Henry Bonilla Biography
Henry Bonilla was born on January 2, 1954 is a former congressman who represented Texas’s 23rd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. He was defeated in his bid for re-election by Ciro Davis Rodriguez, a former Democratic member of Congress, in a special election runoff held on December 12, 2006. His term expired January 3, 2007 when the 110th Congress officially began.
Henry Bonilla Age
Henry Bonilla was born on January 2, 1954, He is 65 years as of 2018
Henry Bonilla Wife
Henry Bonilla had two wives His former wife Deborah Knapp born December 1, 1954 continues as an anchor at the station. He has since married the former Sheryl White Shelby born 1959.
Henry Bonilla Education
Bonilla was born in San Antonio, the son of Anita Arellano and Enrique A. Bonilla. When he was young he joined a TRIO Educational Talent Search program, which provides academic support and college awareness activities to students. He graduated from South San Antonio High School in 1972 and received his Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1976. Before entering politics, he was a television news executive at San Antonio’s CBS affiliate, KENS-TV.
Henry Bonilla Career
He earned his B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin in 1976 and then began a career in television news. Bonilla started as a reporter for two stations in Austin from 1976 to 1980 before moving to Philadelphia to serve as press secretary for Pennsylvania governor Dick Thornburgh for a year in 1981; this post would be his only experience in politics before he was elected to Congress. He stayed in the Northeast, working as a news producer for a flagship ABC station in New York City. In 1985 he returned to Philadelphia for a year to serve as an assistant news director for a local station, before becoming an executive producer for KENS-TV and settling in San Antonio in 1986. There he met his future wife, Deborah Knapp, a television anchor in a highly rated San Antonio news program. The couple had two children, Alicia and Austin.
Henry Bonilla Defeat in 2006
On November 7, Bonilla faced six Democrats, including Ciro Rodriguez and Vietnam War veteran Rick Bolanos in the all-candidate special election required by the court decision on redistricting (see above). The ballot also included one independent. Bolanos had won the Democratic primary earlier in the year.
In the first special election, Bonilla won 48 percent of the vote to Rodriguez’s 20 percent. Since no one gained a majority, there was a runoff between the two former colleagues. According to unofficial results of the Texas Secretary of State [permanent dead link], Rodriguez won the runoff with 54% of the vote to Bonilla’s 46%. Bonilla was the first Republican incumbent in Texas to be unseated by a Democrat in 10 years, since Nick Lampson’s defeat of Steve Stockman in a 1996 runoff election. Lampson was also returned to Congress in 2006 after being defeated for reelection in 2004, like Rodriguez in another district. Bonilla said in interviews the night of his defeat that his loss was in part a result of the changed districting. He ran controversial commercials that claimed that Rodriguez took funds from terrorists, which media outlets called “bold claims”. He later apologized to the press for any of those who took offense, but stood by his statement.[citation needed]
The Henry Bonilla Healthcare Facility off Texas State Highway 359 South in Laredo, Texas
However, a large number of Hispanics and Latinos, who predominantly reside in District 23, had expressed disdain for Bonilla by stating that he had fallen out of touch with the needs and concerns of minorities. His reputation even earned him the nickname “Henry Vanilla”, as some Hispanics claimed that Bonilla no longer could relate to his culture. In a year of war, illegal immigration issues, and a proposed border fence, Latinos left the Republicans side in droves.
Henry Bonilla Failed nomination as ambassador
After his term in Congress expired, Bonilla was nominated to be Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the Organization of American States, with the rank of Ambassador.
After two months with no action by the Senate, Bonilla asked U.S. President George W. Bush to withdraw his nomination. Following the withdrawal of his ambassador nomination, Bonilla joined the Washington-based firm The Normandy Group.
Henry Bonilla Consideration for Trump Cabinet
In December 2016, Bonilla and two other Texas Republicans, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller and Miller’s predecessor in that office, Susan Combs, were interviewed for the position of United States Secretary of Agriculture.
Henry Bonilla Photo
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One Hundred Third – One Hundred Ninth Congresses
January 3, 1993 – January 4, 2007
In 1992 Henry Bonilla became the first Hispanic Republican from Texas to be elected to Congress. Running in a district with a Democratic majority and a large Hispanic population, he appealed to conservative voters and received support from both Republicans and Democrats.
Henry Bonilla was born on January 2, 1954 in San Antonio, Texas, where he attended public schools and graduated from South San Antonio High School in 1972. In 1976 he graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. degree in journalism. Most of Bonilla’s professional career has been in television news. He worked as a reporter and producer for various television stations in New York City, Philadelphia, and San Antonio. In Philadelphia Bonilla worked as press secretary to former Pennsylvania governor Richard Thornburgh. From 1989 to 1992 he was the executive producer for public affairs at KENS-TV in San Antonio.
In his first term in the U.S. House of Representatives, Bonilla was chosen to serve on the Appropriations Committee, a position that had not been held by a Republican freshman in more than 25 years. He serves on three Appropriations Subcommittees: Labor, Health, Human Services, and Education; National Security, and the Subcommittee on the District of Columbia.
Bonilla has emerged as a leader in the fight to protect private property owners and reduce the federal burden on small business. He supports term limits of twelve years for both the House and Senate, because he believes term limits will keep Congress more accountable to the people.