Rose Benavidez announces her candidacy for Starr County Judge

RIO GRANDE CITY, Rose Benavidez, a trustee of South Texas College and president of Starr County Industrial Foundation, has announced her candidacy for Starr County Judge.

She kicked off her campaign at a packed Julabe Reception Hall in Rio Grande City on June 19, 2025. 

The current, long-serving county judge, Eloy Vera, was in the audience. He has announced he is not running for re-election in 2026. 

“I am the daughter of migrant farm workers, the granddaughter of dreamers and a product of relentless perseverance.,” Benavidez said in her speech. “Like many of you, I didn’t grow up with wealth, but if I grew up with purpose. My grandfather would often remind us that he rode in the back of a pickup so we wouldn’t have to.”

Benavidez said that growing up in a Mexican family produces mixed emotions when aspiring to be successful. That is because some men do not like women to be too smart, she said. 

“And yet, here we are today: this Starr County girl, or, rather, this La Grulla girl, announcing her candidacy for the office of Starr county judge, not in spite of the odds, but because of them.”

Benavidez then explained why she is running.

“This campaign will not be about proving ourselves. It will be about improving everything around us. It will be about elevating voices. It will be about lifting communities. Our campaign will be rooted in a profound belief that education is not a privilege, it is a pathway. That hope is not a wish, it is a movement. That change is not something we wait for. It is something we create.”

Benavidez said her campaign “will be for the young girl sitting in a classroom in Starr County wondering if she can lead.” She said it will also be “for the migrant families that cross fields so their children can cross graduation stages.”

She added: “It’ll be for every person who still believes that public service is about a purpose, not power.”

Here is a video recording of Benavidez’s speech:

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