Michael Williams is a Republican candidate for the United States Senate from the state of Texas.

He is the
former Chairman of the Railroad Commission of Texas, the state’s oldest regulatory agency which
regulates the oil and gas industry.

Williams won three statewide elections to the Commission. In 1998, he was appointed to an open seat by
then-Governor George W. Bush. He was elected to complete the unexpired term in November 2000. In
November 2002 and 2008, the people of Texas re-elected him to full six-year terms. Williams resigned his
position in April 2011 to pursue retiring Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison’s seat in the United States Senate.

Williams served as Chairman of the Commission from September 1999 to September 2003 and again from
July 2007 to February 2009. He is the first African American in Texas history to hold an executive statewide
elected post.

Williams served as the Chairman of the Governor’s Competitiveness Council. He also chaired the
Governor’s Clean Coal Technology Council, represented the Governor on the Southern States Energy
Board and was a member of both the National Coal Council and the Interstate Compact Commission.
Williams also served as the Railroad Commission’s “point person” for the agency’s regulatory reform and
technology modernization efforts.

The son of public school teachers who earned degrees in math and the husband of a mechanical engineer,
Michael is the creator and co-sponsor of the “Winnovators,” a summer camp for 6th through 12th graders to
inspire the next generation of scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians.

An advocate of alternative energy, Williams championed the conversion of Texas public and private fleets,
especially school buses, from diesel and gasoline to environmentally cleaner, cheaper and domestically
produced natural gas and propane through his “Breathe Easy” initiative.

Michael is the past Honorary State Chairman of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Texas. He initiated the Texas
response against the tragedy in Darfur and was appointed by Governor Rick Perry to ensure Texas was
reimbursed for its assistance to victims of Hurricane Katrina. Williams also narrates short stories for
children of all ages, including the visually impaired and those with special needs.

Previously, Williams served as general counsel to a Texas high-tech corporation and “of Counsel” with the
law firm of Haynes and Boone, L.L.P. He also has served in a volunteer capacity as the General Counsel
of the Republican Party of Texas, the chairman of the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission, on the Board
of Directors of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce, the Texas Public Policy Foundation and Our Mother of
Mercy Catholic School.

A devout conservative, Michael helped get out the vote for Republicans as Chairman of Texas Victory 2004
and 2006, has served as Convention Chairman and Platform Committee Chairman at Republican Party of
Texas’ State Conventions and was one of the original board members of the Texas Christian Coalition. He
is also a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association.

He also had the pleasure to serve as an adjunct professor at Texas Southern University in the School of
Public Affairs and Texas Wesleyan School of Law.

In 1990, President George H. W. Bush appointed Williams to be Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil
Rights at the U.S. Department of Education, a position previously held by U.S. Supreme Court Justice
Clarence Thomas.
Former President Bush also appointed Williams as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Law Enforcement at the
U.S. Department of the Treasury. He had policy oversight responsibility for the Federal Law Enforcement
Training Center, the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Customs Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

Williams also served under President Ronald Reagan as a prosecutor in the Department of Justice as
Special Assistant to Attorney General Richard Thornburgh. In 1988, he was awarded the Attorney
General’s “Special Achievement Award” for the conviction of six Ku Klux Klan members on stolen military
weapons charges. Williams continued with the prosecution the cases despite receiving death threats.
Early in his career, he was an assistant district attorney in his hometown of Midland, Texas where he
graduated from Lee High School.

Williams is a proud alumnus of the University of Southern California where he holds a bachelor’s, a
master’s and a law degree.

He is a member of Most Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Arlington, Texas. He and his best friend,
Donna, celebrate 25 years of marriage.