Henry Bonilla (born January 2, 1954 in San Antonio, Texas) is a politician from the state of Texas. Bonilla attended public school in San Antonio and then the University of Texas at Austin, graduating with a B.A. degree in journalism. Bonilla was a popular newscaster in San Antonio before entering politics.
In 1992, he won a seat in the House of Representatives as a Republican, representing Texas' 23rd district (map). The 23rd had been a Democratic district since its creation in 1967, but Bonilla charged three-term incumbent Albert Bustamante with neglecting his district's needs. He got an inadvertent assist from the Texas Legislature, which left a heavily Republican section of San Antonio in the 23rd while carving the new 28th District out of much of the 23rd's territory. Bonilla won by the largest margin of victory against an incumbent that year.
Even though the 23rd had a slight Democratic lean, Bonilla had a very conservative voting record. Largely because of his popularity in San Antonio, he didn't face a credible challenge until 2002, when former Democratic Secretary of State Henry Cuellar came within 2 points of unseating him. Cuellar was priming for a rematch in 2004, but a controversial mid-decade redistricting moved most of Cuellar's hometown of Laredo, which had been one of the cores of the 23rd since its formation, to the 28th district. Cuellar instead ran against incumbent Democrat Ciro Rodriguez and won the primary and then the general election. The remap all but assured Bonilla of a 7th term, as he received several heavily Republican San Antonio suburbs.
Bonilla announced that he would likely run for the United States Senate seat currently held by Kay Bailey Hutchison in the event that she ran for Governor of Texas. However, Hutchison eventually decided to run for another term in the Senate.
