Lena Guerrero Aguirre (November 27, 1957 – April 24, 2008) was a Texas political figure who served in the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. There are no Term limits in the United States, term limits. The ...

, and was later the first woman and first non-white 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 ...

, which regulates the

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

and

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

industry. Her political career ended in 1992 over a falsified résumé scandal. In the 1960s, Guerrero and her siblings were

migrant worker A migrant worker is a person who Human migration, migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have an intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant workers ...

s.Lena Guerrero: Texas Monthly September 2001
/ref> She attended the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

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 ...

, where she was president of the Young Democrats of Texas.Lena Guerrero, once a rising star in Texas politics, dies after battling cancer
She was elected to the Texas House, and appointed to a vacant seat on the Texas Railroad Commission, but when she ran for reelection to the seat it was discovered that she had falsely claimed to have graduated from UT. She died of

brain cancer A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign (non-cance ...

at the age of fifty.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Guerrero, Lena 1957 births 2008 deaths Democratic Party members of the Texas House of Representatives Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Texas Hispanic and Latino American women in politics University of Texas at Austin alumni Politicians from Austin, Texas People from Mission, Texas Members of the Railroad Commission of Texas American lobbyists Burials at Texas State Cemetery Deaths from brain cancer in Texas Women state legislators in Texas People who fabricated academic degrees 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century American women 20th-century members of the Texas Legislature