San Antonio Texas. The law firm consists of three attorneys, Van Os and his associates Matt Holder and Ricardo Alberto Garcia, concentrating in Constitutional law, union-side labor law, and civil rights
1998 Texas Supreme Court bid
In 1998, Van Os was the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for a seat on the Texas Supreme CourtTexas Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Texas is the court of last resort for non-criminal matters in the state of Texas. A different court, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, is the court of last resort for criminal matters.The Court is composed of a Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices...
. He lost to Republican incumbent Greg Abbott by a three-to-two margin. In 2004, he again sought a Supreme Court seat but lost to appointed Republican incumbent Scott Brister
Scott Brister
Scott Andrew Brister is a former Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas, who served from November 2003 until September 2009. He was appointed by Governor Rick Perry to serve the remainder of the term of Justice Craig T. Enoch. He was then elected to a regular six-year term in November 2004...
.
2006 Texas Attorney General bid
In October, 2006, Van Os proposed constitutional amendments he termed "Citizens' Protection Amendments," to protect Texans from continuing abuses of eminent domain and toll roads. Van Os proposed that the power of eminent domain be limited to reasons of public security and safety. He also proposed that building new toll roads or converting existing public roads to toll roads should only occur if the citizens in the county where the road is to be built or converted approve through passage of voter referendums. He joined other Democratic populist Texas Candidates such as Hank Gilbert, Fred Head, and Maria Luisa Alvarado in speaking out against the proposed Trans-Texas CorridorTrans-Texas Corridor
The Trans-Texas Corridor was a transportation network that was discontinued in the planning and early construction stages in the U.S. State of Texas. The network, as originally envisioned, would have been composed of a network of supercorridors up to wide to carry parallel links of tollways,...
at public hearings in the summer of 2006.
During his 2006 race for Attorney General of Texas
Texas Attorney General
The Texas Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the State of Texas.The department has offices at the William P. Clements State Office Building at 300 West 15th Street in Austin.-History:...
, he vowed to fight for the people of Texas against the large monopolistic oil, insurance and media conglomerates, saying he'd "Fight them until hell freezes over and then fight them on the ice." Much of his funding for his 2006 campaign came from contributions of $20 to $100 from low to medium income donors who met him during his 254 county "Whistle stop" Campaign Tour or read about him on the blogs. His opponent, Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
incumbent Greg Abbott
Greg Abbott
Gregory Wayne "Greg" Abbott is the Texas Attorney General, and is the second Republican since Reconstruction to serve in that role. Abbott was sworn in on December 2, 2002, following John Cornyn's election to the U.S. Senate...
entered the race with over six million dollars in his campaign war chest.
As the Democratic nominee for attorney general, Van Os took his campaign directly to the people. He pledged to visit all 254 counties in Texas during the 2006 election cycle. With his wife Rachel Barrios-Van Os, who served as his campaign manager, he visited each courthouse and spoke on the courthouse square.
His last five "Whistle Stops" were in Tarrant County
Tarrant County, Texas
Tarrant County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, it had a population of 1,809,034. Its county seat is Fort Worth. Tarrant County is the sixteenth most populous county in the United States and the third most populous in Texas. The county is named in honor...
on October 16, Dallas County
Dallas County, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,218,899 people, 807,621 households, and 533,837 families residing in the county. The population density was 2,523 people per square mile . There were 854,119 housing units at an average density of 971/sq mi...
on October 17, Harris County
Harris County, Texas
As of the 2010 Census, the population of the county was 4,092,459, White Americans made up 56.6% of Harris County's population; non-Hispanic whites represented 33.0% of the population. Black Americans made up 18.9% of the population. Native Americans made up 0.7% of Harris County's population...
on October 18, Travis County
Travis County, Texas
As of 2009, the U.S. census estimates there were 1,026,158 people, 320,766 households, and 183,798 families residing in the county. The population density was 821 people per square mile . There were 335,881 housing units at an average density of 340 per square mile...
on October 19 and his home county of Bexar
Bexar County, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,392,931 people, 488,942 households, and 345,681 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,117 people per square mile . There were 521,359 housing units at an average density of 418 per square mile...
on October 20. Local supporters joined him on the courthouse steps as he proclaimed his determination to "return Texas Government back to the people" denouncing the "bought and paid for perversion of the American political process." In Tarrant, truckdrivers passing on the street, acknowledged him by honking their horns when they saw the signs with his campaign message "MESSAGE TO BIG OIL -- I'm coming after you." During much of 2006 gasoline prices had soared to a record of over three dollars a gallon and dipped rapidly a month before the general election by at least a dollar a gallon. Many people suspected that the timing of the rise and fall was due to political manipulation. Supporters of David Van Os funded billboards in many counties in Texas with the following message: "MESSAGE TO BIG OIL - I'M COMING AFTER YOU!"
His opponent, Abbott, received considerable money from insurance companies. Van Os vowed to use the office of the Attorney General's office, if elected, to enforce the anti-trust provisions of the Texas and U.S. Constitutions, especially in regards to insurance company pricing. His other billboard message during the 2006 Attorney General's race was: "INSURANCE GOUGERS - I'M COMING AFTER YOU"
2006
2004
1998
External links
- http://enr.sos.state.tx.us/enr06prirep.htm
- http://enr.sos.state.tx.us/enr06pridem.htm
- http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist.exe
- http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist.exe
- http://vanosfortexasag.com/about/bg.shtml