(July 15, 2007)--It was bad enough that the Texas House speaker mangled Leticia Van de Putte's name when he introduced her on her first day in the state House of Representatives.

Then, Speaker Gib Lewis called her ``Representative Honey.''

Van de Putte recalls that all the women in the audience gasped, but she said she just smiled and replied, ``Well, that'll just be fine. You can call me 'Representative Honey' and you're going to be 'Speaker Sugar.'''

Sixteen years later, that quick wit teamed with boundless energy and passion for issues have carried her to leadership in the state Senate and the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Now, she's stepping even further into the national spotlight.

The San Antonio Democrat will co-chair next year's Democratic National Convention with Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius and Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California will chair the convention.

As she presides over one of the convention's four days of events, Van de Putte will follow in the footsteps of two giants of Texas politics, the late Congresswoman Barbara Jordan and Governor Ann Richards.

Their electrifying keynote addresses made history in the 1970s and 1980s.

But the 52-year-old Van de Putte says she has no plans to use her convention appearance to advance her political career.

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