ABOUT JOE

Independent Leadership for a New Direction

Joe Jaworski combines a celebrated family tradition of public service with a deep faith in the power of individuals to make a positive difference in their communities.

Jaworski served three terms on the Galveston City Council, where he earned a reputation for insisting on strict financial accountability to hold the line on new taxes while safeguarding vital services. First elected in 2000, he was re-elected in 2002 and then again in 2004 as Mayor Pro-Tem. He stepped down in May 2006 under the city’s term limits law.

Joe Jaworski and his family.

In 2005, Jaworski helped lead the team that faced Hurricane Rita and won praise for his role in that region’s emergency preparation and response to the devastating storm.

Born in Houston on the day Texas prepared to mark its 126th year of independence, Jaworski earned his bachelor’s from North Carolina’s Davidson College and his law degree from the University of Texas at Austin, where he graduated in 1991 and won honors for his mock trial work and was elected to the prestigious Order of Barristers.

Jaworski served as law clerk to U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge John Brown, practiced maritime law on behalf of numerous shipping and energy companies, and has worked to defend individuals’ rights against special interests throughout his career. He is currently a partner in The Jaworski Law Firm, headquartered in Galveston, and specializes in representing maritime clients in state and federal courts around the country.

A former chairman of the City of Galveston Ethics Commission and a Trustee of both Galveston’s Park Board and Wharves Board, Jaworski is a senior fellow of the American Leadership Forum and a director of the Texas Lyceum. He is a longtime member of the Galveston County Democratic Party and serves on the board of directors of the Children’s Center. He is also a member of the University of Texas Medical Branch’s Community Service Excellence Committee and has been appointed to UTMB’s BSL-4 Community Liaison Committee, a group of local leaders charged with strengthening communication between the institution and the community about the university’s infectious disease research program and high-containment laboratories.

Jaworski and his wife Rebecca have two children and live in Galveston.