By Ruth Ann Ruiz
The Post Newspaper Features Editor
Orlando Sanchez, a Republican candidate in a runoff election against fellow Republican Warren Howell for Harris County Judge, was the guest speaker at the Galveston Republican Women’s monthly meeting on Wednesday.
With a history of leadership and elected office in Texas and Harris County, it seemed as though he might deliver a typical political speech. However, he was less political and more entertaining as he shared his life story.
Orlando was born in Cuba and is deeply grateful that his father made the choice to leave.
“I think I’m the luckiest person in the world, I could have lived 67 years under the communist rule,” said Sanchez.
Sanchez has lived most of his life in Texas, though he did join the U.S. Air Force, lured, he said, by the slogan Join the Air Force, See the World. As it turned out, his service took him no further than more of Texas and a stint in Illinois.
When fielding questions about illegal immigration, Sanchez said, “We have the worst immigration policy in the world.” He believes Congress must act to reform immigration policy.
If he wins the runoff and then the general election in November, perhaps Harris County residents can count on occasional humor and lightness at public meetings — Sanchez proved himself skillful at weaving humor into serious topics as a speaker on Wednesday.
Sanchez holds a degree in Political Science from the University of Houston and believes in fiscally conservative management of taxpayer money. If elected, he said he would work closely with the Sheriff and court clerks to speed up the adjudication of criminal cases as one way of reducing the crime rate in Harris County.
