Raul G. Salinas

Raúl González Salinas (born November 8, 1947) is a private security consultant, a businessman, and a retired Federal Bureau of Investigation agent who was first elected mayor of Laredo, Texas, on June 17, 2006. Then a self-styled "political outsider," Salinas defeated 8-year city councilman John Clifford Galo (born 1958) in a low-turnout election: 9,665 votes (52.75 percent) to 8,657 (47.25 percent).

Salinas is a native of Alice, the seat of Jim Wells County east of Laredo. He is a graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park.

Salinas opposes the construction of the border wall along the Rio Grande. He claims that the wall would devastate Laredo economically because Mexican laborers sustain the Laredo economy by 40 percent.^[1]

Salinas's term was extended to four and one-half years so that city elections henceforth coincide with the November general election. Salinas led in the first round of voting and then defeated the outgoing 8-year city council member Gene Belmares (born 1963) by a 2-1 margin in the December 11 runoff election. Salinas successfully used the slogan "Still, The Right Man" in his reelection campaign. Belmares carried the backing of the Laredo Morning Times but 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.^[2]

Belmares will be replaced on the 8-member city council by Charlie San Miguel, who has promised to make traffic congestion in north Laredo his priority.^[3] Salinas is term-limited and is ineligible to seek a third term in 2014, barring any changes to the Laredo city charter.

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