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State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh will not run for re-election in 2010
October 16, 2009

State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, El Paso's tireless adovcate for the poor and underpriveleged, announced today that he will not be running for re-election in 2010.

"While other public service may lie ahead, I will not run for the Texas Senate in 2010," Shapleigh said in a statement. "In public life, especially in Texas during this decade, doing what's right, not what's expedient is what matters. I am grateful to the people who elected me for the opportunity to serve."

Written by Chris Roberts , The El Paso Times

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EL PASO -- State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, El Paso's tireless adovcate for the poor and underpriveleged, announced today that he will not be running for re-election in 2010.

"While other public service may lie ahead, I will not run for the Texas Senate in 2010," Shapleigh said in a statement. "In public life, especially in Texas during this decade, doing what's right, not what's expedient is what matters. I am grateful to the people who elected me for the opportunity to serve."

Before he was elected to the senate in 1996, Shapleigh was a lawyer on the team working with Judge Edward S. Marquez who ordered a court of inquiry that revealed fundamental inequities in the way the state funded El Paso-area programs.

Since his election, he has championed creation of the El Paso Medical School, fought for money to improve the region's roads and promoted the first county ethics commission in Texas. During his tenure, he has been known for his command of detail and he has sometimes been criticized for an abrasive style.

For more on this story check out tomorrow's edition of the El Paso Times

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