Former Texas House Speaker Joe Straus has spent his career at the intersection of public policy, business, and politics. He served as speaker of the 150-member Texas House from 2009 to 2019, making him the longest-serving Republican speaker in state history, and earned wide acclaim for his thoughtful approach to the state’s challenges.
Under Straus's leadership, the Texas House focused on improving public schools and workforce readiness, funding the state’s water plan, directing billions of additional dollars to transportation improvements, increasing transparency in state spending and balancing the biennial Texas budget amid both prosperous and challenging economic conditions. Straus also prioritized mental health care and the protection of abused and neglected children. He consistently promoted pro-business policies and fought against discriminatory legislation that would have harmed the Texas economy and marginalized many citizens. The Dallas Morning News named him its 2017 Texan of the Year.
In June 2019, Straus launched the Texas Forever Forward political action committee to promote principled leadership and support candidates, emerging leaders, organizations and causes that focus on Texas’s future.
A national leader within the Republican Party, Straus is the past chair of the Republican Legislative Campaign Committee, where he forged strong relationships with legislative leaders across the country. He continues to engage with the State Legislative Leaders Foundation, serves as a member of the Honorary Board of Directors at the SMU John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies, and serves on the Texas Biomedical Research Institute Board of Trustees. He is also co-chairman of Early Matters San Antonio, an organization working to rally the local business and civic community around the importance of high-quality early childhood education for all children.
Straus is a principal with La Cima Partners, LLC, a strategic consulting business. He is also a partner in Bennett & Straus, LLC, a San Antonio-based insurance, investments and executive benefits firm. He is a fifth-generation Texan and a San Antonio native and a graduate of Vanderbilt University. He and his wife, Julie, live in San Antonio and have two adult daughters.