Biography
A fourth-generation Texan, Wentworth was born in Mercedes in Hidalgo County in south Texas. At the time of his defeat for the Texas Senate in 2012, he was serving his seventh term. From 2004 to 2005, he was the Senate president pro tem. On November 20, 2004, he was "Governor for a Day".
Until he leaves office in January 2013, Wentworth is the chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Open Government and serves on the Select Committee on Redistricting; Higher Education; Administration; Transportation and Homeland Security; and Intergovernmental Relations committees. He is a member of the board of directors of both the Natural Resources Foundation of Texas and of the Center for Public Policy and Political Studies at Austin Community College.
Wentworth's public service prior to the Texas Legislature includes one year as a university system regent, six years as a county commissioner, two years as a city attorney, three years as a congressional assistant, and three years' active duty as a counterintelligence officer in the United States Army from 1962 to 1965. Earlier, Wentworth worked as a newspaper carrier, television station copy boy, waiter, dishwasher, library clerk, and a taxicab driver.
A 1958 graduate of Alamo Heights High School in San Antonio, Wentworth earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1962 from Texas A&M University in College Station. After his military service, he was an assistant from 1966 to 1968 and 1971 to 1972 to the late conservative Republican United States Representative Bob Price of Pampa, Texas.
Wentworth worked as a general assignments reporter for the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal for a year and then as an assistant to the Lubbock County Attorney while he was pursuing a degree at Texas Tech University School of Law. Wentworth served as vice president of his high school student body, senior class officer in college, and president of his law school student body. In addition, he was the national president of the law student division of the American Bar Association. In 2000, Wentworth was named the "Distinguished Alumnus" of Texas Tech University School of Law.
Wentworth is a member of the National Executive Committee of the Council of State Governments. He is chairman of the board of trustees of the 21st Century Foundation of the Council of State Governments and served from 2008 to 2009 as the chairman of the 16-state Southern Legislative Conference. He is a member of the board of trustees of the American Council of Young Political Leaders.
A practicing attorney, Wentworth is a life fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation and the San Antonio Bar Foundation. He is admitted to practice law in both Texas and the District of Columbia.
Wentworth and his wife Karla, a licensed professional interior designer, have two sons, Jason and Matthew Wentworth. As he leaves the state Senate, Wentworth has been appointed to the position of Precinct 3 justice of the peace by the Bexar County Commission.
Read more about this topic: Jeff Wentworth
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