Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst is a native Texan, proud veteran, successful businessman, and rancher. He serves as President of the Texas Senate and is proud of the broad support he has earned during his tenure.

Through four Regular Sessions and seven Special Sessions of the Legislature, Lt. Governor Dewhurst has worked to pass legislation to create new jobs and economic opportunity, improve schools, and protect public safety. In 2007, Dewhurst led the effort to pass one of the toughest Jessica's Laws in the nation. The law, part of Dewhurst's Texas Children First initiative, imposes tough, new penalties against child predators, including the death penalty as an option for the most violent repeat offenders.

A fiscal conservative, Dewhurst has worked to balance four budgets while holding state spending below the rate of inflation plus population growth. These conservative budgets have helped the state's economy grow faster than the national economy and create one million new jobs in Texas over the last six years.

Lt. Governor Dewhurst believes every child in Texas deserves a quality education. In 2006, as Dewhurst led the Senate to approve $14 billion in local school property tax cuts, he fought successfully to raise teacher salaries and educational standards, increase accountability, and reduce drop-out rates. To make university study affordable, Dewhurst worked to pass the "B-on-Time Loan Program," which provides college students with zero-interest, forgivable loans if they graduate on time with at least a "B" average.

The Dallas Morning News called Dewhurst's first term leading the Senate "a demonstration of steadiness, resolve and consensus building." The Houston Chronicle has called Dewhurst "an exceptional leader."

As Commissioner of the Texas General Land Office, where he served from 1999-2002, Dewhurst reduced the workforce and budget, and turned back money each of two biennia to Texas' taxpayers. He certified almost $1 billion in below-market interest rate loans to veterans to honor their service and to stimulate the Texas economy, and helped protect the environment and increase tourism by restoring Texas' beaches and bays.

In the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks, Dewhurst was appointed by Governor Rick Perry as Chairman of the Governor's Task Force on Homeland Security.

Dewhurst began his business career in the mid-1970s after serving as an officer in the U.S. Air Force, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the U.S. State Department. He founded Falcon Seaboard, a Texas-based diversified energy and investments company. An early developer in the mid-1980s in the electric cogeneration business, he has earned a reputation as an innovative and successful businessman.

Dewhurst has been a long time community and civic leader in his hometown of Houston, where he has served on civic and charitable boards. He earned his BA degree from the University of Arizona, where he played college basketball. Dewhurst breeds and raises registered Black Angus cattle, and he rides cutting horses in National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) and American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) competitions. Dewhurst is honorary Vice President of the AQHA. He is married to Patricia Hamilton Dewhurst, an attorney in Houston.