Boris Miles, with the winter sun piercing the Texas Capitol, was cheered on by half a dozen bus loads of supporters that traveled to Austin Tuesday, January 10th when he was sworn-in to succeed Rodney Ellis as Houston and south Texas' only African American State Senator. Miles raised his right hand to represent SD 13 in the upper chamber.

"As a successful self-built business owner, I will fight for to balance the budget but not on the backs of poor folk, children or elderly. As a former police officer, one of my top reasons to be here is criminal justice reform," said Miles, who has filed bills already focused on providing pre-K education, getting help for struggling students, making the lives of foster children better and getting security for seniors. He's most proud of three Bills he supports to combat police "official oppression" and to recognize the importance of Texas Southern University to Texas' future.

Miles said his biggest motivation is to bring to SD 13 the responsive, reliable, respectful constituent service he brought to House District 146 for 10 years consistent with the decades of detail driven customer service he brought in building his firm to become known as Texas' top black owned insurance business.

"I want to serve the people who put me in this position," said Miles, a Houston native that grew up in the Sunnyside area of SD13 attending public schools from Johnston Junior High in southwest Houston to Jack Yates High in south central Houston. Miles earned his bachelor degree from Sam Houston State in criminal justice and then served as a Houston ISD Police Officer. Today he maintains the military bearing he held with that post.

"Constituent service throughout our district is needed. My priority is five district offices across this diverse district so constituents can get help that they deserve and demand in this district that goes from northeast Houston as far as The Beltway there west to Alief and southwest past the Beltway there through to Stafford and east Missouri City in Fort Bend. I'm focusing on building continuity and coalitions to work with the civic, church and community leaders across every geographic and ethnic area of my district," he said about SD13 that is estimated to house 816,000 people; 44 percent black and 38 percent Hispanic, 10 percent Caucasian and eight percent Asian.

Texas has 31 Senate Districts each with about 800,000 people when drawn after the 2010 US Census. In Texas today, US House Districts are smaller than Senate Districts. In Texas, there are 36 US House Members. Each US Rep. represents about 600,000. Miles is one of Texas' two African American State Senators. The other black Senator is Royce West from Dallas. Texas has four African American US Congress Members: Al Green and Sheila Jackson Lee from Houston, Eddie Bernice Johnson from Dallas and Marc Veasey from Fort Worth.

"I've traveled across this great state visiting with the every one of my senate colleagues but to me what is more important is I've spent my life traveling this district. I understand what the needs are. I'm going to be focusing on

constituents," he said in addressing what is his first priority.

Miles replaces Ellis who held the seat for 27 years and succeeds El Franco Lee on the Harris County Commissioner's Court. Miles was first elected to serve as State Rep. for HD 146 in 2006 when he defeated 29-year incumbent Al Edwards. He started his business, Borris L. Miles Insurance, which is the third largest black insurance business in the country, by himself and today is most proud of his wife attorney Cydonni Fairfax Miles, his three children and the investment he has made in Third Ward to redevelop two blocks with renewed vibrancy and commerce.

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