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The senior Eckels had close political ties with [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] [[George Herbert Walker Bush]]. In 1984, while his son was a first-term legislator, Commissioner Eckels is said to have turned the Harris County government into a virtual arm of the [[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]]-Bush re-election campaign. He used county telephones, computers, and employees to establish an organization called the National Conference of Republican County Officials. An official in Roanoke County,  [[Virginia]], said that the conference was "a working arm for the [[White House]] and the national [Republican] Party." Eckels later said that he had used at least $20,000 of his own funds for Reagan-Bush mailings and did not report the expenditure to the [[Federal Election Commission]]. Eckels died less than a year after Bush became the [[U.S. President]].<ref>{{cite book|url=http://tarpley.net/online-books/george-bush-the-unauthorized-biography/chapter-22-bush-takes-the-presidency/|author=Webster Griffin Tarpley et al|title=George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography'': Chapter 22 – Bush Takes The Presidency, fn22-past fn24|publisher=tarpley.net|accessdate=March 31, 2014}}</ref> The seventeen-year commissioner was convicted of theft and forced to resign. For a number of years his name was synonymous withpolitical corruption in the Houston area.<ref name=eckelsandryan/>

The senior Eckels had close political ties with [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] [[George Herbert Walker Bush]]. In 1984, while his son was a first-term legislator, Commissioner Eckels is said to have turned the Harris County government into a virtual arm of the [[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]]-Bush re-election campaign. He used county telephones, computers, and employees to establish an organization called the National Conference of Republican County Officials. An official in Roanoke County,  [[Virginia]], said that the conference was "a working arm for the [[White House]] and the national [Republican] Party." Eckels later said that he had used at least $20,000 of his own funds for Reagan-Bush mailings and did not report the expenditure to the [[Federal Election Commission]]. Eckels died less than a year after Bush became the [[U.S. President]].<ref>{{cite book|url=http://tarpley.net/online-books/george-bush-the-unauthorized-biography/chapter-22-bush-takes-the-presidency/|author=Webster Griffin Tarpley et al|title=George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography'': Chapter 22 – Bush Takes The Presidency, fn22-past fn24|publisher=tarpley.net|accessdate=March 31, 2014}}</ref> The seventeen-year commissioner was convicted of theft and forced to resign. For a number of years his name was synonymous withpolitical corruption in the Houston area.<ref name=eckelsandryan/>

Eckels' uncle, Paul Glenn "Buck" Eckels, Sr. (1931-2011), for many years owned the Lawyers Title Insurance Company of Houston.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/houstonchronicle/obituary.aspx?pid=150919222|title=Paul Glenn Eckels obituary|publisher=''The Houston Chronicle]'|accessdate=March 31, 2014}}</ref>  

Eckels' uncle, Paul Glenn "Buck" Eckels, Sr. (1931-2011), for many years owned the Lawyers Title Insurance Company of Houston.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/houstonchronicle/obituary.aspx?pid=150919222|title=Paul Glenn Eckels obituary|publisher=''The Houston Chronicle''|accessdate=January 16, 2021}}</ref>  

Eckels graduated from Houston Christian High School, the University of Houston, and the South Texas College of Law in Houston. He practices with Looper Reed & McGraw, P.C. He is also the president of Texas Central High-Speed Railway, also known as the Lone Star High Speed Rail.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/robert.eckels|title=Robert Eckles|publisher=[[Facebook]]|accessdate=March 31, 2014}}</ref> He was formerly affiliated with Fulbright & Jaworski in Houston.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.intelius.com/results.php?ReportType=1&formname=name&qf=Robert&qmi=A&qn=Eckels&qcs=Houston%2C+TX&focusfirst=1|title=Robert A. Eckels|publisher=intelius.com|accessdate=March 31, 2014}}</ref>

Eckels graduated from Houston Christian High School, the University of Houston, and the South Texas College of Law in Houston. He practices with Looper Reed & McGraw, P.C. He is also the president of Texas Central High-Speed Railway, also known as the Lone Star High Speed Rail.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/robert.eckels|title=Robert Eckles|publisher=[[Facebook]]|accessdate=March 31, 2014}}</ref> He was formerly affiliated with Fulbright & Jaworski in Houston.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.intelius.com/results.php?ReportType=1&formname=name&qf=Robert&qmi=A&qn=Eckels&qcs=Houston%2C+TX&focusfirst=1|title=Robert A. Eckels|publisher=intelius.com|accessdate=March 31, 2014}}</ref>