Raúl González Salinas
| Raúl González Salinas | |
 Laredo Mayor Salinas at the 2008 Veterans Day ceremony at Laredo College | |
| In office June 17, 2006 – June 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Elizabeth "Betty" Garcia Flores |
|---|---|
| Succeeded by | Pedro Ignacio "Pete" Saenz |
| Born | November 8, 1947 Alice, Jim Wells County]] Texas, USA |
| Political party | Democrat in nonpartisan position |
| Spouse(s) | Yolanda Salinas (married 1989-2012, divorced)[1] |
| Occupation | Former FBI agent Businessman |
Raúl González Salinas (born November 8, 1947) is a private security consultant, a businessman, and a retired Federal Bureau of Investigation agent who is the former mayor of Laredo in Webb County in South Texas.
Elected to the first of two terms on June 17, 2006, Salinas described himself as a self-styled liberal "political outsider." In that election, he defeated the eight-year city council member John Clifford Galo (born 1958) in a low-turnout election: 9,665 votes (52.75 percent) to 8,657 (47.25 percent).[2] In 2012, Galo was handily elected to the Webb County commissioner's court for Precinct 3, a position which he still holds.
Biography
A native of Alice in Jim Wells County east of Laredo, he graduated from the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland.
Mayor Salinas opposed the construction of the United States–Mexico border wall along the Rio Grande, a successful proposal championed by former U.S. President Donald Trump. Salinas claimed that the wall would devastate Laredo economically because Mexican laborers sustain the local economy by as much as 40 percent.[3] The predicted economic disaster never happened.
Salinas's first term was extended to four and one-half years so that city elections henceforth coincide with the November general election of non-presidential even years. Salinas led in the first round of voting and then defeated the outgoing 8-year city council member Gene Belmares (born 1963), a former Republican, by a 2-1 margin in the runoff election held on December 11, 2010. Salinas successfully used the slogan "Still, The Right Man" in the campaign against Belmares. The Laredo Morning Times endorsed Belmares, who finished with only 34 percent of the vote in a low-turnout election. At times the campaign bogged down in trivia, as each candidate attempted to take credit for the installation of speed bumps in a particular neighborhood. Salinas polled 12,783 votes to Belmares' 6,575.[4]
Belmares was succeeded on the 8-member city council in District 6 by Charlie San Miguel, who vowed to make traffic congestion in north Laredo a priority.[5]
Salinas was term-limited in 2014. Meanwhile, his former wife, Yolanda Salinas, who once owned a beauty supply store in Laredo, was an unsuccessful candidate for the District 7 seat on the Laredo City Council in the municipal elections which coincided with the presidential race on November 6, 2012.[6] She finished third in a four-candidate race.[7]
Salinas was an unsuccessful candidate for Webb County treasurer in the Democratic runoff election held on May 27, 2014. In the primary election on March 4, 2014, he led by 250 votes the incumbent treasurer, Delia Perales, who finished second in the balloting.[8] Several other candidates were eliminated in the primary, including Cynthia Mares, president of the board of trustees of Laredo College and an appointed county official; she carried the endorsement of The Laredo Morning Times.[9]However, Salinas lost the runoff to Perales, who polled 7,394 votes (61.5 percent). He received 4, 628 (38.5 percent). With no Republican opposition in the heavily Democrat county, Perales began her fourth term in the office on January 1, 2015.[10][11]
References
- ↑ Andrew Kreighbaum, "Mayor, wife to divorce," The Laredo Morning Times, January 7, 2012, p. 3.
- ↑ The Laredo Morning Times, June 18, 2006, p. 1.
- ↑ Carrie Kahn (July 8, 2006). Immigration Debate Divides Laredo. National Public Radio. Retrieved on April 14, 2021.
- ↑ Nick Georgiou, "Elections 2010: Landslide Victory, Salinas Wins Again," Laredo Morning Times, December 12, 2010, p. 1, 12A.
- ↑ Cesar G. Rodriguez, "San Miguel elected to council," Laredo Morning Times, December 13, 2010, pp. 1, 12A.
- ↑ Stephanie Ibarra, "Salinas files for City Council post," The Laredo Morning Times, August 9, 2012, p. 3A.
- ↑ "How Webb Voted," Laredo Morning Times, November 7, 2012, p. 1.
- ↑ Matt McGovern (March 5, 2014). Three Webb County races end in run-offs. KGNS-TV (NBC in Laredo). Retrieved on March 8, 2014; material no longer on-line.
- ↑ "Editorial Board announces endorsements for primary," The Laredo Morning Times, February 18, 2014, p. 4A.
- ↑ KGNS television report, May 27, 2014
- ↑ Aldo Amato, "Perales gets 61.5%: Victory secures fourth term for treasurer," The Laredo Morning Times, May 28, 2014, p. 1.
