It’s official: Ellis To Move From Capitol To Commissioners Court

Rodney Ellis first joined the Texas Senate in February 1990 and is the third-longest serving senator in Austin after fellow Houstonian John Whitmire and Judith Zaffirini. He represents Senate District 13, encompassing parts of Harris and Fort Bend counties.

He will do so for only another six months, however, after being named the Democratic nominee to be the permanent replacement for the late El Franco Lee, who died in January, on the Harris County Commissioners Court. (Gene Locke has served on the Commissioners Court since January.) Ellis (pictured) still needs to win the November election, but that is nothing more than a formality since he will run unopposed. The Precinct 1 commissioner represents 1.2 million people and controls a budget of more than $200 million.

A Houston native, Ellis graduated from Texas Southern University before earning two graduate degrees from The University of Texas at Austin, one each from The LBJ School of Public Affairs and the UT School of Law. He served three terms on the Houston City Council before his election to the Texas Senate.

Lee was the only candidate of either party for Precinct 1 commissioner when he died, and the deadline to declare had already passed. State law mandated Harris County Democratic precinct chairs name his replacement for the November election. Ellis, who according to reports had tired of the increasing number of battles he had to fight as a member of the minority party in the Senate, indicated his interest in the position, and those party leaders selected him as their candidate at the end of June.

A similar process will now take place to name Ellis’s replacement as senator. The Harris County Democratic party precinct chairs will meet July 16 to do so, and three candidates have emerged for the office.

Houston-area State Reps. Senfronia Thompson and Borris Miles are joined by former Houston City Controller Ronald Green as candidates for the November ballot.

Thompson was first elected to the Texas Legislature in 1972 and ranks among the longest-serving legislators in state history. She, too, is a graduate of Texas Southern University, as well as the University of Houston.

Miles has represented parts of Houston in the Texas Legislature since 2007. An insurance broker with his own firm, Miles is a graduate of Sam Houston State University. Ronald Green is an attorney and was a member of the Houston City Council for six years until his election as controller in 2009.

This article originally published in Texas Government Insider.