Cesar Blanco

Blanco was raised in El Paso by a single mother and graduated from Eastwood High School. Before pursuing a college education, Blanco served in the U.S. Navy as a missile stinger gunner and military intelligence analyst.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=24 February 2017|title=Cesar Blanco|url=https://lrl.texas.gov/scanned/members/bios/Blanco_César_85.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180905043832/https://lrl.texas.gov/scanned/members/bios/Blanco_C%C3%A9sar_85.pdf |archive-date=2018-09-05 |access-date=|website=|publisher=Legislative Reference Library of Texas}} With the help of the G.I. Bill, he attended the University of Texas at El Paso and graduated with a B.A. in political science with a minor in history.{{Cite web|title=Questionnaire: Cesar Blanco, candidate for Texas Senate, District 29|url=https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/2020/10/13/el-paso-times-questionnaire-cesar-blanco-candidate-texas-senate-district-29/3624041001/|access-date=2021-01-31|website=El Paso Times|language=en-US}}

Blanco's work in politics began when he worked for U.S. Congressman Sivestre Reyes as a caseworker and field representative.

He then served as chief of staff to U.S. Representatives Pete Gallego and Ciro Rodriguez, from Texas's 23rd congressional district. He also worked as a Congressional Relations Officer for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.

In February 2016, he was named Political Director of the Latino Victory Project, becoming the group's interim president later that year.{{cite news|last1=Schladen|first1=Marty|title=Blanco takes political reins of Latino group|url=https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/politics/2016/02/25/blanco-takes-political-reins-latino-group/80876136/|access-date=28 December 2016|publisher=El Paso Times|date=February 25, 2016}}{{cite news|last1=Gamboa|first1=Suzanne|title=Latino Victory Project President to Work For Clinton|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/latino-victory-project-president-work-clinton-n586831|access-date=28 December 2016|work=NBC News|date=June 6, 2016}}

In 2014, Blanco ran for the Texas House 76th seat and won. He ran unopposed and was reelected in 2016 and in 2018.

For two terms, Blanco served as the whip for the House Democratic Caucus. While for all three of his terms he served as Chairman of the Texas House Border Caucus and was a member of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus and LGBTQ Caucus.{{Cite web|date=2019-02-07|title=Members|url=https://texaslgbtqcaucus.com/members/|access-date=2021-01-31|website=TX LGBTQ CAUCUS|language=en-US}} In 2017, Blanco served as the Vice-Chair on the House Committee on Defense and Veterans' Affairs.{{Cite web|title=Legislative Reference Library {{!}} Committees {{!}} Committee overview|url=https://lrl.texas.gov/committees/cmtesDisplay.cfm?cmteID=11840|access-date=2021-01-31|website=lrl.texas.gov}}

In 2015, Texas Monthly named him one of the best Texas legislators of the year.{{cite news|title=THE BEST: Representative César Blanco|url=http://www.texasmonthly.com/list/the-best-and-worst-legislators-2015/the-best-representative-cesar-blanco/|access-date=28 December 2016|publisher=Texas Monthly}}

In September 2019, State Senator Jose Rodriguez – a Democrat representing Texas's 29th District – announced that after 10 years in office he would not seek re-election in the upcoming 2020 election. Following the announcement, speculation arose that Blanco would be a potential candidate to succeed Rodriguez with the Latino Victory Fund even launching a campaign encouraging Blanco to run.{{Cite web|last=Pollock|first=Cassandra|date=2019-09-13|title=Sen. José Rodríguez, an El Paso Democrat, announces his retirement|url=https://www.texastribune.org/2019/09/13/senator-jose-rodriguez-texas-legislature-retiring/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-27|website=The Texas Tribune|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190913211533/https://www.texastribune.org/2019/09/13/senator-jose-rodriguez-texas-legislature-retiring/ |archive-date=2019-09-13 }}

Three days after the retirement announcement, Blanco announced his candidacy to replace Rodriguez.{{Cite web|last=Svitek|first=Patrick|date=2019-09-16|title=State Rep. César Blanco to run for Texas Senate|url=https://www.texastribune.org/2019/09/16/state-rep-cesar-blanco-run-texas-senate/|access-date=2021-12-27|website=The Texas Tribune|language=en}} In an interview with the El Paso Times, Blanco cited education, healthcare, and infrastructure as his top three priorities.{{Cite web|title=Questionnaire: Cesar Blanco, candidate for Texas Senate, District 29|url=https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/2020/10/13/el-paso-times-questionnaire-cesar-blanco-candidate-texas-senate-district-29/3624041001/|access-date=2021-12-27|website=El Paso Times|language=en-US}}

Blanco defeated Republican candidate and small business owner Bethany Hatch and was elected to the Texas Senate receiving 176,360 votes or 67.3% of the total vote.{{Cite web|title=Texas State Senate District 29|url=https://ballotpedia.org/Texas_State_Senate_District_29|access-date=2021-01-31|website=Ballotpedia|language=en}}

Senator Blanco currently serves on the Senate committees on Business & Commerce, Health & Human Services; Natural Resources; and Water, Agriculture, & Rural Affairs. He is also a member of the Sunset Advisory Commission and serves as the Vice-Chairman of the Texas Senate Hispanic Caucus.{{Cite web|title=Legislative Reference Library {{!}} Legislators and Leaders {{!}} Member profile|url=https://lrl.texas.gov/legeLeaders/members/memberdisplay.cfm?memberID=5776|access-date=2021-01-31|website=lrl.texas.gov}}

In October 2021, Blanco announced his plans to seek re-election and won his re-election campaign in November 2022.{{Cite web|last=Jackson|first=Anthony|title=Texas state Sen. César Blanco of El Paso announces reelection campaign|url=https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/politics/elections/2021/10/29/texas-state-sen-cesar-blanco-el-paso-announces-reelection-campaign/6193923001/|access-date=2021-12-27|website=El Paso Times|language=en-US}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://senate.texas.gov/member.php?d=29 Profile] at the Texas Senate
• [https://www.cesarfortexas.com/ Cesar Blanco for Texas Senate]
• [https://www.texastribune.org/directory/cesar-blanco César Blanco at the Texas Tribune]

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Category:Living people

Category:University of Texas at El Paso alumni

Category:Democratic Party members of the Texas House of Representatives

Category:Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Texas

Category:Democratic Party Texas state senators

Category:Political chiefs of staff

Category:1976 births

Category:21st-century members of the Texas Legislature