Mauro: Juan Maldonado was fearless. He had a warrior’s heart.

Well, I have been given the hard task of speaking for one minute. She (Selina Hayes Medrano) says I can take all the time I want. 

You know, looking at those pictures, thinking back to the Carter days when I first met Juan, convincing him that he needed to be a Democrat not just a La Raza Unida guy. And getting to know the people he had around him. They’re all here. Mike, Edgar. Arturo, Chuy. The list goes on and I’m sure I’ve already forgotten somebody. 

Debra, reminded me of something that I guess I’m proud of most. And that is at one point I just said to Juan, Juan you need to marry this girl. She he can do a lot better than you and you can’t. (Laughter)

So I will take credit for you, Debra.

I was sitting there praying the rosary. And I’m going to tell you something you probably don’t know. I was the first constitutional officer in the State of Texas to be a Catholic. Now think about that. Think how far we have come. 

When I ran the Bob Krueger campaign, I was his campaign manager, San Juan had just elected a majority of city councilmen who were Hispanic. Because, let’s face it, the white Anglo political establishment was running everything down here. 

And when Bob Krueger put his campaign together, he put Juan front and center. And when they wanted to have a campaign meeting, all of Juan’s people were sitting at the table because, somebody said it earlier, Juan just wanted a seat at the table. And once he had a seat at the table, hell, he was running everything. Let’s be honest.

I’m so proud that I got to be friends, not only with Juan Maldonado… you know, most people, when I ran for office, thought I was Hispanic. I’m really Sicilian. Thank God my name was Mauro because I would never have got elected. 

But I am so pleased to have been a friend. You know, in 1972, when I was 23 years old, I worked for Ralph Yarborough and somehow I got named chairman of Young Texans for McGovern. And so from ‘72 on I got to see everybody in politics. And I’m going someplace with this.

You know, Billy Goldberg, Jess Hay, Mickey Leland, Ed Wendler, George McGovern and, yes, Juan Maldonado. He was a hero of mine. I knew a lot of elected officials who were a lot more powerful. I should probably put Bill Clinton into that category, too. But he was a real hero of mine. And you know what all those people have in common with Juan? And this is where I will keep it short. Juan was absolutely fearless.

I remember when I called him up on the phone and said Juan, a lot of people think a Democrat needs to run against George W. Bush for Governor but the polls don’t look too good. What do you think? And he said, you have an obligation to run, Gary. You can’t (give Bush) a free ride.

Juan Maldonado was fearless. And he expected those around him to be fearless as well. And that’s what all of those people I mentioned earlier – Mickey Leland, Ed Wendler, George McGovern, Jess Hay, Billy Goldberg – were. They were fearless. And they did something else that Juan did. They woke up every morning with a warrior’s heart, ready to go to war for doing the right thing. And we don’t have much of that anymore.

We’re going to miss Juan Maldonado. But at the same time, I look at all the people that have come up behind him and he’s mentored. We’ve got lots of Juan Maldonados now. 

And I just ask each and every one of you and myself, be fearless. Have a warrior’s heart. Wake up every morning trying to do the right thing and don’t ever waver because, my friends, Juan Maldonado never wavered, protecting the truth and helping the powerless.

Thank you. 

Editor’s Note: The above commentary was provided by former Texas Land Commissioner Garry Mauro at a Celebration of Life event for the late Juan Maldonado. It was held at San Juan Memorial Home on June 120, 2024. The emcee was Selina Hayes Medrano, an Hidalgo County Democratic Party precinct chair and friend of the Maldonado family. 

House Floor Speech

U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez spoke about Juan Maldonado on the U.S. House floor. Here is what he said:

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