Frank Corte, Jr.

Who is Frank Corte, Jr.?

Frank Julius Corte, Jr., is a real estate businessman in San Antonio, Texas, who served as a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from Bexar County between 1993 and 2011.

In 1982, Corte was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps and served three years on active duty. He joined the Marine Corps Reserve and was activated in the Gulf War of 1991. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Corte was recalled to duty and sent to Egypt. In 2002, he graduated from the United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. A colonel in the United States Marine Corps, Corte served in the Iraq War for more than six months. He was awarded the Bronze Star. While he was away twice on military deployments, Corte designated his wife, the former Valerie Ann Ryder, the mother of their three children, as his stand-in for his legislative duties, a procedure allowed in Texas. Corte's former colleague, Carl Isett of Lubbock, also designated his wife as his legislative proxy in 2006, while as a commissioned officer in the United States Naval Reserve, Isett was deployed in Kuwait and Iraq.