Esperanza "Hope" Andrade (born July 1, 1949) is the Secretary of State of Texas

Secretary of State of Texas

The Secretary of State of Texas is one of six state officials designated by the Texas Constitution to form the executive department of that U.S. state...

.

Andrade, an entrepreneur and leader in the 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,...

 business community for more than three decades, serves as Texas' chief elections officer, chief international protocol officer, and Border Commerce Coordinator for 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...

 Governor

Governor of Texas

The governor of Texas is the head of the executive branch of Texas's government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Texas Legislature, and to convene the legislature...

 Rick Perry

Rick Perry

James Richard "Rick" Perry is the 47th and current Governor of Texas. A Republican, Perry was elected Lieutenant Governor of Texas in 1998 and assumed the governorship in December 2000 when then-governor George W. Bush resigned to become President of the United States. Perry was elected to full...

. Previously, she was appointed by Governor Perry to the Texas Transportation Commission. She became interim chair of the commission in January 2008, upon the death of its previous chair, Ric Williamson

Ric Williamson

Richard F. Williamson was the chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission and a former Democrat-turned-Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives...

, a former member of the Texas House of Representatives

Texas House of Representatives

The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Texas Legislature. The House is composed of 150 members elected from single-member districts across the state. The average district has about 150,000 people. Representatives are elected to two-year terms with no term limits...

; she left the commission in May 2008. Shortly thereafter, in July of the same year, Perry named her secretary of state when Samuel P. "Phil" Wilson

Phil Wilson (Texas politician)

Samuel Philip "Phil" Wilson is the former Texas Secretary of State, the state's chief elections officer. He was appointed effective July 1, 2007, by Republican Governor Rick Perry. Wilson was the 106th person to hold the position and the fifth individual to have served since Perry assumed the...

 resigned after one year in the position.

A previous appointee, Gwyn Clarkston Shea

Gwyn Shea

Gwyn Clarkston Shea is a former Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from suburban Irving in Dallas County, Texas, who served from 1983-1993...

, a former member of the Texas House of Representatives

Texas House of Representatives

The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Texas Legislature. The House is composed of 150 members elected from single-member districts across the state. The average district has about 150,000 people. Representatives are elected to two-year terms with no term limits...

 from Irving

Irving, Texas

Irving is a city located in the U.S. state of Texas within Dallas County. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city population was 216,290. Irving is within the Dallas–Plano–Irving metropolitan division of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area, designated...

 in 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...

, held the position from 2002–2003.