Carter Casteel

Frances Carter Barron Casteel, known as Carter Casteel (born December 10, 1942), is an attorney and Republican politician from New Braunfels, Texas. A former county judge of Comal County, Casteel served as well from 2003 to 2007 in the District 73 seat in the Texas House of Representatives currently held by another Republican, Doug Miller, a former mayor of New Braunfels.

Background

A native of Monahans in Ward County in West Texas, Casteel graduated in 1961 from Monahans High School.^[1] In 1965, Casteel received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Texas at Austin. She subsequently procured her Master of Arts in 1971 from Texas State University, then known as Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, and her Juris Doctor in 1985 from St. Mary's University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas.^[2]

Casteel was a classroom teacher at Porter Junior High School for the Austin Independent School District from 1965 to 1973 and then at Canyon High School for the Comal Independent School District from 1974 until 1982.^[3] In 1978, she was elected president of the Comal Educators Association.^[2] After working for two years with another attorney, Casteel opened her own law practice in 1987.^[3]In 1989, she was the president of the county bar association.^[2]

In 1988, Governor Bill Clements named her to a two-year appointment to the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Board. She is a past director of both Citizens Bank and Norwest Bank as well as KLRN-TV, the Public Broadcasting Service outlet in San Antonio. She has been affiliated with the American Association of University Women, United Way of America, the Comal County Fair Association, and the boards of Battleship Texas (appointed by Governor George Bush) and the restored Brauntex Theatre. She is a member of Rotary International and the Chamber of Commerce, through which capacity she is a past chairman of the Guadalupe River Study Group. She is a member of several Republican Party women's organizations in her area. A United Methodist, Casteel is also a former charter member of the non-denominational Church in the Valley in Canyon Lake, Texas.^[2]

Casteel and her husband, Thomas Ralph "Tom" Casteel (born 1934),^[2] have two children Cheryl Lynn Casteel (born 1963), formerly Cheryl Land, a Certified Public Accountant and Attorney , and Thomas Barron Casteel (born c. 1971) and attorney. Both children are her law partners in the firm Casteel & Casteel PLLC.^[4] Casteel is a specialist in Family Law, handling divorces, adoptions,disputes over child custody, and general civil law. A certified mediator, she also works to help families to resolve their differences.^[3]As of 2016 she had seven grandchildren and six great grandchildren .^[1]

Political life

From 1984 to 1990, Casteel held the nonpartisan position of trustee of the Comal Independent School District and was selected President of the Board . She was elected county judge in 1990 and remained in that post for two terms until 1998.^[2]As county judge, she wrestled with the urban sprawl into Comal County from San Antonio and the need to find new water resources to compensate for inadequate wells and to conserve what is already available.^[5]

In her first legislative race on March 12, 2002, Casteel defeated Diane Sue Dasher (born c. 1954) of Bulverde, 9,290 (54 percent) to 7,916 (46 percent) in the Republican primary election. The incumbent Democrat, Robert Ray "Bob" Turner, did not seek reelection.^[6]In the following general election, Casteel defeated the Democrat Virgil Yanta, 35,314 (79.1 percent) to 9,305 (20.9 percent)^[7]In May 2003, Casteel and John Mabry, Jr., a Democrat from Waco, were named "Freshmen Members of the Year" by their colleagues.^[1]

Casteel ran without primary or general election opposition in 2004, but in the 2006 Republican primary, she lost her bid for a third term by forty-six votes. Her challenger, Nathan Macias, an Hispanic businessman and public policy analyst from Bulverde, polled 10,183 votes (50.1 percent) to her 10,137 ballots (49.9 percent).^[8]

In the 2008 Republican primary, Miller unseated Macias by 17 votes, 14,684 (50.02 percent) to 14,667 (49.97 percent)^[9]and still holds the seat.

Casteel was known for her speaking and debating skills and ability to work across the aisle to get legislation passed that benefited Texans. She was a strong advocate for public education, controlling property taxes, and funding stem cell research. Casteel received honors from the Texas Association of Counties, The Texas Municipal League and various Education Associations .

As a legislator, Casteel was rated 67 percent conservative in 2003 by Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum, managed in Texas by Cathie Adams, a former chairman of the Texas Republican Party. Her Eagle Forum rating dropped to 52 percent in 2005. By contrast, her successor Nathan Macias had a 96 percent Eagle Forum score in his one term in the office. The Young Conservatives of Texas ranked her 53 percent. She was rated 90 percent by Texas Right to Life Committee in 2003 but 75 percent in 20055.

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