Michael L. Williams
Encyclopedia
Michael Lawrence Williams (born May 31, 1953) is a former member of the elected Texas Railroad Commission, a regulatory body over, not railroads, but the oil
and natural gas
industries. Williams is the first African American to hold a statewide elected executive office in Texas history. He was appointed to the commission by Governor
George W. Bush
in 1999, and won elections in 2000, 2002 and 2008 to retain the office before eventually resigning in 2011. He is also the fourth African American to be elected to statewide office overall following Morris Overstreet
, Wallace B. Jefferson
, and Dale Wainwright
. Williams is a candidate for the redrawn 25th Congressional district
seat that stretches southward from Tarrant
to Hays
counties.
appointed Williams to be Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights (the Office for Civil Rights
) at the U.S. Department of Education, a post previously held by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas
.
Previously, Chairman Williams served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Law Enforcement at the United States Department of the Treasury
. In that capacity, he had oversight responsibility for the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Customs Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (August 1989 - June 1990).
He also served as Special Assistant to Attorney General Richard Thornburgh at the United States Department of Justice
(January 1988 - June 1989). In 1988, former U.S. Attorney General
Edwin Meese awarded Williams the Attorney General’s "Special Achievement Award" for the conviction of six Ku Klux Klan
members on federal weapons charges. Williams was a federal prosecutor from 1984–1988 and a former assistant district attorney in his hometown of Midlane
, Texas.
Williams spoke at the 2004 Republican National Convention
, where he endorsed President George W. Bush. He also spoke at the 2008 Republican National Convention
in Minneapolis
, Minnesota
, where he endorsed the party nominee, U.S. Senator John S. McCain of Arizona
for president.
to hold an executive statewide elected office, chaired the Railroad Commission from September 1999 to September 2003 and again from June 2007 to February 2009. The chairman serves a two-year term. He comes up for election at the end of his chairmanship.
Williams formally chaired the Governor’s Clean Coal
Technology Council and FutureGen Texas represents the governor and the Railroad Commission of Texas on the Southern States Energy Board. On September 14, 2005, Texas Governor Rick Perry
designated Williams to lead the state's long-term Hurricane Katrina
relief efforts. Williams was also the Railroad Commission "point person" for agency regulatory reform and technology modernization efforts.
Williams is a past Honorary State Chairman of Big Brothers Big Sisters
of Texas which helps to enrich, encourage, and empower children through safe, positive, one-to-one mentoring relationships.
Before he joined the Railroad Commission, Williams served as general counsel to Wilkins Group, Inc., a telecommunications company based in Richardson
, Texas. He also has served in a volunteer capacity as the general counsel of the Republican Party of Texas
, the chairman of the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission and on the board of directors of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce, the Texas Public Policy Foundation
, and Our Mother of Mercy Catholic
School.
In 2000, Williams won the two-year unexpired term without Democratic
opposition. He defeated the Libertarian
Anthony Garcia and the Green Party
candidate, Charles L. Mauch. Williams received 3,600,967 votes (77 percent) to Garcia's 740,340 ballots (15.8 percent) and Mauch's 334,706 votes (7.2 percent).
In 2002, Williams won a full six-year term on the commission. He polled 2,407,036 votes (54.8 percent) to 1,821,751 (41.5 percent) for Democrat Sherry Boyles. Two other candidates, including Charles Mauch once again, received a total of 162,482 votes (4.7 percent).
Williams ran for reelection for a second full six-year term to the Texas Railroad Commission in November 2008. He won the Republican nomination in March 2008 in an unopposed contest. Williams obtained the endorsement of several hundred Republican grassroots leaders across Texas. He was also backed by most members of the State Republican Executive Committee (SREC), more than one hundred county chairmen and both members of the Republican National Committee
from Texas.
Ernest Angelo, Jr.
, who served as the mayor
of Midland from 1972–1980, and Merrie Spaeth of Dallas
were co-chairs of the Williams Senate campaign, which never materialized. Angelo was the Republican National Committeeman from Texas from 1976–1996 and Ronald W. Reagan state co-chairman in Texas in the 1976 presidential primary and in the 1980 general election campaign.
Williams declared that he was "humbled and energized" in receiving such broad party support. He vowed to work to "develop new energy sources, create a pro-growth energy policy, control government spending, and produce the next generation of mathematician
s, scientist
s and engineer
s."
Williams was reelected in 2008 with 52 percent of the vote, having defeated the Democratic candidate, Mark Thompson, and Libertarian candidate David Floyd.
message that he would seek a position in the United States Senate
, noting the possibility of a special election in 2009 or 2010 to replace sitting senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
. Hutchison, however, did not resign the seat even after her defeat in the 2010 gubernatorial primary by Governor Perry. On January 13, 2011, Hutchison announced that she will not run for re-election in 2012. In July 2011, Williams changed his mind and decided to run for the new 25th Congressional district
seat.
Meanwhile, Governor Perry appointed Barry Smitherman of Harris County
to fill the remainder of Williams' term on the Railroad Commission. Smitherman, a banker and lawyer, is a former member of the Public Utility Commission.
s. He earned a bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Southern California
. He also obtained his law degree from the USC Law School in Los Angeles
. He is married to Donna Williams. He is a brother of the University of Texas Chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon
.
Oil
An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....
and natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
industries. Williams is the first African American to hold a statewide elected executive office in Texas history. He was appointed to the commission by Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
in 1999, and won elections in 2000, 2002 and 2008 to retain the office before eventually resigning in 2011. He is also the fourth African American to be elected to statewide office overall following Morris Overstreet
Morris Overstreet
Judge Morris L. Overstreet is the first African-American elected to a statewide office in the history of the State of Texas. He was twice elected to serve on the state’s highest criminal appellate court, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, from 1990 to 1998...
, Wallace B. Jefferson
Wallace B. Jefferson
Wallace Bernard Jefferson is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas. His current term ends on December 31, 2014.- Historic judicial appointments and election :Jefferson has three times made Texas judicial history...
, and Dale Wainwright
Dale Wainwright
Dale Wainwright is an Associate Justice of the Texas Supreme Court. He was first elected to a six-year term on the Court in November 2002, and he was reelected in 2008 to a term that will end in 2014. He replaced Deborah Hankinson on the Court....
. Williams is a candidate for the redrawn 25th Congressional district
Texas's 25th congressional district
-2006 election:On June 28, 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that the Texas legislature's 2003 redistricting plan violated the Voting Rights Act in the case of District 23...
seat that stretches southward from Tarrant
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...
to Hays
Hays County, Texas
Hays County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2010, its official population had reached 157,107. It is named for John Coffee Hays, a Texas Ranger and Mexican-American War officer. The seat of the county is San Marcos....
counties.
Washington experience
In 1990, U.S. President George H. W. BushGeorge H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
appointed Williams to be Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights (the Office for Civil Rights
Office for Civil Rights
The Office for Civil Rights is a sub-agency of the U.S. Department of Education that is primarily focused on protecting civil rights in Federally assisted education programs and prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, handicap, age, or membership in patriotic...
) at the U.S. Department of Education, a post previously held by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas
Clarence Thomas
Clarence Thomas is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Succeeding Thurgood Marshall, Thomas is the second African American to serve on the Court....
.
Previously, Chairman Williams served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Law Enforcement at the United States Department of the Treasury
United States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
. In that capacity, he had oversight responsibility for the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Customs Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (August 1989 - June 1990).
He also served as Special Assistant to Attorney General Richard Thornburgh at the United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
(January 1988 - June 1989). In 1988, former U.S. Attorney General
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
Edwin Meese awarded Williams the Attorney General’s "Special Achievement Award" for the conviction of six Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
members on federal weapons charges. Williams was a federal prosecutor from 1984–1988 and a former assistant district attorney in his hometown of Midlane
Midland, Texas
Midland is a city in and the county seat of Midland County, Texas, United States, on the Southern Plains of the state's western area. A small portion of the city extends into Martin County. As of 2010, the population of Midland was 111,147. It is the principal city of the Midland, Texas...
, Texas.
Williams spoke at the 2004 Republican National Convention
2004 Republican National Convention
The 2004 Republican National Convention, the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States, took place from August 30 to September 2, 2004 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York...
, where he endorsed President George W. Bush. He also spoke at the 2008 Republican National Convention
2008 Republican National Convention
The United States 2008 Republican National Convention took place at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota, from September 1, through September 4, 2008...
in Minneapolis
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, where he endorsed the party nominee, U.S. Senator John S. McCain of Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
for president.
Commission duties
Williams, the first African American in Texas historyHistory
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
to hold an executive statewide elected office, chaired the Railroad Commission from September 1999 to September 2003 and again from June 2007 to February 2009. The chairman serves a two-year term. He comes up for election at the end of his chairmanship.
Williams formally chaired the Governor’s Clean Coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
Technology Council and FutureGen Texas represents the governor and the Railroad Commission of Texas on the Southern States Energy Board. On September 14, 2005, Texas Governor 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...
designated Williams to lead the state's long-term Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
relief efforts. Williams was also the Railroad Commission "point person" for agency regulatory reform and technology modernization efforts.
Williams is a past Honorary State Chairman of Big Brothers Big Sisters
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America is a 501 non-profit organization whose mission is to help children reach their potential through professionally supported, one-to-one relationships with mentors that try to have a measurable impact on youth....
of Texas which helps to enrich, encourage, and empower children through safe, positive, one-to-one mentoring relationships.
Before he joined the Railroad Commission, Williams served as general counsel to Wilkins Group, Inc., a telecommunications company based in Richardson
Richardson, Texas
Richardson is a city in Dallas and Collin Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 99,223. In 2011 the population was estimated to be 107,684. Richardson is an affluent inner suburb of Dallas and home of the Telecom Corridor with a high...
, Texas. He also has served in a volunteer capacity as the general counsel of the Republican Party of Texas
Republican Party of Texas
The Republican Party of Texas is one of the two major political parties in the U.S. State of Texas. It is affiliated with the United States Republican Party. The State Chairman is Steve Munisteri, a retired attorney and businessman from Houston, and the Vice-Chair is Melinda Fredricks of Conroe....
, the chairman of the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission and on the board of directors of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce, the Texas Public Policy Foundation
Texas Public Policy Foundation
The Texas Public Policy Foundation is an Independent think tank based in Austin, Texas. It is a member of the State Policy Network, a network of free-market leaning think tanks....
, and Our Mother of Mercy Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
School.
Campaigns
Williams' effective use of social media tools earned him a Texas Social Media Award.In 2000, Williams won the two-year unexpired term without Democratic
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...
opposition. He defeated the Libertarian
Libertarian Party (United States)
The Libertarian Party is the third largest and fastest growing political party in the United States. The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects its brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration...
Anthony Garcia and the Green Party
Green Party (United States)
The Green Party of the United States is a nationally recognized political party which officially formed in 1991. It is a voluntary association of state green parties. Prior to national formation, many state affiliates had already formed and were recognized by other state parties...
candidate, Charles L. Mauch. Williams received 3,600,967 votes (77 percent) to Garcia's 740,340 ballots (15.8 percent) and Mauch's 334,706 votes (7.2 percent).
In 2002, Williams won a full six-year term on the commission. He polled 2,407,036 votes (54.8 percent) to 1,821,751 (41.5 percent) for Democrat Sherry Boyles. Two other candidates, including Charles Mauch once again, received a total of 162,482 votes (4.7 percent).
Williams ran for reelection for a second full six-year term to the Texas Railroad Commission in November 2008. He won the Republican nomination in March 2008 in an unopposed contest. Williams obtained the endorsement of several hundred Republican grassroots leaders across Texas. He was also backed by most members of the State Republican Executive Committee (SREC), more than one hundred county chairmen and both members of the Republican National Committee
Republican National Committee
The Republican National Committee is an American political committee that provides national leadership for the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican political platform, as well as coordinating fundraising and election strategy. It is...
from Texas.
Ernest Angelo, Jr.
Ernest Angelo
Ernest Angelo, Jr., known as Ernie Angelo , is a Texas oilman and Republican politician who served from 1972–1980 as mayor of the West Texas city of Midland and was in 1976 the co-manager of the Ronald W...
, who served as the mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Midland from 1972–1980, and Merrie Spaeth of Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
were co-chairs of the Williams Senate campaign, which never materialized. Angelo was the Republican National Committeeman from Texas from 1976–1996 and Ronald W. Reagan state co-chairman in Texas in the 1976 presidential primary and in the 1980 general election campaign.
Williams declared that he was "humbled and energized" in receiving such broad party support. He vowed to work to "develop new energy sources, create a pro-growth energy policy, control government spending, and produce the next generation of mathematician
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
s, scientist
Scientist
A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
s and engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
s."
Williams was reelected in 2008 with 52 percent of the vote, having defeated the Democratic candidate, Mark Thompson, and Libertarian candidate David Floyd.
2012 Congressional race
Initially on December 16, 2008 Michael Williams announced via a TwitterTwitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
message that he would seek a position in the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
, noting the possibility of a special election in 2009 or 2010 to replace sitting senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
Kay Bailey Hutchison
Kathryn Ann Bailey Hutchison, known as Kay Bailey Hutchison , is the senior United States Senator from Texas.She is a member of the Republican Party. In 2001, she was named one of the thirty most powerful women in America by Ladies Home Journal. The first woman to represent Texas in the U.S....
. Hutchison, however, did not resign the seat even after her defeat in the 2010 gubernatorial primary by Governor Perry. On January 13, 2011, Hutchison announced that she will not run for re-election in 2012. In July 2011, Williams changed his mind and decided to run for the new 25th Congressional district
Texas's 25th congressional district
-2006 election:On June 28, 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that the Texas legislature's 2003 redistricting plan violated the Voting Rights Act in the case of District 23...
seat.
Meanwhile, Governor Perry appointed Barry Smitherman of 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...
to fill the remainder of Williams' term on the Railroad Commission. Smitherman, a banker and lawyer, is a former member of the Public Utility Commission.
Personal life
Williams is a 1971 graduate of Robert E. Lee High School in Midland. He is the son of public school teacherTeacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
s. He earned a bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
. He also obtained his law degree from the USC Law School in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. He is married to Donna Williams. He is a brother of the University of Texas Chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon
Sigma Phi Epsilon
Sigma Phi Epsilon , commonly nicknamed SigEp or SPE, is a social college fraternity for male college students in the United States. It was founded on November 1, 1901, at Richmond College , and its national headquarters remains in Richmond, Virginia. It was founded on three principles: Virtue,...
.