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Michael L. Williams (born May 31, 1953) is one of the three members of the elected Texas Railroad Commission, a regulatory body over, not railroads, but the oil and natural gas industries. Williams, the highest-ranking African American in statewide Texas politics, is seeking renomination in the March 2008 [[Republican Party (United States)|Repubican primary. He joined the commission under appointment of Governor George W. Bush in 1998 to fill the vacancy created by the election of Carole Stayhorn as Texas comptroller. He was elected to a two-year term in 2000 and to a full six-year term in 2002.
In his bid for reelection, Williams, the senior commissioner, has obtained the endorsement of more than 150 Republican grassroots leaders across Texas. He is 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.
Williams announced that he had raised $322,045 in ten working days and maintains more than $400,000 on hand. Richard Collins, Williams's finance chairman, said that the early "unprecedented financial support for the campaign is early affirmation that Texans want Commissioner Michael Williams to continue his outstanding service to our state."
“Michael Williams embodies who we truly are as Republicans. He is a strong, consistent, conservative voice for our party and I am proud to support his bid for reelection to the Railroad Commission,” said Dianne Caron, an SREC member from Tyler, the seat of Smith County in east Texas.
Kathy Ward, the Collin County GOPchairman, said that Williams has a "distinguished record of conservative leadership . . . a man of values who stands up for what he believes."
Hollis Rutledge of Hidalgo County in south Texas, the chairman of the state Republican County Chairman's Association, described Williams as "the shining star of our party. His record of fiscal discipline and common-sense regulation is what Texans expect from their elected officials."
Williams declared that he is "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 mathematicians, scientists and engineers.”
Williams was initially appointed to the Railroad Commission in 1998 by then Governor George W. Bush to fill an unexpired term caused by the election of Carole Strayhorn to the office of Texas comptroller. He was elected in 2000 to the remaining two-year term and was then reelected to a full six-year term in 2002.
Known for his immaculate dress, Williams prefers bow ties and is a fixture about the capital of Austin.
References
http://www.texasinsider.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=553 currently serves as the Texas Railroad Commissioner of the State of Texas. The Texas Railroad Commission regulates the Texas oil and gas industry.
Williams was initially appointed to the Texas Railroad Commission by former Governor George W. Bush in December 1998 to serve the unexpired term of Carole Keeton Rylander. Williams chaired the Commission from September 1999 to September 2003. In November 2000, the people of Texas elected him to complete the term expiring in the year 2002, and in November 2002, they reaffirmed their support by electing him to a full six-year term expiring in the year 2008. He is the first African American in Texas history to hold an executive statewide elected post and is the highest-ranking African American in Texas state government.
He chairs the Governor’s Clean Coal Technology Council, chairs the FutureGen Texas board, and represents the Governor and the Railroad Commission of Texas on the Southern States Energy Board. On September 14, 2005, Governor Rick Perry designated Williams as his designee to lead the state’s long-term Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. Williams also is the Railroad Commission “point person” for the agency’s regulatory reform and technology modernization efforts.
In addition to serving on the state’s oldest regulatory agency, Michael currently serves as the 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.
Prior to his appointment to the Railroad Commission of Texas, Williams served as general counsel to a Texas-based high-tech corporation. 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 1990, President George H. W. Bush appointed Williams to be Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education.
Previously, Chairman Williams served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Law Enforcement at the U.S. 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 (Aug ‘89 - Jun ‘90).
He also served as Special Assistant to Attorney General Richard Thornburgh at the U.S. Department of Justice (Jan ‘88 - Jun ‘89). In 1988, former U.S. Attorney General Ed Meese awarded Williams the Attorney General’s “Special Achievement Award” for the conviction of six Ku Klux Klan members on federal weapons charges. He is a former federal prosecutor from 1984-1988 and a former assistant district attorney in his hometown of Midland, Texas.
Williams is married to Donna Williams and is the son of public school teachers. He earned a bachelor’s, a master’s and a law degree from the University of Southern California.