• Office Sought: Senator, Texas
• Birth Date: Jan. 8, 1958
• Occupation: Manager
• Web site: http://www.ricknoriega.com/

Education

• Harvard University, MA
• University of Houston, BA

Richard "Rick" Noriega, 49, is a five-term state lawmaker and National Guard officer who served more than a year in Afghanistan.

After attending Alvin Junior College, he earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Houston with the help of an ROTC scholarship. After graduation, he received a commission in the U.S. Army. He returned to Houston when he completed his active-duty service and taught for the Houston Independent School District and Houston Community College System before becoming an aide in the Texas State Senate.

Noriega joined the governmental affairs department of Houston Industries, Inc (now CenterPoint Energy) in 1993, after earning a master's degree in public administration from Harvard University. He became a manager of economic development for CenterPoint after winning the Democratic nomination for state representative in 1998. He has taken a leave of absence from the company to run for the Senate.

He has served in the Texas House of Representatives since 1999. His wife, Melissa, briefly held his seat while he was deployed in Afghanistan for 14 months in 2004 and 2005. The lieutenant colonel in the Texas Army National Guard also helped Houston Mayor Bill White coordinate services for more than 2,000 Hurricane Katrina evacuees who took shelter in the city's convention center.

Rick and Melissa Noriega have two sons.