Mario Gallegos, Senate champion for Hispanics, dies at 62

State Sen. Mario Gallegos listens to testimony during a 2009 legislative hearing. State Sen. Mario Gallegos listens to testimony during a 2009 legislative hearing. Photo: Pat Sullivan Photo: Pat Sullivan Image 1 of / 26 Caption Close Mario Gallegos, Senate champion for Hispanics, dies at 62 1 / 26 Back to Gallery

State Sen. Mario Gallegos, 62, a Democratic lawmaker whose 22-year career in the Texas Legislature was marked by courage, controversy and dogged commitment to issues of importance to the Hispanic community, died Tuesday afternoon at Methodist Hospital in Houston from complications of liver disease.

Gallegos, the first Hispanic elected to the state Senate from Harris County, took a special interest in public education, redistricting and other issues he believed would have an effect on the lives of the predominantly working-class residents in Senate District 6.

In 2007, only weeks after undergoing a liver transplant, a sick and weakened Gallegos ignored a doctor's call to return to Houston and installed a hospital bed in the office of the Senate sergeant-at-arms so he could cast his vote against a bill requiring voters to show photo identification. Gallegos argued the bill would discriminate against minority voters.

In 2011, Gallegos opposed a measure sponsored by state Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, requiring women seeking an abortion to undergo a sonogram. Gallegos told his fellow senators that although he opposed abortion, he didn't believe he should impose legislative restrictions on a woman about "how to govern her body."

"There were few issues that Mario and I agreed upon," Patrick said, "but throughout my six years in the state Senate he always treated me with kindness and courtesy and professionalism. And he was a friend."

State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, described Gallegos as "a man of matchless generosity who worked tirelessly for his district. I've never known anyone who fought harder for the underdog - for the most vulnerable in our state."

Graduated from Milby

Mario Valentin Gallegos Jr. was born in Houston on Sept. 8, 1950, and grew up in Magnolia Park, an East End neighborhood near the Ship Channel. He graduated from Milby High School and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Houston-Downtown in 2001.

Gallegos joined the Houston Fire Department at 18 and served for 22 years, rising to the rank of senior captain. His involvement in union affairs as a firefighter whetted his interest in politics.

"As a union member working with (former Houston City Councilman) Ben Reyes, he fell in love with politics," said Marc Campos, a Houston political consultant who met Gallegos in 1979. "He made a number of trips to Austin to lobby for firefighter issues."

In 1990, Gallegos was elected to the Texas House of Representatives, where he served for two terms before being elected to the state Senate in 1994. Never a legislative tactician or policy expert, Gallegos was a reliable liberal vote on most issues.

"I don't think his job was to move monumental pieces of legislation," Campos said. "He had the role to advocate for a number of Hispanic concerns."

Treated for alcoholism

No stranger to controversy throughout his political career, he was re-elected in 2004 after overcoming a write-in candidacy by a former mistress who challenged his residency in the district. He acknowledged a 17-year affair with a former stripper after she filed a lawsuit in which she alleged he had stolen from her and been abusive. Although he denied her charges, he publicly apologized for a "shameful mistake."

Texas Monthly magazine often included Gallegos among its "worst" legislators, noting in 2001 that he was "a retired firefighter who threw gasoline on every combustible issue."

In 2006, he announced he had begun treatment for alcoholism.

Suffering from cirrhosis of the liver a few months later, he received last rites and made plans for his body to be displayed near the Capitol Rotunda before being transported to his grave in a fire truck.

Liver transplant

With about a month to live, he received a phone call on Jan. 18, 2007, informing him that the unexpected death of a teenage boy meant he would get a liver transplant.

Sworn in as president pro tempore later that year, he told his colleagues that he intended to run for office until he died.

"Have I been perfect? No, but I put my vices out there," he said. "It's like I've been given a second chance at life."

Survivors include his mother, Olga Gallegos; his wife, Theresa Gallegos; three children, Ali Templer, Melissa Gallegos and Mario Elias Gallegos; four sisters and two brothers; and five grandchildren.

joe.holley@chron.com