Santiago Creel Miranda (; born on 11 December 1954) is a Mexican lawyer and politician, and a member of the National Action Party (PAN). Since 1 September 2021, he has been a federal deputy and the current president of the

Congress of the Union The Congress of the Union (, ), formally known as the General Congress of the United Mexican States (''Congreso General de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos''), is the legislature of the federal government of Mexico. It consists of two chambers: t ...

and of the board of directors of the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

. He served as Secretary of the Interior during the presidency of Vicente Fox Quesada, from 2000 to 2005. In 2006, he was elected senator to the Congress of the Union and served as President of the Senate of the Republic from 2007 to 2008. In 2016 he served as Constituent Deputy of Mexico City.

Background and family life

Creel's campaign information describes him as a lawyer, father, and husband, as well as a Party loyalist. Born to an American father of Mexican, English, Irish and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

descent, and a French mother of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

German Jewish The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321 CE, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (c. 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish commu ...

(as Creel's matrilineal lineage is Jewish, he should be considered to be a Jew by

Jewish law ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is based on biblical commandments ('' mit ...

), Spanish and Mexican ancestry, he is a descendant of the Creel-Terrazas family via his father René Creel (1921–2009) who was one of the founders of the National Action Party. Creel has a long history with the PAN. In 2008, he admitted that he is the father of actress

Edith González Edith González Fuentes (; 10 December 1964 – 13 June 2019) was a Mexican actress, regarded as a blonde bombshell and one of the most beautiful actresses in Mexican cinema. She is best remembered for working on multiple telenovelas produced by ...

's daughter, Constanza.

Ancestry

Education

Creel received a bachelor's degree in law from the

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public university, public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countri ...

(UNAM) and subsequently completed graduate studies at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

and earned a master's degree at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

Political career

His career highlights include running for Head of Government of the Federal District in 2000 (a race he narrowly lost to

Andrés Manuel López Obrador Andrés Manuel López Obrador (; born 13 November 1953), also known by his initials AMLO, is a Mexican former politician, political scientist, public administrator and writer who served as the 65th president of Mexico from 2018 to 2024. He se ...

). He was later appointed to the cabinet by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Vicente Fox Vicente Fox Quesada (; born 2 July 1942) is a Mexican businessman and politician who served as the 62nd president of Mexico from 2000 to 2006. After campaigning as a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist, Fox was elected president on the Nat ...

to serve as Secretary of the Interior, a position he held from December 2000 to June 2005. On 1 June 2005, Creel presented Fox with his resignation in order to seek his party's candidacy for the 2006 presidential election. Creel's main contender for the PAN's candidacy was

Felipe Calderón Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa (; born 18 August 1962) is a Mexican politician and lawyer who served as the 63rd president of Mexico from 2006 to 2012 and Secretary of Energy during the presidency of Vicente Fox between 2003 and 2004. ...

who won the primary elections and went on to become President of Mexico. In 2006, Creel received a

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

seat in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

to serve during the 60th and 61st Legislatures (2006–2012) and led the PAN Senate delegation until June 2008.

2012 PAN presidential primary

Santiago Creel decided to run for the PAN's Presidential Nomination for the 2012 election and initially led polls ahead of the other candidates on the basis of his high profile, but subsequently lost the nomination to Josefina Vazquez Mota.

Constituent Assembly of Mexico City

Creel was one of seven PAN representatives elected by the voters of Mexico City to sit on the Constituent Assembly of Mexico City, which convened on 15 September 2016.

Notes

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Creel, Santiago 1954 births Living people Politicians from Mexico City Mexican people of American descent Mexican people of Irish descent Mexican people of German descent Mexican people of German-Jewish descent Mexican people of French descent National Action Party (Mexico) politicians 20th-century Mexican lawyers Secretaries of the interior of Mexico Members of the Senate of the Republic (Mexico) Presidents of the Senate of the Republic (Mexico) Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies (Mexico) National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni University of Michigan alumni 21st-century Mexican politicians