Not to be confused with the American screenwriter Alan J. Schoolcraft

Alan Lee Schoolcraft (born 1952) is an attorney and Realtor in Universal City

Universal City, Texas

Universal City is a city in Bexar and Guadalupe Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. It borders San Antonio to the northeast, and is adjacent to Randolph Air Force Base. The population was 14,849 at the 2000 census. Through Universal City is Pat Booker Road, the commercial thoroughfare of the city...

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, who is a former Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 member of the Texas House of Representatives

Texas House of Representatives

The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Texas Legislature. The House is composed of 150 members elected from single-member districts across the state. The average district has about 150,000 people. Representatives are elected to two-year terms with no term limits...

, having represented District 121 in Bexar County

Bexar County, Texas

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,392,931 people, 488,942 households, and 345,681 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,117 people per square mile . There were 521,359 housing units at an average density of 418 per square mile...

 from 1981 to 1993. He left the House to wage an unsuccessful campaign for the Texas State Senate in the 1992 Republican primary election

Primary election

A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....

.

Early years

Schoolcraft is a grandson of William Garfield Schoolcraft and the former Chloe Elsie Hawkins. He is one of two sons and a daughter born to Thomas Edward Schoolcraft, Sr. (born 1921), and the former Clovis Elizabeth Richardson (1928–1995). In 1973, Schoolcroft graduated from the University of Texas at Austin

University of Texas at Austin

The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...

. In 1978, he obtained the Juris Doctor

Juris Doctor

Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...

 degree from St. Mary's University Law School in San Antonio

San Antonio, Texas

San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...

. From 1974 to 1981, Schoolcraft was married to the former Judith Ann Silk (born 1951). After their divorce, he married in 1983 the former Tandy Renee Talburt (born 1956), the mother of his two children, Jordan Talburt Schoolcraft (born 1986), and Shelby Rebecca Schoolcraft (born 1989). Alan and Tandy Schoolcraft divorced in 2005.

Schoolcraft operates his family's long-term real estate agency in Universal City. After his legislative service, Schoolcraft formed the company Prodoc, meaning "Professional Documents." He placed plain-paper facsimile machines, which then cost more than $7,000 each, in six title company offices in the San Antonio area, with the requirement that those companies send their document requests to his firm. Overwhelmed by demand for the service, Schoolcraft developed a new software system, which he has since marketed.

In June 2011, Schoolcraft, who had been residing in McQueeney

McQueeney, Texas

McQueeney is a census-designated place in Guadalupe County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,527 at the 2000 census. It is part of the San Antonio Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...

, acquired a five-bedroom, 4.5-bath home at 1922 Via Vineda in the Fund Estates subdivision of San Antonio. The 4,689-square-foot residence, built in 2004, is valued at $897,720 and carries property taxes in excess of $24,000 annually.

House career

Running on the Reagan-Bush ticket in 1980, Schoolcraft led the Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 incumbent, Representative Albert D. Brown, Jr., and was seated in then District 57-C in the state House on January 13, 1981. Also elected to the Texas House that year in another district was the Republican Kae T. Patrick. On January 15, 1981, the House unseated Schoolcraft, and Albert Brown temporarily reclaimed the seat. In a rare occurrence, the Texas House ordered a special election re-run of the Schoolcraft-Brown race. Schoolcraft handily won the rematch on February 10 and was sworn into office once more on February 16, 1981. After redistricting in 1981, Schoolcraft was elected in 1982 to District 121, the seat that he held for the remainder of his House career.

In pursuit of the Texas Senate

In 1992, Schoolcraft, after six terms in the House, ented the Senate primary in District 26

Texas Senate, District 26

District 26 of the Texas Senate is a senatorial district that currently serves a portion of Bexar county in the U.S. state of Texas. The current Senator from District 26 is Leticia R. Van de Putte.-2004:-2002:-2000:...

, since District 25

Texas Senate, District 25

District 25 of the Texas Senate is a senatorial district that currently serves all of Comal, Guadalupe, Hays and Kendall counties, and portions of Bexar and Travis counties in the U.S. state of Texas...

. With 14,490 votes (34.7 percent), Schoolcraft led in the primary but was forced into a runoff election with the more liberal Republican Jeff Wentworth

Jeff Wentworth

Earl Jeffrey "Jeff" Wentworth is a Republican member of the Texas Senate since 1993. He succeeded Republican Cyndi Taylor Krier , who instead became the Bexar County judge...

, also of San Antonio, who received 14,076 (33.7 percent). In third place was John Fisher with 7,222 (17.3 percent). The other candidates, including Republican state Representative George Pierce finished fourth with 4,407 votes (10.6 percent). The fifth-placed candidate, Jim Canady, received 1,547 votes (3.7 percent). Wentworth then won the second round of balloting on April 14, 11,574 (52.7 percent) to 10,388 (47.3 percent).
Wentworth then overwhelmed Democrat Carlos Higgins in the November 3 general election, 146,159 (66.6 percent) to 73,303 (33.4 percent). Wentworth still hlds the position, as District 25, though he was seriously challenged in the 2002 Republican primary by then State Representative John H. Shields

John Shields (Texas politician)

John Howard Shields is an attorney in San Antonio, Texas, who is a Republican former member of the Texas House of Representatives from Bexar County. Shields is also an investor in Retama Park racetrack in San Antonio. His father-in-law is powerful San Antonio businessman B. J. "Red" McCombs...

 of San Antonio.
In 2010, it appeared that Wentworth would resign from the Senate to accept the position of chancellor of his alma mater, Texas A&M University

Texas A&M University

Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...

 of College Station

College Station, Texas

College Station is a city in Brazos County, Texas, situated in East Central Texas in the heart of the Brazos Valley. The city is located within the most populated region of Texas, near three of the 10 largest cities in the United States - Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio...

. If so, Schoolcraft had mapped serious plan to run again for the District 25 Senate seat. However, Wentworth turned down the TAMU offer, and John Sharp

John Sharp (Texas politician)

John Sharp is the former Democratic Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, having held the office from 1991 to 1999. He is currently a principal in the Austin office of the Dallas-based Ryan & Company, a tax consulting firm. In 2005, he was appointed to serve as Chair of the Texas Tax Reform...

, a former Texas comptroller and the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in 1998 and 2002, became the chancellor.
Schoolcraft had organized a staff, hired consultants, and even made campaign commercials. He hired Tom Quirk, his strategist from the 1980 race against Albert Brown, and retained the Austin

Austin, Texas

Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...

-based consultants, Baselice & Associates. He had also retained June Deason as his campaign manager and Janelle McArthur as fundraiser. With Wentworth remaining senator, Schoolcraft hence found no special election at hand, much as Michael L. Williams

Michael L. Williams

Michael Lawrence Williams is a former member of the elected Texas Railroad Commission, a regulatory body over, not railroads, but the oil and natural gas industries. Williams is the first African American to hold a statewide elected executive office in Texas history. He was appointed to the...

, a former Republican member of the Texas Railroad Commission, had planned to run in a special election in 2010 to replace U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison

Kay Bailey Hutchison

Kathryn Ann Bailey Hutchison, known as Kay Bailey Hutchison , is the senior United States Senator from Texas.She is a member of the Republican Party. In 2001, she was named one of the thirty most powerful women in America by Ladies Home Journal. The first woman to represent Texas in the U.S....

. However, like Wentworth, Hutchison did not resign from the Senate while she ran unsuccessfully against Rick Perry

Rick Perry

James Richard "Rick" Perry is the 47th and current Governor of Texas. A Republican, Perry was elected Lieutenant Governor of Texas in 1998 and assumed the governorship in December 2000 when then-governor George W. Bush resigned to become President of the United States. Perry was elected to full...

 for the Republican gubernatorial nomination.

On August 22, 2011, Wentworth announced that he will run again for the Senate in 2012. After redistricting, District 25 will include the Oak Hill and San Leanna community in Travis County

Travis County, Texas

As of 2009, the U.S. census estimates there were 1,026,158 people, 320,766 households, and 183,798 families residing in the county. The population density was 821 people per square mile . There were 335,881 housing units at an average density of 340 per square mile...

 plus all or parts of Hays

Hays County, Texas

Hays County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2010, its official population had reached 157,107. It is named for John Coffee Hays, a Texas Ranger and Mexican-American War officer. The seat of the county is San Marcos....

, Comal

Comal County, Texas

Comal County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2010, its population was 108,472. Its seat is New Braunfels.Comal County is part of the San Antonio Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History Timeline:...

, Guadalupe

Guadalupe County, Texas

Guadalupe County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 89,023. It is named for the Guadalupe River. The seat of the county is Seguin. It was founded in 1846....

, Kendall

Kendall County, Texas

Kendall County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2008 census, its population was 32,886. Its seat is Boerne....

, and Bexar counties. Schoolcraft has not revealed if he will again challenge Wentworth in the Republican primary.