Frank L. Madla
Encyclopedia
Frank Lloyd Madla, Jr. was for thirty-three years a Democratic
member of both the Texas House of Representatives
and the Texas State Senate from south San Antonio. Madla died in a house fire in the early morning hours on the Friday after Thanksgiving Day in 2006.
. (In Texas, state Senate districts are geographically and demographically larger than United States House of Representatives
districts.)
In 1985, Texas Monthly
, in its biennial feature on the best and worst Texas legislators named Madla to the "Honorable Mention" category, as one of the top twenty legislators for that session.
Among the nearly seven hundred legislative bills which Madla supported that came to fruition was the establishment of the Toyota plant
in San Antonio. The first San Antonio-made Toyota Tundra
rolled off the assembly line only days before Madla's death. Madla also worked for years to establish a Texas A&M University
branch campus in south San Antonio. In 2005, the legislature passed a bill that Madla wrote which authorized the creation of the campus. In the special 2006 legislative session dedicated to educational finance matters, Madla persuaded his colleagues to approve $40 million in tuition revenue bonds for the development of the new campus, which is scheduled to be completed in 2009. During the 2005 Legislative session, Madla originally opposed House Joint Resolution 6, which bans same-sex marriage and put Texas's Defense of Marriage laws to a vote, but he changed his mind and voted for it. It became part of the Texas Constitution.
held in March 2006 by the District 118 state representative
, Carlos I. "Charlie" Uresti
. The challenger claimed that Madla was too closely tied to the Republican leadership in the Senate and had voted in 2003 to remove 180,000 youngsters from the Children's Health Insurance Program. Madla referred to Uresti's charge as a "procedural matter." There were also questions about Madla's more than $1.1 million in campaign contributions, some from lobbyists. State Senator Eliot Shapleigh
of El Paso campaigned for Uresti, breaking a Senate tradition of not campaigning against a colleague. Uresti, a San Antonio attorney, prevailed with 56.5 percent of the vote to Madla's 43.5 percent.
Carla Vela, the then Bexar County Democratic Party chairman, said that issues were less important in the Madla-Uresti race than an ongoing intraparty power struggle involving the political families who control the Southside section of San Antonio.
Shortly after his primary defeat, Madla announced that he would resign his Senate seat early, effective May 31, 2006.
to Frank L. Madla, Sr., and the former Epigmenia Alcala. Madla attended St. Mary's University
and graduated with a B.A. in Government in 1959, and in 1963, an M.A.
in Government. Madla was married in 1961, and he and wife Rosemary had a son, Frank L. Madla, III. Madla was remarried in 1977 to the former Helen Cruz (born June 2, 1954), and had a daughter, Marci Morgan Madla.
Madla was a junior high school teacher
for ten years before he entered politics. At various times he worked as an insurance and real estate broker, and an instructor at University of the Incarnate Word
.
and flames. His granddaughter was initially thought to have survived, but was declared without brain function and died after being removed from life support a day later. Madla's wife Helen survived the blaze but was hospitalized for a time afterward. Madla's home had no smoke detectors.
U.S. President George W. Bush
issued his condolences to the Madla family and promised to pray for Helen Madla's full recovery: "Frank was a dedicated public servant who devoted more than three decades of his life to serving his state and all its people in the Texas House and Senate."
Texas Governor Rick Perry
ordered state flags to be flown at half-staff in Madla's honor on November 30, the day of Madla’s funeral
, and 1 December, the date of his interment in the Texas State Cemetery
. Perry issued this tribute: "Frank Madla was a dear friend and a dedicated public servant who was an exemplary representative for South and West Texas. Frank was a mentor to me when I came in to the legislature. He had a heart of gold and was a true Texas patriot. He and his wife, Helen, were two of Anita's [First Lady Anita Thigpen Perry] and my favorites. His death is a tragic loss to the community, to his friends and to his family. Anita and I offer our prayers on behalf of his wife Helen for her continued recovery."
was renamed Frank Madla Elementary School. Madla described the renaming as the “single best honor” to him ever.
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...
member of both 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...
and the Texas State Senate from south San Antonio. Madla died in a house fire in the early morning hours on the Friday after Thanksgiving Day in 2006.
Political career
Madla was initially elected to the lower house of the Texas legislature in a San Antonio-based district in 1972. He served for twenty years in the House until he was elected to the District 24, later District 19, state Senate seat, which is geographically large and stretches from San Antonio to as far west as El PasoEl Paso, Texas
El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...
. (In Texas, state Senate districts are geographically and demographically larger than United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
districts.)
In 1985, Texas Monthly
Texas Monthly
Texas Monthly is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Austin, Texas. Texas Monthly is published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. and was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, Texas Monthly chronicles life in contemporary Texas, writing on politics, the environment, industry, and education...
, in its biennial feature on the best and worst Texas legislators named Madla to the "Honorable Mention" category, as one of the top twenty legislators for that session.
Among the nearly seven hundred legislative bills which Madla supported that came to fruition was the establishment of the Toyota plant
Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas
Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas, Inc is an automobile production subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation based in San Antonio, Texas, USA which owns and operates a manufacturing and assembly facility for the parent company...
in San Antonio. The first San Antonio-made Toyota Tundra
Toyota Tundra
The Toyota Tundra is a full-size pickup truck introduced by Toyota in the year 2000. It was widely considered to be the first full-size import-brand truck built with an American look and feel and a refined V8 engine. The Tundra was eventually nominated for the North American Truck of the Year...
rolled off the assembly line only days before Madla's death. Madla also worked for years to establish a 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...
branch campus in south San Antonio. In 2005, the legislature passed a bill that Madla wrote which authorized the creation of the campus. In the special 2006 legislative session dedicated to educational finance matters, Madla persuaded his colleagues to approve $40 million in tuition revenue bonds for the development of the new campus, which is scheduled to be completed in 2009. During the 2005 Legislative session, Madla originally opposed House Joint Resolution 6, which bans same-sex marriage and put Texas's Defense of Marriage laws to a vote, but he changed his mind and voted for it. It became part of the Texas Constitution.
2006 Democratic primary
Madla had maintained his Senate seat without opposition until successfully challenged in the Democratic primaryPrimary 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....
held in March 2006 by the District 118 state representative
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...
, Carlos I. "Charlie" Uresti
Carlos Uresti
Carlos Ismael "Charlie" Uresti is a prominent San Antonio attorney practicing throughout the State of Texas in the areas of Family Law, Civil Litigation, Criminal Litigation, Personal Injury and Wrongful Death. As a Democrat, he is a member of the Texas State Senate representing Senate District 19...
. The challenger claimed that Madla was too closely tied to the Republican leadership in the Senate and had voted in 2003 to remove 180,000 youngsters from the Children's Health Insurance Program. Madla referred to Uresti's charge as a "procedural matter." There were also questions about Madla's more than $1.1 million in campaign contributions, some from lobbyists. State Senator Eliot Shapleigh
Eliot Shapleigh
Eliot Shapleigh is a politician from the state of Texas, who represented the state's 29th Senatorial District, which comprises the majority of El Paso County, from 1997 to 2011. He announced on October 16, 2009 that he will not run for re-election in 2010...
of El Paso campaigned for Uresti, breaking a Senate tradition of not campaigning against a colleague. Uresti, a San Antonio attorney, prevailed with 56.5 percent of the vote to Madla's 43.5 percent.
Carla Vela, the then Bexar County Democratic Party chairman, said that issues were less important in the Madla-Uresti race than an ongoing intraparty power struggle involving the political families who control the Southside section of San Antonio.
Shortly after his primary defeat, Madla announced that he would resign his Senate seat early, effective May 31, 2006.
Personal life
Madla was born in just outside of San Antonio in HelotesHelotes, Texas
Helotes is a city in Bexar County, Texas, United States. It is part of the San Antonio-New Braunfels Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 4,285 at the 2000 census; the July 1, 2009 Census estimate, however, showed the population had grown to 7,960.-History:According to...
to Frank L. Madla, Sr., and the former Epigmenia Alcala. Madla attended St. Mary's University
St. Mary's University, Texas
St. Mary's University is a Catholic and Marianist liberal arts institution located on northwest of downtown San Antonio, Texas, United States. St. Mary’s is a nationally recognized master’s level school ranked among the top colleges in the west for best value and academic reputation by U.S. News...
and graduated with a B.A. in Government in 1959, and in 1963, an M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
in Government. Madla was married in 1961, and he and wife Rosemary had a son, Frank L. Madla, III. Madla was remarried in 1977 to the former Helen Cruz (born June 2, 1954), and had a daughter, Marci Morgan Madla.
Madla was a junior high school teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
for ten years before he entered politics. At various times he worked as an insurance and real estate broker, and an instructor at University of the Incarnate Word
University of the Incarnate Word
The University of the Incarnate Word is a private Catholic university located within the cities of San Antonio and Alamo Heights in Texas, United States....
.
Death
Madla, along with Mary Cruz, his 81-year-old mother-in-law, and Aleena, his five-year-old granddaughter, died in a house fire. Madla had been asleep in his home upstairs and had tried to escape through the bedroom window. Burglar bars on the windows trapped him, and he succumbed to smokeSmoke
Smoke is a collection of airborne solid and liquid particulates and gases emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with the quantity of air that is entrained or otherwise mixed into the mass. It is commonly an unwanted by-product of fires , but may also be used for pest...
and flames. His granddaughter was initially thought to have survived, but was declared without brain function and died after being removed from life support a day later. Madla's wife Helen survived the blaze but was hospitalized for a time afterward. Madla's home had no smoke detectors.
U.S. President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
issued his condolences to the Madla family and promised to pray for Helen Madla's full recovery: "Frank was a dedicated public servant who devoted more than three decades of his life to serving his state and all its people in the Texas House and Senate."
Texas Governor 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...
ordered state flags to be flown at half-staff in Madla's honor on November 30, the day of Madla’s funeral
Funeral
A funeral is a ceremony for celebrating, sanctifying, or remembering the life of a person who has died. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from interment itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor...
, and 1 December, the date of his interment in the Texas State Cemetery
Texas State Cemetery
The Texas State Cemetery is a cemetery located on about just east of downtown Austin, the capital of Texas. Originally the burial place of Edward Burleson, Texas Revolutionary general and Vice-President of the Republic of Texas, it was expanded into a Confederate cemetery during the Civil War...
. Perry issued this tribute: "Frank Madla was a dear friend and a dedicated public servant who was an exemplary representative for South and West Texas. Frank was a mentor to me when I came in to the legislature. He had a heart of gold and was a true Texas patriot. He and his wife, Helen, were two of Anita's [First Lady Anita Thigpen Perry] and my favorites. His death is a tragic loss to the community, to his friends and to his family. Anita and I offer our prayers on behalf of his wife Helen for her continued recovery."
Legacy
In January 2006, the former Royalgate Elementary School in the South San Antonio Independent School DistrictSouth San Antonio Independent School District
South San Antonio Independent School District is a public school district based in San Antonio, Texas . The district serves southern and southwestern portions of the city....
was renamed Frank Madla Elementary School. Madla described the renaming as the “single best honor” to him ever.