Betty Flores

Flores was originally hired by Laredo National Bank to work as a secretary.[1] Over a 28 year career, worked her way up to become the first female senior vice president in the bank's history.[1] Much of her time at the bank was spent in business development, during which she made a large number of contacts in the Laredo community.[1] She eventually ran the loan department.[2]

After leaving the bank, Flores went to work for the Aztec Economic Development and Preservation Corporation.[1] While working at Aztec, a nonprofit that buildings housing for people with low incomes, that she began to grow interested in local politics.[1] Flores also worked as a county affordable-housing officer and as a consumer advocate for the Federal Reserve Board.[2][3]

When Flores was first married, she and her husband agreed that they could work in any field they wanted, except for politics.[1][4] By the time she ran for mayor, however, both independently thought it was a good idea.[5] As others, all men, began to announce their candidacies for mayor, she thought several were of questionable character.[4] Flores spoke with then-Governor Ann Richards at the 1997 National Conference of La Raza about a potential run.[4] Richards gave Flores advice and then her endorsement.[4] Eight others would eventually throw their hats into the ring.[2] She won her first term in a special runoff election in early 1998, winning 55.39% of the voted.[6][2] She won a full four year term in the May 1998 election.

Flores was the first Mexican-American and Tejana female mayor of a major American city along the United States' border with Mexico.[1][3] Cross-border issues became a major concern for Flores, and she gained media attention when she suggested that border patrol agents should give illegal immigrants "a bottle of water and send them on their way."[2] Laredo sits at the start of Interstate 35, a major border crossing that carries goods from Mexico into the United States.[2] Following the adoption of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994, Laredo became one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the country.[2]

She is a Democrat.[2]

Flores has a younger sister, Edna Garcia.[2] Her father, Eloy Garcia Sr., was a local official in Laredo who used his connections to help Flores become mayor.[2][3] On election night, he wrote an ambulance to the victory party and died a week after she was sworn into office.[2]

In the 9th grade, she punched a classmate in the nose after he bemoaned Flores' victory in the election for class president.[2] Flores dropped out of high school two credits shy of graduation.[2] She later completed her diploma.[2]

Flores met her husband, Antonio "Tony" Flores, after a local newspaper ran a photograph of her when she was 15 and he was 18.[2] The couple married when she was 17 and he was 20.[2] They had two children before her 20th birthday.[2] Early in their marriage, when Flores first went to work outside the house, Tony was upset and refused to speak to her.[7]

Her 19 year old son, Tony Jr., was killed in 1986 by a drunk driver.[2] Following his death, she joined Mothers Against Drunk Driving and spoke to students as part of Texas War on Drugs, a program run by Ross Perot.[2] She is a grandmother.[7]

• Navarro, Sharon Ann (2008). Latina Legislator: Leticia Van de Putte and the Road to Leadership. Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 978-1-60344-062-2. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
• García, Sonia R.; Martinez-Ebers, Valerie; Irasema, Coronado; Navarro, Sharon A.; Jaramillo, Patricia A. (June 3, 2009). Políticas: Latina Public Officials in Texas. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-77998-3. Retrieved June 6, 2020.