Education
University of Houston–Downtown.
University of Houston–Downtown.
He was the senator from District 6 in the Texas Senate, which serves a portion of Harris County. Gallegos, who originated from the Magnolia Park community of Houston, was a long-time firefighter with the Houston Fire Department and retired as a Senior Captain after 22 years of service. In 1990, he was elected to the 72nd Legislature in the Texas House of Representatives from District 143, where he served two terms, from 1991 to 1995.
In 1994, Representatives Gallegos and Yolanda Navarro Flores and former Representative Roman O. Martinez squared off in the Democratic primary for a recently redrawn Senate District 6.
Martinez received a plurality of the votes and faced Gallegos in a runoff. Gallegos faced no opposition in 1998 and was reelected to the Senate.
In July 2001, Gallegos was named one of the worst legislators in Texas by Texas Monthly magazine in their biennial feature. The authors noted that Gallegos was “a retired firefighter who threw gasoline on every combustible issue,” and noted his penchant for injecting race into seemingly innocuous legislation.
Gallegos was unopposed in 2002, but in 2004, Gallegos was again challenged by Yolanda Navarro Flores in the Democratic primary.
In the 2004 general election, he faced Libertarian challenger Tony Deppenschmidt along with a write-in challenge from his former mistress, Delgado. In July 2005, Gallegos was again named one of the worst legislators in Texas by Texas Monthly. Nevertheless, Gallegos was sworn in as Governor for one day on May 5, 2007, in a Texas tradition honoring the Senate President Pro Term.
Gallegos attended the University of Houston–Downtown (UHD) where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in social sciences in 2001.
On March 10, 2006, Gallegos released a statement acknowledging that he was in a one-month residential treatment program for his alcoholism. On January 11, 2007, Gallegos announced that he was suffering from cirrhosis of the liver, and would require a liver transplant, and on January 19, 2007, Gallegos received a liver transplant at the Texas Medical Center in Houston.
His liver donor was 16-year-old Robby Joe Trevino Junior. of Fort Worth, Texas who died unexpectedly from Cardiomyopathy. According to a statement from Gallegos prior to the surgery, he would miss about 18 days of the Regular Session of the 80th Legislature.
Gallegos installed a hospital bed in the office of the sergeant-at-arms at the capitol building so that he could be nearby to prevent discussion of a bill requiring voter identification, against doctors" orders.
In October 2012 Gallegos was hospitalized and later died. Most recent election
= 2004 Previous elections
= 2002 = 1998 = 1994 = 1992 =.