|
Douglas Todd Staples (born August 24, 1963) is the departing Texas Commissioner of Agriculture. He leaves office on or before January 2015 after two terms. He did not seek reelection in 2014 but instead unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor. Prior to his election in 2006 as agriculture commissioner, Staples had served as a Republican in both houses of the Texas State Legislature and in a nonpartisan position on the city council in Palestine in Anderson County, Texas. Staples was unopposed for renomination in the GOP primary held on March 2, 2010. In the November 2 general election, he handily defeated the populist Democrat Hank Gilbert (born 1959) of Whitehouse and the Libertarian Party choice, Rick Donaldson of Rockwall County. Gilbert had also lost to Staples in 2006. On September 18, 2014, Staples announced that he would resign by mid-November to become president of the Texas Oil & Gas Association, following a controversy surrounding his views on a "Meatless Monday" campaign being adopted by some Texas schools.〔 〕 ==Background== Staples was reared in Palestine, the seat of government of his native Anderson County in East Texas. He graduated from Palestine High School, where he was an active member of the Future Farmers of America. While in college, he served from 1981 to 1982 as state vice-president of the FFA. He attended Texas A&M University in College Station and graduated ''magna cum laude'' in 1984 with a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Economics.〔 He started a plant nursery and later became involved in cattle ranching with his family. He also owned a real estate business. For a time, he was an instructor at Trinity Valley Community College in Palestine. Staples has two adult children from his first marriage, which ended in divorce.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Peggy Fikac, "Despite experience, Staples still defining himself for voters," February 14, 2014 )〕 His son, Jared Cole Staples (born 1987), is an attorney who was worked for the governor's office in Austin, and his daughter, Elizabeth Ann Staples (born 1989) resides in Denver, Colorado. His second wife is the former Janet Wendel (born c. 1953), a daughter of Laura Linder Wendel (1928-2001) and Frank Lee Wendel (1924-2011), a native of Falls County and resident of Madisonville in Madison County, a long-term employee of Lone Star Gas Company, and a decorated soldier in World War II. From her first marriage to Terry Maurice Thorn (born 1951) of Palestine, Janet Staples has two sons, Brian Walker Thorn (born 1979) and Jonathan Clarke Thorn (born 1982). These are Todd Staples' stepsons.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Frank Lee Wendel )〕 Staples is a Southern Baptist deacon in his local church. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Todd Staples」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|