Florence Shapiro
Member of theTexas Senate from the8th district
In office January 10, 1995 – January 8, 2013
Preceded by	O.H. "Ike" Harris
Succeeded by	Ken Paxton
Member of theTexas Senate from the2nd district
In office January 12, 1993 – January 10, 1995
Preceded by	Ted Lyon
Succeeded by	David Cain
32ndMayor of Plano
In office 1990–1992
Preceded by	Jack Harvard
Succeeded by	James Muns
Personal details
Born	Florence Donald (1948-05-02)May 2, 1948 (age 77) New York City, New York, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Howard Shapiro
Children	3
Residence	Plano, Texas
Alma mater	University of Texas at Austin (BS)
Profession	Teacher, politician, advertising executive, consultant

Florence Donald Shapiro (born May 2, 1948)^[1] is an American politician fromTexas. Her political career lasted over 30 years and coincided withPlano's growth from a bedroom community of 17,000 to a city of almost 300,000 residents. After moving to Plano in 1972, she served on thePlano City Council from 1979 to 1990 and served as the city's first female and Jewish elected mayor from 1990 to 1992.

As aRepublican, Shapiro served in theTexas Senate from 1993 to 2013, representingDistrict 2 from 1993 to 1995 andDistrict 8 from 1995 until her retirement in 2013. Her constituency was centered inCollin County in theDallas–Fort Worth Metroplex, especially the city ofPlano.

In the Texas Senate, Shapiro chaired the State Affairs Committee and the chamber's Education Committee from 2003 to 2013.

A first-generation American, Shapiro was born to German-born Martin and Ann Donald, bothHolocaust survivors,^[2] inNew York City on May 2, 1948.^[1] Shapiro's mother was pregnant with her on the ship passage fromEngland to New York City.^[3]

After a decade in New York City, the family moved toDallas, Texas in 1958,^[3] and Shapiro attended and graduated fromHillcrest High School. After high school, Shapiro matriculated toThe University of Texas at Austin, and was the first in her family to attend college.^[4] At UT, she met her husband Howard.^[5] and earned aB.S. insecondary education in 1970.^[4]

Shapiro began her professional career as a public school English and speech teacher atRichardson High School inRichardson, Texas for two years. She and her husband moved from Richardson toPlano in 1972, when Plano's population was 17,500.^[5] In the 1980s, Shapiro founded and operated Shapiro & Company, anadvertising,public relations and events firm for 10 years before closing the company due to scheduling demands from her responsibilities in the Texas Senate.^[4]

Shapiro quit her job as a teacher in 1972 in order to have a baby and turned to community involvement.^[6] After several years as an active volunteer in Plano, Shapiro was encouraged to run for the "woman's seat" on thePlano City Council.^[7] She won her first election in 1979 by 39 votes^[6] and was subsequently elected to serve six terms from 1979 to 1990. During her entire tenure, Shapiro was the only woman on the council.^[1][4] As a council member, Shapiro served as the president of the North Central Texas Council of Governments in 1984^[7] and as President of the Texas Municipal League.^[3]

In 1990, Shapiro ran unopposed^[7] and was subsequently elected the first female and first Jewish^[8]Mayor of Plano. She served one term from 1990 to 1992.^[1][4]

At theCotton Bowl parade in 1991, Shapiro's friendKay Bailey Hutchison, then theTexas State Treasurer, suggested that Shapiro run for theTexas Senate. In 1992, she ran forDistrict 2, which includedCollin County and counties inEast Texas. Her campaign manager wasKarl Rove, who would later work as a top aide to GovernorGeorge W. Bush (who would go on to be electedPresident in 2000). Shapiro was the top vote-getter in the Republican primary against Don Kent and former Plano mayor Jack Harvard, then defeated Kent by 1 percentage point in a hotly-contested run-off election, during which vandals defaced her campaign signs withswastikas due to Shapiro's Jewish faith.^[6]

In the general election, Shapiro faced 13-yearDemocratic incumbent Ted Lyon. The race was so vitriolic that theDallas Morning News ran an editorial titled "Voters Didn't Deserve This," calling for a lowering of temperatures. Shapiro won by 13 points. After the 1992 election, Shapiro rarely faced serious competition.^[6]

In the Texas Senate, Shapiro earned attention for authoring "Ashley's Laws" in 1995 that increased penalties for sex offenders and improved tracking of sex offenders released from prison. In 1993, 7-year-old Ashley Estell was kidnapped, from Carpenter Park in Plano, assaulted, and murdered. "Ashley's Laws" consisted on 12 bills that required, among other things, police departments to publicize the location of sex offenders after their release and require notification of schools of their presence in the area.^[9][6] Shapiro's work earned her the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault's "Champion for Social Change Award".^[10] and the Children's Advocacy Centers of Texas's "Legislator of the Year Award" in 2008.^[11]

Shapiro was also involved in efforts to advocate for human rights andHolocaust education. President George W. Bush appointed Shapiro to the Honorary Delegation toJerusalem for the celebration of the 60th anniversary of theState of Israel in May 2008.^[12] In 2009, Governor Rick Perry signed Senate Bill 482 co-authored by Shapiro andRodney Ellis that established an 18-member Texas Holocaust and Genocide Commission, charged with improving Holocaust and genocide education and organizing memorial events in Texas.^[13]

In January 2005, she was electedPresident pro tempore of the State Senate, becoming second in the gubernatorial line of succession, behind theLieutenant Governor of Texas.^[1] She was the first senator fromCollin County to serve in that position in more than forty years.^[14] When bothGovernorRick Perry and Lieutenant GovernorDavid Dewhurst were out of the state on official business on April 9, 2005, Shapiro served as the Governor for a day, the sixth woman in Texas history to do so.^[14]

In October 2007,Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson announced that she would potentially vacate her seat in the U.S. Senate before the end of her term in 2012 to challenge incumbent Governor of TexasRick Perry in the Republican primary of the2010 Texas gubernatorial election. On July 15, 2008, Shapiro announced the formation of an exploratory committee for Hutchinson's seat, chaired by her friend and formerDallas Cowboys quarterbackRoger Staubach. Shapiro was the first candidate to formally announce an exploratory committee, but local media expected additional candidates to jump into the fray, such asU.S. CongressmenPete Sessions andKay Granger, formerTexas Secretary of StateRoger Williams, andTexas Lieutenant GovernorDavid Dewhurst.^[15]

After forming the committee, Shapiro began heavy fundraising and had raised more money than any other declared candidate by the end of 2008. Shapiro raised $226,000 in the fourth quarter of 2008 and ended the year with $373,556 in her campaign war chest.^[16]

Hutchison formally announced her gubernatorial campaign on August 17, 2009.^[17] However, Hutchison did not resign from her Senate seat, announcing on November 13, that she would remain in the Senate during the campaign.^[18]

Hutchinson subsequently announced on January 13, 2011, that she would not run for re-election in 2012 and would retire after 18 years in the U.S. Senate^[19] The next day, Shapiro decided against running to replace Hutchinson in the2012 United States Senate election in Texas, ultimately won by Texas solicitor generalTed Cruz.^[20] Shapiro, who by then had raised approximately $1 million, formally withdrew her candidacy on March 31 and announced that she would refund her donors.^[21]

On September 19, 2011, Shapiro announced that she would not stand for reelection to the Texas Senate.^[22] Her seat was ultimately won by State RepresentativeKen Paxton, who would later serve as theTexas Attorney General.^[23]

After retiring from the Texas Senate, Shapiro worked for an education company.^[22] In 2013, Plano's city council chambers were renamed the Senator Florence Shapiro Council Chambers in her honor.^[24]

Shapiro lives inPlano, Texas with her husband Howard. They have three children and 12 grandchildren.^[4]

• "Senator Florence Shapiro". Texas Senate. Archived fromthe original on 2004-12-12. Retrieved2004-12-11.
  • Committees
• "Florence Shapiro U.S. Senate Exploratory Committee". Official Campaign Website. Archived fromthe original on 2009-04-06.
  • Official Facebook Page
• Profile atVote Smart
• Follow the Money - Florence Shapiro
  • 2006200420022000 campaign contributions
• Appearances onC-SPAN

• 1948 births
• Living people
• American marketing people
• Jewish American mayors
• Jewish American women in politics
• Women in marketing
• Mayors of Plano, Texas
• People from Plano, Texas
• Presidents pro tempore of the Texas Senate
• Republican Party Texas state senators
• University of Texas at Austin College of Education alumni
• Women mayors of places in Texas
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• 21st-century American women politicians
• Jewish state legislators in Texas
• 21st-century American Jews
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• 20th-century American women politicians

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