Candidates who campaigned against corruption win Progreso ISD election

PROGRESO, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Two candidates who campaigned against corruption won seats on the Progreso school board Saturday.

Carmen Acosta and Yadira Flores defeated Trustee Alejandro “Alex” Alanis and Trustee Olga S. Oviedo on Saturday night, according to preliminary results published by the Hidalgo County Elections Department.

“The community has spoken,” Acosta said. “They had the courage to say enough is enough. It’s not our victory, it’s Progreso’s victory.”

Acosta, an attendance clerk at the Santa Maria Independent School District, won nearly 55% of 1,233 ballots cast, according to preliminary results published by the Elections Department. Alex Alanis won about 45%.

Flores, the principal at Santa Maria High School, won about 57% of 1,232 ballots cast, according to preliminary results published by the Elections Department. Oviedo won nearly 43%.

The results sent shockwaves through Progreso.

Oviedo and Alex Alanis ran for re-election with support from the City Council and the school board.

Acosta and Flores, meanwhile, had never run a campaign. They simply asked the community for support and hoped for the best.

“A lot of people came to support us,” Flores said. “And I’m glad about that.”

They defeated a political machine run by the Alanis family, which dominated local politics for nearly a decade.

Alex’s brother, Francisco “Frank” Alanis, started working at City Hall in 2004, when the Vela family controlled Progreso.

Jose Guadalupe Vela Jr., the family patriarch, worked for the Progreso Independent School District. His son, Omar L. Vela, became the mayor. Another son, Michael R. Vela, served as president of the Progreso school board.

In 2014, however, Vela and his sons pleaded guilty to public corruption charges.

Documents filed by federal prosecutors detailed how members of the Vela family had accepted bribes, solicited kickbacks and defrauded the Progreso Independent School District.

The arrests created a power vacuum in Progreso — and the Alanis brothers filled the void.

Alex and Frank joined the school board. Another brother, Gerardo “Jerry” Alanis, became the mayor.

Questions about Frank and Jerry surfaced in 2020, when Border Patrol caught a former Progreso ISD bus driver with about 30 pounds of cocaine.

Homeland Security Investigations, which is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, arrested Frank in October 2023. Agents returned to Progreso in March with a warrant for Jerry.

They’re accused of smuggling cocaine from the Rio Grande Valley to Houston. Informants told the government that, as part of the conspiracy, Jerry Alanis participated in a scheme to store and package drugs at Dorothy Thompson Middle School in Progreso.

Frank and Jerry pleaded not guilty. Alex was never arrested or charged with any crime.

The arrests, though, cast a shadow over his campaign.

Oviedo, who campaigned with Alex Alanis, said everyone deserves the presumption of innocence.

“I believe justice will prevail. The evidence will come out. And things will be taken care of,” Oviedo said. “But, in the meantime, we’re taking care of the school. We’re taking care of the kids. We’re taking care of the safety. There’s a lot of great things there.”

Approached on Saturday afternoon, Alex Alanis declined to comment. He couldn’t be reached for comment after the polls closed Saturday night.

All results will remain preliminary until canvassed by the Progreso school board.