Garry Mauro

He is referenced in Bill Clinton's 2004 memoir My Life. Mauro met the future President and First Lady in 1972 while working on George McGovern's presidential campaign in Austin.

After leaving office in 1999, he was appointed to the Fannie Mae Board of Directors by President Bill Clinton.

Mauro is the author of the memoir Beaches, Bureaucrats & Big Oil: One Man's Fight for Texas. The book was published in 1997.

In 1992, he served as the Texas State Chairman for Bill Clinton's presidential campaign. He took on the same role in 1996 for Clinton-Gore, in 2000 for Al Gore (as a co-chairman) and in 2004 for Dick Gephardt. In 2008 and again in 2016, he served as the Texas State Director for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.

In 1991, Mauro played a key role in gaining passage of the Oil Spill Prevention & Response Act which makes the land office the lead state agency for spills in state waters, and coastal management legislation which gives the Land Office a strong hand in matters of environmental consequence along the coast.

The 1991 omnibus recycling bill backed by Mauro requires state purchasers to give preference to goods made of recycled materials, set a state goal of recycling 40 percent of the garbage stream, provided for development of standards for collection of household hazardous wastes, and for the recycling of old tires, batteries, and used motor oil. The Land Office made a statewide marketing study to facilitate the development of recycling businesses in the state.

In 1989, the Texas Legislature approved a Mauro initiative to reduce air pollution and to sell more natural gas. The bill requires fleet operators in larger cities to convert to clean-burning fuels, including compressed natural gas. Mauro was appointed by Speaker Jim Wright to a Task Force that put similar measures in the re-authorization of the Clean Air Act. In 1993, President Bill Clinton appointed Mauro to be the Chairman of the Federal Fleet Conversion Task Force for Alternative Fuels which further implemented those measures.

Also in 1989, the Legislature passed a bill pushed by Mauro to facilitate the recycling of plastics. The bill requires manufacturers to code their plastic items according to resins used.

As chairman of the Veteran's Land Board, Mauro pushed legislation passed in 1983 that expanded the investment authority of the board and provided for increased loan ceiling for land and housing. The program was expanded to include certain National Guard personnel. He moved for exceptionally low interest rates, which led to a record number of housing loans for Texas veterans. In 1993, Mauro campaigned to gain voter approval of an additional $500 million in bonds for veterans housing loans and $250 million in bonds for land loans.

At 34 in 1982, he was elected to the statewide office of Texas Land Commissioner. Despite being targeted for defeat by the state Republican Party, he was re-elected three times.

Garry Mauro (born February 21, 1948) is an American politician. He was the four-term commissioner of the Texas General Land Office from 1983 to 1999 during the administrations of Governors Mark White, Bill Clements, Ann Richards, and George W. Bush. He is also known for losing the 1998 Texas gubernatorial election to Bush, who at that time was the incumbent governor seeking re-election. He is a member of the Democratic Party.