Ferdinand Frank Fischer III (born June 6, 1970), better known as Trey Martinez Fischer, is an American politician. He is a member of 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 has represented the 116th district since 2019, having previously held the seat from 2001 to 2017. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He was named one of the "10 Best Legislators" by ''

Texas Monthly ''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. Founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, ''Texas Monthly'' chronicles life in contemporary Texas, writing on politics, the Natura ...

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

in both 2013 and 2015, who described him as a "soldier prepared to do battle but ready to make peace". The ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. ...

'' and the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'' named him one of the "20 Latino political rising stars of 2012", placing him among those under 55, "who just might change the face of American politics over the next two decades". Martinez Fischer is the former chairman of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus.

Early life and education

Martinez Fischer was born and raised in

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 ...

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 ...

. He graduated from Oliver Wendell Holmes High School. He received his

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

from the

University of Texas at San Antonio The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA or UT San Antonio) is a Public university, public research university in San Antonio, Texas, United States. Established in 1969,Baruch College Baruch College (officially the Bernard M. Baruch College) is a public college in New York City, United States. It is a constituent college of the City University of New York system. Named for financier and statesman Bernard M. Baruch, the colle ...

of Public Affairs in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, and the

University of Texas School of Law The University of Texas School of Law (Texas Law) is the Law school in the United States, law school of the University of Texas at Austin, a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas. According to Texas Law’s American Bar ...

Legislative career

Martinez Fischer was first elected to the seat of District 118 in the

in 2000. In 2011, he was the lead Democratic author on HB 3727, the Boeing Bill. As a result of this bill,

Air Force One Air Force One is the official air traffic control-designated Aviation call signs, call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. The term is commonly used to denote U.S. Air Force aircraft modifie ...

will be refitted and repaired in

. He was selected by then House Speaker

Joe Straus Joseph Richard Straus III (born September 1, 1959) is an American politician who served as the speaker of the Texas House of Representatives from 2009 to 2019. A Republican, he represented District 121, which comprises northeastern Bexar Count ...

to sit on the Select Committee on Transparency in State Agency Operations, and the Select Committee on Redistricting during the first called special session of the 83rd Legislature. On February 17, 2015, Martinez Fischer was defeated in a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

by fellow Democratic House colleague

Jose Menendez Jose Antonio Menendez (born March 11, 1969) is an American politician who is a member of the Texas Senate for Texas Senate, District 26, District 26. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he is a former member of ...

for the

District 26 A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

seat in the

Texas 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 (United States), state legislature of the state of Texas. The Senate ...

. The regular election was hotly contested, with Martinez Fischer earning a double-digit lead over his opponent. In a special runoff election marked by low turnout among Democratic voters and unprecedented participation by San Antonio Republicans, Menendez edged out Martinez Fischer. Martinez Fischer challenged and lost again to Menendez for a full Senate term in the Democratic primary on March 1, 2016. Diana Arevalo, the secretary for the Bexar County Democratic Party, won the Democratic primary for the seat Martinez Fischer held through 2017, and as she was unopposed in the general election, succeeded Martinez Fischer in January 2017. In 2018, he unseated Arevalo in the Democratic primary for his former state House seat. He won the subsequent

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 ...

on November 6 over the Republican nominee Fernando Padron, 32,375 votes (70.4 percent) to 13,612 (29.6 percent). Martinez Fischer returned to the House in January 2019.

Disparaging remarks

On June 27, 2014, while speaking at the Texas Democratic Convention, Martinez Fischer attacked the Republican Party, saying "GOP" should stand for "gringos y otros pendejos". His office had also been handing out six Lotería cards to delegates, one depicting Republican gubernatorial candidate

Greg Abbott Gregory Wayne Abbott ( ; born November 13, 1957) is an American politician, attorney, and jurist who has served since 2015 as the 48th governor of Texas. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served from 2002 to ...

as "El Diablito". Martinez Fischer responded by saying that if he had known Abbott was in attendance, he would have "told him directly to his face."

Personal life

He and his wife, the former Elizabeth Provencio, an attorney and trustee of the San Antonio Water System, are the parents of two daughters.

References

External links

Texas House of Representatives - Trey Martinez FischerTexas Tribune profileCampaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fischer, Trey Martinez 1970 births 21st-century members of the Texas Legislature American politicians of Mexican descent Baruch College alumni Democratic Party members of the Texas House of Representatives Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Texas Living people Texas lawyers University of Texas at San Antonio alumni University of Texas School of Law alumni