Orlando Sanchez (politician)
Orlando Sanchez | |
|---|---|
Sanchez in 2014 | |
| Harris County Treasurer | |
| In office January 1, 2007 – December 31, 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Jack Cato |
| Succeeded by | Dylan Osborne |
| Member of the Houston City Council from the at-large #3 district | |
| In office January, 1996 – January 2001 | |
| Preceded by | Lloyd Kelley |
| Succeeded by | Shelley Sekula-Gibbs |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 14, 1957 (age 67) Havana, Cuba |
| Political party | Republican |
| Residence | Houston, Texas |
| Alma mater | University of Houston |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Branch/service | United States Air Force Texas Air National Guard |
| Years of service | 1976 - 1978 (USAF) 1978 - 1989 (TANG) |
Orlando Sanchez (born 14 October 1957 in Havana, Cuba) is an American politician, elected three times as Treasurer of Harris County, Texas (2006), 2010, and 2014. Dylan Osborne was elected to succeed him in the November, 2018 election that saw most Republicans in county-wide offices replaced by Democrats.
A naturalized citizen, Sanchez has made political history as the first Latino immigrant to be elected to a citywide position in Houston, when he won the at-large seat on the city council, to which he was twice re-elected in consecutive terms, serving 1995–2001. In 2001 and 2003 he ran for mayor of Houston, gaining an alliance with Republican Anglos and generating high voter turnout in the Hispanic community. Both times he made it to the runoffs. When elected as Treasurer of Harris County, he was the first Latino immigrant to win a countywide, non-judicial elected office in that county.