Francisco Raul "Quico" Canseco (born July 30, 1949) is an American attorney, businessman, and former

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

for . He is a member of the Republican Party.

Early life and education

Canseco was born and reared in Laredo in Webb County in south

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 ...

, the eldest of eight children of Consuelo Sada Rangel and Dr. Francisco Manuel Canseco, who were both born in

Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. He earned a B.A in History from

Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Missi ...

in 1972. He went on to earn a J.D. from Saint Louis University School of Law in 1975. He is a brother in the

Tau Kappa Epsilon Tau Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as or Teke, is a social college fraternities and sororities, fraternity founded on January 10, 1899, at Illinois Wesleyan University. The organization has chapters throughout the United States and Canada, maki ...

International Fraternity. His father was of Italian descent and his mother was of Sephardic Jewish descent.

Legal/business career

Canseco began his legal career in 1975 as an

associate attorney An associate attorney is a lawyer and an employee of a law firm who does not hold an ownership interest as a partner. Types Practicing attorney An associate may be a junior or senior attorney, but normally does not hold an ownership interest in ...

with Mann, Castillon, Fried and Kazen in Laredo. Afterwards, he operated his own practice for five years. Then he joined Person, Whitworth, Ramos, Borchers, and Morales in Laredo as a participating associate. In 1987, he left that firm to become

general counsel A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department. In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...

at Union National Bank of Texas, where he stayed until 1992. He was later counsel to Escamilla and Ponek, from 2003 until 2007. He became chairman of Texas Heritage Bancshares from 2001 until 2007. Since 1988, Canseco has been President/Director of FMC Developers, which includes Canseco Investments (incorporated in 1993). He, along with Chairman James William Danner Sr., took Hondo National Bank from being a failing bank with $8 Million in assets and one location, to an institution with over $180 Million and four branches today. Canseco served as Board President since 1995.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

;2004 Canseco ran for the newly redrawn Texas's 28th congressional district. In the Republican primary, he and attorney Jim Hopson qualified for a run-off election. Canseco got just 21% of the vote, while Hopson got 49% of the vote (barely missing the 50% threshold to win the primary). In the run-off election, Hopson defeated Canseco 65% to 35%. ;2008 Canseco was defeated in the Republican primary by Bexar County Commissioner and former

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

city councilman Lyle Larson 62% to 38%. ;2010 In the Republican primary, Canseco and CIA officer Will Hurd qualified for a run-off election; Hurd got 34%, while Canseco got 32%. In the run-off, Canseco defeated Hurd 53% to 47%. In the general election, Canseco faced incumbent Democratic congressman Ciro Rodriguez. The Republican National Committee gave strong financial support to Canseco in an effort to regain the seat for the Republicans. As of October 13, 2010, Rodriguez had raised more cash overall ($1,481,520 versus Canseco's $980,821), but Canseco had more cash on hand ($147,961 versus Rodriguez's $90,915). Canseco defeated Rodriguez by a vote by of 74,853 (49%) to 67,348 (44%). ;2012 Ciro Rodriguez filed for a rematch with Canseco in 2012, but he lost the Democratic primary to State Representative Pete Gallego, 55% to 45%. In the November 6 general election, Canseco lost his seat to Gallego by a vote of 96,676 (50%) to 87,547 (46%). Two minor candidates held the remaining 4.1% of the ballots. The race was contested amid allegations of voter fraud and irregularities. On November 9, Canseco conceded to Gallego, citing the high costs and lengthy period of time required to contest the election. Although Canseco continued to allege numerous irregularities, he had concluded that "a full investigation and recount would be expensive and time-consuming," considering that the 23rd District embraces all or parts of 29 counties. Canseco carried the district's portion of Bexar County, home to more than half the district's population. However, it was not enough to overcome Gallego's margins in the central and western portions of the district, which were virtually coextensive with Gallego's old state House district. Gallego also dominated the heavily Hispanic border areas. ;2014 In a bid to return to Congress, Canseco polled 10,204 votes (40.4%) in the Republican primary on March 4. In the May 27 runoff Hurd handily defeated Canseco, 8,698 (59.5%) to 5,924 (40.5%). Hurd faced freshman Democratic Representative Pete Gallego in the November 4 general election, and ultimately won. ;2018 In another bid to return to Congress, Canseco ran in the 18-way Republican primary for Texas's 21st congressional district to succeed the retiring incumbent Republican Lamar Smith. He was ultimately unsuccessful, garnering less than 5% of the vote.

Tenure

Canseco describes himself as a "limited-government conservative." He supports the Arizona immigration law. He supports the extension of the Bush tax cuts and repealing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. During the campaign, Canseco openly identified with the

Tea Party movement The Tea Party movement was an American fiscally conservative political movement within the Republican Party that began in 2007, catapulted into the mainstream by Congressman Ron Paul's presidential campaign. The movement expanded in resp ...

. Canseco was a member of the

Republican Study Committee The Republican Study Committee (RSC) is a congressional caucus of conservative members of the Republican Party in the United States House of Representatives. In November 2024, Representative August Pfluger was elected as the chair of the RSC, ...

, a caucus of conservative House Republicans. During his tenure, he was one of four voting Latino members of Congress known to be a member of the RSC, the others being Bill Flores of

Raul Labrador Raul, Raúl, Raül, and Raüll are forms of a common first name in Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan. The name is cognate of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph and the French R ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

and Jaime Herrera Beutler of

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. He was also a member of the Congressional Hispanic Conference. In 2012, Canseco delivered the Spanish language version of the Republican response to the State of the Union address. In summer 2011, Canseco was criticized after initially declining to introduce a bill allowing for a swap of land between the Federal Government and Bexar County, Texas. The bill, which was supported by

United States Secretary of the Interior The United States secretary of the interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior. The secretary and the Department of the Interior are responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land along with natura ...

Ken Salazar Kenneth Lee Salazar (born March 2, 1955) is an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat who served as United States ambassador to Mexico from 2021 to 2025. He previously served as the 50th United States Secretary of the Interior in the administ ...

and sponsored by retiring Senator

Kay Bailey Hutchison Kay Bailey Hutchison (born Kathryn Ann Bailey; July 22, 1943) is an American attorney, television correspondent, politician, diplomat, and was the 22nd United States Permanent Representative to NATO from 2017 until 2021. A member of the Republic ...

in the Senate, would expand the development of the

San Antonio River The San Antonio River is a major waterway that originates in central Texas in a cluster of springs in midtown San Antonio, about 4 miles north of downtown, and follows a roughly southeastern path through the state. It eventually feeds into the ...

to the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. In October 2011, Canseco introduced the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park Boundary Expansion Act in the House, which mirrored Hutchison's Senate bill. The legislation would cost roughly $4 million over four years, even though the lands would be donated. In April 2012, Canseco traveled using the San Antonio International Airport. He said that he was assaulted by the

Transportation Security Administration The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that has authority over the security of transportation systems within and connecting to the United States. It was created ...

when an officer "was patting me down where no one is supposed to go." The TSA officer said that he was assaulted by Canseco, but no arrests were made. Canseco advocates for changes in security procedures. Canseco reportedly voted with his party 96% of the time on all issues.

Committee assignments

Committee on Financial Services The United States House Committee on Financial Services, also referred to as the House Banking Committee and previously known as the Committee on Banking and Currency, is the United States congressional committee, committee of the United States ...

** Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit ** Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

Personal life

Canseco and his wife, Gloria, have been married since 1979. The couple resides in

. They have three children and attend St. Matthew's Roman Catholic Church. He attended Culver Military Academy in his youth.

Electoral history

2012

2010

References

External links

Congressman Quico Canseco
''official U.S. House website''
Quico Canseco for Congress
''official campaign website'' * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Canseco, Quico 1949 births Living people 21st-century Roman Catholics American bankers American politicians of Mexican descent American businesspeople in real estate Hispanic and Latino American members of the United States Congress People from Laredo, Texas Politicians from San Antonio Saint Louis University alumni Texas lawyers Tea Party movement activists Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas American people of Sephardic-Jewish descent Activists from Texas Catholic politicians from Texas Culver Academies alumni Candidates in the 2018 United States House of Representatives elections 21st-century members of the United States House of Representatives