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{{Infobox officeholder
|name=Samuel Philip "Phil" WilsonWilson|image=Phil Wilson of TX.jpg
|birth_date=October 5, 1967
|birth_place=Place of birth missing<br>
|preceded=John Roger Williams
|succeeded=[[Hope Andrade]]
|occupation=[[AttorneyBusiness]]man
|party=[[Republican Party|Republican]]
|religion=Non-denominational [[Christian]]
}}
'''Samuel Philip Wilson''', known as '''Phil Wilson''' (born October 5, 1967) was the , is a former [[Texas]] Secretary of State]], the state's chief elections officer, with service from from 2007 to 2008. He was appointed effective July 1, 2007, by [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[Governor]] [[Rick Perry]]. Wilson was the 106th person to hold the position and the fifth individual to have served since Perry assumed the governorship in December 2000. On June 11, 2008, Wilson announced his resignation, effective July 6, to "pursue other opportunities."<ref>[{{cite web|url=http://www.sos.state.tx.us/about/newsreleases/2008/061108.shtml |title=Secretary Wilson Announces He is Stepping Down<!-- Bot generated title -->]|publisher=Texas Secretary of State|date=June 11, 2008; no longer online}}</ref> Wilson became senior vice president for public affairs for Luminant, an electric energy company.<ref>Lyle C. Brown et al, ''Practicing Texas Politics'' (Wadsworth Cengage Publishers, 2010), p. 330.</ref>
==Background==
Wilson was reared in Brownwood in Brown County in central Texas, where his father, Samuel Wilson, was a professor at the [[Douglas MacArthur]] Academy of Freedom at [[Southern Baptist]]-affiliated Howard Payne University. Wilson graduated in 1990 from Baptist-affiliated [[Hardin-Simmons University]] in [[Abilene]], Texas|Abilene]], with a Bachelor of Arts in [[political science]] and [[history]]. He thereafter received an a [[Master of Business Administration]] degree from the Cox School of Business at [[Southern Methodist University]] in University Park outside of Dallas. At Hardin-Simmons, Wilson received the "Tomorrow's Leaders Today" Award and the George Skiles Anderson Award as the outstanding male graduate. He was also named to ''Who’s Who Among American Colleges and Universities,'' and he was a founding member of Theta Alpha Zeta.
==Career==
In addition to handling election matters, the Secretary of State is the governor's liaison with [[Mexico]] and the state's officer of protocol. The office serves as the formal repository for official and business records, publishes government rules and regulations, and attests to the governor’s signature on official documents. As secretary of state, Wilson continued to serve as Perry's designee on the Texas Enterprise Fund ($185 million) and the Emerging Technology Fund ($200 million). He also led the Governor’s Office of Economic Development and Tourism. "Phil’s new role will allow my office to coordinate with the Office of Secretary of State in a seamless way to expand trade, economic development, emerging technology initiatives in the private sector and higher education, and workforce development," Perry said in a 2007 press release.
While the deputy chief of staff, Wilson oversaw the governor’s initiatives in economic development, job creation, federal funding, military base realignment and closure, and policy development. Under Wilson's leadership, the Enterprise Fund leveraged $10 billion in capital investment, along with the creation of 45,000 jobs. Wilson also led public relations and media strategies for the $20 million annual Texas [[tourism]] campaign.
==References==
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[[Category:Texas]]
[[Category:AttorneysBusiness People]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Republicans]]