About Veronica

State Representative Veronica Gonzales is serving her second  term in the House of Representatives representing District 41. District 41 is contained entirely in Hidalgo County and includes portions of McAllen, Edinburg, and Mission. Representative Gonzales is the first female elected to represent District 41 and currently sits on the Judiciary and Public Health Committees.   

Rep. Gonzales has had many accomplishments in two short terms.  In her first term, Veronica was elected by her colleagues to serve as Secretary of the State Democratic Caucus. She  further distinguished herself by passing the highest percentage of bills by any Democrat legislator in the House and was subsequently recognized as Freshmen of the Year by the Mexican-American Legislative Caucus and named a legislator to watch by the Texas Observer and as an Emerging Leader by the Dallas Morning News.   In her second session, Rep. Gonzales was re-elected as Secretary of the State Democratic Caucus, elected as Secretary of the Mexican-American Legislative Caucus, named as Chair of the Immigration Task Force and was recently appointed as a member on the Aspen-Rodel Fellowship in Public Leadership program.  The Aspen Institute is a national organization consisting of only 12 Republicans and 12 Democrats in the country considered rising stars who are brought together to discuss issues of democratic governance and effective public service.   

 Rep. Gonzales has passed numerous pieces of legislation in two short terms.   Her legislation includes protecting women who are victims of abuse with a address confidentiality program, protecting youth along the border with a bi-national substance abuse task force, assuring that divorced parents get all the visitation time permitted, assuring that we have sufficient water for our border citizens by converting water rights from irrigation to municipal use, widening the pool of persons who can become police officers, lighting the streets of colonias, helping students finish college sooner and pay their tuition in payments, giving families greater access to their local musum, creating new courts for our county, increasing a juror’s pay, protecting us from buying a home that has been used for the production of methamphetamines, allowing for wine-tastings in wine-only package stores, promoting products made in Texas with a “Genuine Texas” seal and the list goes on and on.

 Rep. Gonzales was raised in San Marcos, Texas.   As the first in her family to go to college, Gonzales understands the importance of a quality education.  She graduated cum laude from Southwest Texas State University in 1986 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Spanish. After completing her undergraduate studies, she enrolled in the University of Texas School of Law and earned her Doctorate of Jurisprudence in 1991.  She is a name partner in the law firm of Kittleman, Thomas & Gonzales, L.L.P.  and has served her legal community in various positions including president of the Hidalgo County Young Lawyers Association, president of the Hidalgo County Bar Association and panel chair of the 12B Grievance Committee, the committee that regulates lawyers.  She recently earned the Texas Center Professionalism Award for her ethics from the Hidalgo County Bar Association.  She is a member of many organizations and sits on the board as an advisory member to the Children’s Defense Fund, the South Texas College and Texas Rural Legal Aid.