McAllen mayor up for award Competition includes Musk?
McAllen Mayor Javier Villalobos is in the running for a prestigious award, but before a friend sent him the news, he had no idea he had been nominated.
Every year, The Dallas Morning News selects its Texan for the Year. This year’s list of prospects not only includes Villalobos, but also includes people like Elon Musk and Houston native Beyoncé.
Reached by phone on Tuesday, McAllen’s mayor spoke about how this story came about.
“I hadn’t the slightest idea about that. I had no idea. An attorney from down here called me and said that his dad had sent him an article about the nomination. Before that, I had no idea I was being named. I guess, ‘Thank you?’”
Villalobos, an attorney, was chairman of the Hidalgo County Republican Party for four years. In an area known for its Democrat supremacy, the RGV, the question is, how did Villalobos end up a Republican?
“Right around 2006, 2007, there was a (state) election that I thought was…I couldn’t believe that the Republican lost to the Democrat. I thought, man, this just isn’t right. I thought it was ridiculous, with people just voting (straight ticket, which state law no longer allows). I tell people, ‘I don’t vote straight ticket, never have, but I vote for whoever I think is the best candidate.’
“A lot of times, though, I find that my views are more aligned with the conservative party, the Republicans. Historically, most peo
Historically, most people tend to vote the way their parents did, their grandparents. Family tradition carries on, that sort of thing.
“I’ve always said it’s only because of our grandparents. Even my grandparents used to say that the Democrats are the party of the poor, and the Republicans are the party of the rich. And I’m like, ‘Why do we have to always vote that way?’’’
Villalobos said the Democrats are currently shooting themselves in the foot when it comes to immigration, or at least its current state.
“Now, what’s amazing is that the Democrat Party is all about the immigrants coming in, coming in. Yet, a lot of the Hispanic people who have come into this country legally hate it. I’ve talked to a bunch of them who say, ‘We did it right, and yet all of these people are just coming in.’
“(Illegal) immigration is killing the Democratic Party. People who are working hard look at this, and they don’t agree with it.”
Getting back to The Dallas Morning News nomination for Texan of the Year, Villalobos said he’s amazed at the competition.
“I looked into it and saw who some of the other finalists were, and I’m like, oh, boy. Elon Musk and Beyoncé were in there. So I’m competing with Elon Musk and Beyoncé and whoever else made the list.”
Musk, of course, is big news in Texas, courtesy of his SpaceX program, and Beyoncé is a Houston native, born and raised. The other nominees all stand out to varying degrees and can be found online at dallasnews.com.
With regard to his Dallas Morning News’ Texan of the Year Award nomination, Villalobos says he can’t remember ever talking to anyone connected with the newspaper.
“But I kind of like the fact that they (DMN) pointed out that I’m not a Trumpster. I liked some of his ideas. I thought the country was doing OK. I hated the way he was always talking (about people). I’m not a Trumpster.”
Still, said Villalobos, Trump got people talking.
“Whether you agree with him or not, Trump spoke up and said things that no one else would say, and people started talking about it. Whether people agreed with it or not, it opened up a lot of people’s eyes.”
The Dallas Morning News op/ed naming Villalobos one of its finalists carried this headline: “Texas border mayor shows Democrats the risk of taking Latinos for granted.”
Excerpts from the op/ed dated Dec. 28, 2021 carry these snippets:
# As much as Democrats like to suggest that Texas’ growing Hispanic population is helping turn the state into a purple battleground, Republican politician Javier Villalobos defies that narrative.
# Villalobos is not a member of the extremist Donald Trump wing of the GOP. Instead, he embraces the traditional conservatism that has broad appeal across demographics in Texas.
# Villalobos’ victory (in the 2021 McAllen mayoral election) is yet another wake-up call for Democrats to stop taking Latino support for granted in South Texas. Trump did not carry Hidalgo County in the presidential election last year, but he lost by 17 percentage points compared with 40 points in 2016. He ended up winning half of the 28 Texas counties along or near the southern border in 2020, and he did so on hard-line immigration policies.
# For showing the way for other Republican political candidates to succeed in the Rio Grande Valley and for advocating the kind of reasonable policies that resonate with everyday Texans, McAllen Mayor Javier Villalobos has earned a spot as a 2021 Dallas Morning News Texan of the Year finalist.