Al Edwards

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Al Edwards (born 19 March 1937) is a member of the 78th and 79th Texas Legislature representing District 146.

Al Edwards made history by making the African American holiday "Juneteenth" a State holiday in Texas. He served his district for three decades with legal and other services for the poor. Unfortunately, Edwards is more famously known for sponsoring a bill to ban the use of suggestive clothing by high school cheerleaders.^[1]

Edwards is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans.

Al Edwards stirred up controversy in his heavily Democratic Houston district by voting with Republicans on a number of issues. [1]. This led to Edwards being challenged by two candidates in the 2006 Democratic primary election. Edwards led the March 2006 Democratic primary election, but he received less than 50% of the vote, forcing an April run-off. Edwards was defeated in the 2006 Democratic primary run-off election by Borris Miles, an insurance salesman with previous brushes with the law.[2]