Hector Steven Garcia, known as H. S. "Buddy" Garcia (born June 16, 1967), is a former interim member of the

Texas Railroad Commission The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC; also sometimes called the Texas Railroad Commission, TRC) is the state agency that regulates the oil and gas industry, gas utilities, pipeline safety, safety in the liquefied petroleum gas industry, and s ...

, the elected body which regulates the oil and natural gas industries in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. Garcia was appointed to the commission by

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Rick Perry James Richard Perry (born March 4, 1950) is an American politician who served as the 14th United States secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019 in the first administration of Donald Trump. He previously served as the 47th governor of Texas fr ...

on April 12, 2012, to replace Elizabeth Ames Jones, who resigned to run unsuccessfully for the

Texas State Senate The Texas Senate is the upper house of the Texas Legislature, with the Texas House of Representatives functioning as the lower house. Together, they form the state legislature of the state of Texas. The Senate is made up of 31 members, where eac ...

. Garcia's appointment expired a few days after the November 6

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

, and he was succeeded by fellow Republican Christi Craddick, who defeated a Democrat, Dale Henry, to claim the position for six years. Craddick is the daughter of the former

Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives The speaker of the Texas House of Representatives is the speaker (politics), presiding officer of the Texas House of Representatives. The Speaker's main duties are to conduct meetings of the House, appoint committees, and enforce the Rules of the ...

Tom Craddick of Midland. A resident of

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

, Garcia served from January 2007 until his April 2012 appointment to the railroad position as a commissioner at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. He is a past deputy Texas Secretary of State and a former state border commerce coordinator. He is a member of the Texas Coastal Land Advisory Board and the Gulf of Mexico Alliance. Garcia is a former deputy legislative director for Perry and special assistant to the governor for Texas/Mexico border issues. Garcia graduated from Saint Josephs Academy in Brownsville, Texas. He first attended Texas A&M University - Kingsville on an academic scholarship and played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

there, but he transferred after a year to

Texas State University Texas State University (TXST) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in San Marcos, Texas, United States, and another campus in Round Rock, Texas, Round Rock. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has ...

in San Marcos, from which he received a degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

in 1990. He is a former staff member for State Senator Eddie Lucio, Jr., a pro-life Democrat from Brownsville. He served on Perry's staff when Perry was

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

from 1999 to 2000. Garcia is a former deputy legislative director for Perry and special assistant to the governor for Texas/Mexico border issues.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Buddy 1967 births Living people Members of the Railroad Commission of Texas Politicians from Austin, Texas Texas Republicans Texas State University alumni People from Nueces County, Texas People from Brownsville, Texas Saint Joseph Academy (Brownsville, Texas) alumni