Cortez: No more working in silos. We have to think and act regionally.

MISSION, Texas – Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez kicked off his re-election campaign at Club Nautique in Mission on June 26, 2025. 

Cortez is seeking his third term as county judge. 

The kickoff event attracted dozens of supporters, many of them elected officials, business and community leaders. 

Editor’s Note: Here is a video showing part of the speech he gave:

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“Isn’t it great to know in our full potential is in front of us, not behind us?” Cortez said. 

“But, Cortez said, there’s been a misconception of how the region reaches its full potential. In the past, he said, the region has had silos with some believing that potential could be reached by focusing at the city level. He said this was the case when he was mayor of McAllen.

“We’re much better when we put the whole region together and we even add Mexico to that. You know why? You know why that’s important? It’s important because we are competing globally for what everybody wants, and that’s prosperity, good business opportunity, good jobs for our people.” 

Cortez said that as an elected official, he is often encouraged by the people he meets to “do the right thing.” But what is the right thing, he asked.

“Well, let’s look at what makes up the people in Hidalgo County… you’re going to see a pyramid where the lower bottom of the pyramid, 49 percent of them, don’t have a high school education.”

Because of this, Cortez said, the region has been marketing itself as a low-cost area.

“Think about that. What makes you think that we can compete with China or other parts of the world with cheap labor? The future is not cheap labor. The future is smart labor,” Cortez said, reaching into his pocket to pull out his smart phone. 

Cortez said he was proud to have UT-Rio Grande Valley President Guy Bailey and South Texas President Ricardo Solis in the audience. 

“Two great gentlemen with very important jobs, and that’s to create the human capital that we need to be able to compete in the future in bringing the right investment, the right jobs.”

Cortez then asked what the barriers are. He answered this himself, mentioning water and power. 

If anybody thinks that the region can reach its full potential through one county going it alone, or one city doing the same, they are wrong, Cortez said.

“We are trying to bring our region together and apply as much science as we can to what we do,” Cortez said, claiming business is a science.

“What businesses are looking for, among things like power and water, is smart labor,” Cortez said. He said it is imperative the region produces the workforce today’s companies need. 

“So who’s responsible? Who do I go to? Who do I go to complain? Or who do I go to thank?” Cortez asked. “That has been our Achilles heel in the past, that we have beautiful studies, beautiful business plans, with failure of execute.”

Who executes a regional plan?” Cortez asked, before laying out the plan he and other county judges in the Valley have.

“What we’re trying to do with the cooperation of Cameron County, Willacy County, and Starr County, and our friends in Mexico is to come together with a regional economic plan that will make us extremely competitive,” Cortez said.

“And let me tell you what we have that many other people do not have: geography. We’re right smack in the middle of three of the largest economies that you’ll find anywhere, the United States, Texas and Mexico.”

Cortez said there is still much work to do.

“If you feel we’ve done the right things in the past, we would be feeling the outcome of those endeavors. But I can tell you that I look at data. The data tells me the trends that are happening and much of the growth in Texas, many of the new establishments in Texas, have not come here.”

Here is a list of some of the people that attended Re-Elect Judge Cortez campaign:

Paul Villarreal, Hidalgo County tax collector

Rudy Castillo, McAllen city commissioner

Ramiro Garza, mayor of Edinburg

Javier Villalobos, mayor of McAllen

Eloy Avila, Donna ISD board member

Roberto “Bobby” Carrillo, Pharr city commissioner

Eddie Guerra, Hidalgo County sheriff

Oscar Montoya, mayor of Mercedes

Yaw Sam, Brand Geniuz

Luis Rodrigo Castillo, Union Design Developers

Felida Villarreal, VIDA

Nick Rhodes, Rhodes Enterprises

Sally Fraustro Guerra, Social Life

R. David Guerra, Coldwell Banker Commercial

Kelly Salazar, Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson

Antonio Uresti

Omar Ochoa, candidate for mayor of Edinburg

Carlos Garza

Mayta Garza

Jason Garza

Erica Garza

Thomas Ray Garcia, author

Romeo Cantu, Perdue Brandon Fielder Collins & Mott, LLP

Rose Benavidez, candidate for Starr County Judge

Ricardo Solis

Lucille Cavazos, Waterford Gardens

Richard Molina, Edinburg 

Adrian Arriaga, Sperry Commercial

Amanda Arriaga, Sperry Commercial

Mark Hanna, SVN

Eric Carrizales, SVN

Gabriel Elizondo, Richard Cortez campaign

Carlos Perales, Texas Infrastructure Development Group

Mirna Castro, Texas Infrastructure Development Group 

Ricardo Rubiano, Open EB5

Tito Salinas,  Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson

Victor Gallardo, Precinct 3

Martin Anzaldua, Grupo San Juan

Jesse Barba, Mayfair Rioco 

R.C. Cepeda, The Sign Depot 

Guy Bailey

Val LaMantia

A. Saenz, Saenz Brothers

Dr. S. Rashid, MD

Luis H. Villarreal

George Cardenas, Vantage Bank

Cynthia Sakulenzki

Robert Morehead, Rioco

Tyler Stone, Rioco

Richard & Sylvia Garza, BIC

Joe Olivarez, LNR Apartments

Sergio Sanchez, Radio United

Hiram Gutierrez, Perdue Brandon Fielder Collins & Mott, LLP

Jorge M. Madero, LPL Financial

B. Diaz

Hilda Salinas

Sam Maldonado, Sames Engineering

Abraham Sosa, Canacal

Lazaro Beas, MSE Logistics

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