Tony Buzbee

Anthony Glenn Buzbee is an American lawyer and politician. In 2019, Buzbee ran for mayor of Houston, Texas,[1] but lost to incumbent Sylvester Turner.

Tony Buzbee
Personal details
Born
Anthony Glenn Buzbee

1968 (age 51–52)
Political partyIndependent (2018–present)
Other political
affiliations		Democratic (until 2009)
Republican (2009–2018)
Spouse(s)
Zoe Benson
​
(
m. 1991; div. 2017)
Children4
EducationTexas A&M University,
College Station (BS)
University of Houston (JD)
WebsiteOfficial website

Early life and education

Buzbee grew up in Atlanta, Texas, on a farm house with his parents and three siblings.[2] Buzbee earned a B.S. in Psychology from Texas A&M University and a J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center.[3]

Career

He began his legal career as an attorney at Susman Godfrey LLP in Houston. In 2000, he founded the Buzbee Law Firm.

Real estate

Buzbee is also a property developer.[4] He owns Buzbee Properties, a real-estate firm focused on various suburbs in the Greater Houston area. He also owns some properties in Florida.[5]

Professional reputation

Buzbee appeared on the cover of The New York Times magazine in November 2010 regarding his role in the litigation against BP following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The article described him as "one of the most successful trial lawyers in the country".[6]

Politics

In 2002, Buzbee unsuccessfully ran for the Texas state House as a Democrat.[7] From August 2003 to April 2005, Buzbee was chair of the Galveston County Democratic Party.[8]

In 2012, Buzbee supported Rick Perry's presidential campaign with financial support and the use of his private jet. Buzbee also served as one of Perry's debate coaches.[9][10] In 2016, Buzbee hosted a fundraiser at his River Oaks mansion for then presidential candidate Donald Trump. Later on, following the release of the Access Hollywood tape, Buzbee disavowed Trump and stated his intention to write-in veteran Dan Moran for president.[11] Subsequently, Buzbee gave $500,000 to Trump's inauguration committee.[12]

On October 30, 2018, Buzbee announced he would be running in the 2019 Houston mayoral election, challenging incumbent Houston Mayor, Sylvester Turner, on a platform of universal pre-K, infrastructure improvement, crime reduction, and expanding access to 5G broadband.[13] Following the November 5, 2019, election Buzbee garnered 28% of the vote, enough to make it into a runoff with Turner who had 47% of the vote in unofficial returns;[14] in the end, Buzbee lost to Turner.

Personal life

Buzbee married Zoe Benson in 1991 and they have four children together.[15][13] Buzbee and Benson divorced in 2017.[16] Buzbee became engaged to Frances Moody in 2020.[17]

In March 2016, Buzbee was arrested in Harris County on suspicion for driving while intoxicated.[18] In December of the same year, the Harris County District Attorney, Devon Anderson, personally dismissed the case.[19] Controversy ensued when it was revealed that Buzbee completed the year-long probation program in only eight months and had contributed to Anderson's election campaign in 2014.[18][19][20]

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References
  1. Carey, Isiah (October 30, 2018). "Attorney Tony Buzbee announces campaign for mayor of Houston". Fox 26. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  2. Price, Asher (September 17, 2014). "Tony Buzbee, big-city lawyer with small-town roots, leads Perry team". Austin Statesman. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  3. "Tony Buzbee, '97, named Texas Lawyer's '2015 Attorney of the Year'". UHLC. November 5, 2015. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  4. "Tony Buzbee Profile". The Buzbee Law Firm. Retrieved March 28, 2012.
  5. Newpher, Jim (September 13, 2011). "The Law and the Land: Attorney developer Tony Buzbee". The Friendswood Journal. Retrieved March 28, 2012.
  6. McCollam, Douglas (November 4, 2010). "The Other Oil Cleanup". The New York Times. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
  7. Najmabadi, Shannon (October 31, 2018). "Boisterous attorney, political donor Tony Buzbee says he's running for Houston mayor in 2019". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  8. Aulds, T. J. (April 9, 2005). "Buzbee steps down as head of county Dems". The Daily News. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  9. Holley, Joe (November 15, 2011). "Could Perry have sabotaged himself?". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved March 28, 2012.
  10. Maremont, Mark (October 20, 2011). "Campaign to Pony Up for Flight Costs". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved March 28, 2012.
  11. Fikac, Peggy (October 26, 2016). "Former Perry lawyer, Tony Buzbee, is done with Trump 'completely' - ExpressNews.com". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  12. Sapino Jeffreys, Brenda (April 26, 2017). "Houston Lawyer Tony Buzbee Donated $500,000 to Trump's Inauguration Committee". Texas Lawyer. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
  13. Swartz, Mimi (September 9, 2019). "Could a Loud, Rich, and Scandal-Prone Personal Injury Lawyer Win Control of Houston?". Texas Monthly. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
  14. "Sylvester Turner to face Tony Buzbee in runoff for Houston mayor". Texas Tribune. November 5, 2019. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  15. Bassler, Ilene (May 10, 2019). "Houston's star attorney Tony Buzbee loves battling behemoths". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  16. Scherer, Jasper (September 20, 2019). "Tony Buzbee loves a good fight. He hopes voters do, too". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
  17. "Tony Buzbee pops the question to Frances Moody on private yacht on her birthday". HoustonChronicle.com. July 24, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  18. Rogers, Brian (March 6, 2017). "Prominent attorney may land back in court over expunged DWI case". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
  19. Meagan, Flynn (December 19, 2016). "DA Anderson Personally Dismisses DWI Case Against Prominent Houston Attorney". Houston Press. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
  20. "Lawyers group questions Houston attorney's DWI dismissal". Albuquerque Journal. Associated Press. December 22, 2016. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
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