The Texas Legislature is in mourning.
Houston’s Democratic Sen. Mario Gallegos on Tuesday died of complications from a 2007 liver transplant.
The 62-year-old former fire fighter, who served in the Legislature for 22 years, 18 in the Senate, was one of the fiercest opponents of legislation he considered harmful to racial minorities.
In the 2007 session, for example, he made headlines after setting up his hospital bed outside the Senate chamber so that he could help fellow Democrats block a voter ID bill, the same legislation the Republican-dominated Legislature finally passed last year and is now being fought in the courts.
And in last year’s session he was one of the most vocal critics of a failed bill that would have outlawed the so-called sanctuary cities for illegal immigrants.
“This bill is open season for Latinos,” Gallegos said in a highly emotional debate on the Senate floor. “This is the most racist, Latino-bashing, anti-immigrant bill I’ve ever seen.”
However, Gallegos was also an open target for criticism, especially after a 17-year affair with a one-time stripper became public nearly a decade ago.
Since he represented one of the most Democratic districts in the Texas Senate, if his Republican challenger does not win in the Nov. 6 general election, Gov. Rick Perry will be expected to call a special election in Senate District 6.
“Whether serving as a firefighter, championing his beloved University of Houston or representing the interests of his constituents in the Texas Legislature, Sen. Gallegos led a life of serving the public,” Perry said in statement.