Watching out for the system. Interview by Steve Levine

Then-Governor-elect George W. Bush hadn't even taken office on January 4, 1995, when he reached across the aisle to tap a conservative Democratic state legislator from rural East Texas to serve as his first commissioner of insurance. A former banker, realtor,and salesman, Elton Bomer, of Montalba, had earned the reputation of a hard-nosed, no-nonsense member of the House of Representatives.