Bruno Lozano | |
---|---|
Mayor of Del Rio, Texas | |
In office 2018–2022 | |
Preceded by | Robert Garza |
Succeeded by | Alvaro Arreola |
Personal details | |
Born | 1983 Del Rio,Texas |
Political party | Democratic |
Bruno Lozano (born 1983) is an American politician,United States Air Force veteran,and flight attendant. He served as the mayor of Del Rio,Texas,From May 2018 through June 2022 after he defeated incumbent Robert Garza in the general election.
Lozano was born in Del Rio,Texas in 1983. [1] He served as a security forces patrolman in the United States Air Force. While serving under 'Don't Ask,Don't Tell," Lozano was stationed at Shaw Air Force Base,South Carolina and deployed to Ali Al Salem Air Base,Kuwait. Upon completing his military contract,Lozano moved to Chicago,Illinois. He began his airline career at SkyWest Airlines in 2007. He was hired at Delta Air Lines in 2014. [2]
Lozano prioritized efforts to clean up the San Felipe Creek (Texas) and volunteer at local non-profits. According to Lozano,he decided to enter political life in 2016,supported and encouraged by his former high school classmates during a class reunion event. [1] He was critical of the city's economic policies,which he says left the local economy stagnant even as neighboring cities boomed. He called on Millennial voters to break Baby Boomers' hold on local political power. [1]
A Democrat, [3] he ran against incumbent Mayor Robert Garza on a May 5,2018 election,and won in a landslide,receiving 62% of the votes. A later recount confirmed the result. [4]
His victory received attention in The Huffington Post and the national LGBT press,which highlighted both his military career and his flamboyant image. [5] [6]
Mayor Lozano is highly influential within Del Rio and a key figure within the Middle Rio Grande area. On August 26,2020,Mayor Lozano was nominated and appointed as Third Vice President on the Middle Rio Grande Development Council,which represents multiple counties and cities within the Middle Rio Grande Region.
Lozano is committed to economic growth by enhancing international trade via transportation within the Del Rio and Middle Rio Grande Region. Lozano was appointed as Segment 3 Chairman to represent the Segment 3 portion of the Ports to Plains feasibility study under Texas House Bill 1079. Under his leadership,Lozano has worked alongside other mayors and judges within the Val Verde County,Texas,Maverick County,Texas,and Webb County,Texas to prioritize the current and future needs for an interstate grade level structure serving the port of entries. Mayor Lozano also served on the Ports to Plains Advisory Committee that was chaired by Mayor Dan Pope of Lubbock,Texas.
Laughlin Air Force Base,a vital employer in Del Rio,Texas,is a top priority for Lozano. He represented the City of Del Rio,and Laughlin AFB at The Pentagon during a Washington,D.C. municipal delegation visit in May,2018 where he prioritized mission support,base housing,and quality of life improvements for airmen. Lozano has also relayed local concerns regarding the rise in unlawful border crossings during his term in office. Visits with United States Department of Homeland Security and media outreach have been crucial during the immigration crisis. Spanning two presidential terms,Lozano has advocated for municipal support and for a more transparent response from the federal government during the ongoing border crisis.[ citation needed ]
Lozano currently (2021) serves as president for Del Rio SAFE (Sexual Advocacy For Everyone),a local LGBTQI+ non-profit. Lozano has been featured on multiple news outlets due to his landslide win as the first openly gay elected official in Del Rio. Zoe Saldana featured Lozano in a mini documentary series on Great Big Story. [7] He was also featured on Topic,an “entertaining and storytelling studio”from First Look Media. [8] The short documentary follows Lozano shortly after his landslide win in 2018. He can be heard giving a keynote speech in front of a crowd at Eagle Pass,Texas Pride 2018. In 2021 Lozano performed in drag on HBO's We're Here alongside his drag mother Shangela when the show came to Del Rio.
The Rio Grande in the United States or the Río Bravo in Mexico,also known as P’osoge in Tewa and TóBa’áadi in Navajo,is one of the principal rivers in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio Grande is 1,896 miles (3,051 km),making it the 4th longest river in the United States and in North America by main stem. It originates in south-central Colorado,in the United States,and flows to the Gulf of Mexico. The Rio Grande drainage basin (watershed) has an area of 182,200 square miles (472,000 km2);however,the endorheic basins that are adjacent to and within the greater drainage basin of the Rio Grande increase the total drainage-basin area to 336,000 square miles (870,000 km2).
Harlingen is a city in Cameron County in the central region of the Rio Grande Valley of the southern part of the U.S. state of Texas,about 30 miles (48 km) from the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The city covers more than 40 square miles (104 km2) and is the second-largest city in Cameron County,as well as the fourth-largest in the Rio Grande Valley. As of the 2020 census,the city had a population of 71,892.
Val Verde County is a county located on the southern Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population is 47,586. Its county seat is Del Rio. The Del Rio micropolitan statistical area includes all of Val Verde County.
Brownsville is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Cameron County,located on the western Gulf Coast in South Texas,adjacent to the border with Matamoros,Tamaulipas,Mexico. The city covers 145.2 sq mi (376.066 km2),and had a population of 186,738 at the 2020 census. As of the 2020 U.S. Census,it is the 139th-largest city in the United States and 18th-largest in Texas. It is part of the Matamoros–Brownsville metropolitan area. The city is known for its year-round subtropical climate,deep-water seaport,and Hispanic culture.
Alamo,located in the Rio Grande Valley in what is nicknamed the "Land of Two Summers",is a city in the irrigated area of southern Hidalgo County,Texas,United States. Known as the "Refuge to the Valley",it is located in an area of abundant vegetable farming and citrus groves,and is a noted winter resort/retirement town near the Mexico–U.S. border. Alamo is one of the Rio Grande Valley's gateways to Mexico,via U.S. Route 281 and Nuevo Progreso,Tamaulipas,as well as a gateway to the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge. Alamo's population was 19,493 at the 2020 census.
Del Rio is a city in and the county seat of Val Verde County in southwestern Texas,United States. As of 2020,Del Rio had a population of 34,673.
Matamoros,officially known as Heroica Matamoros,is a city in the northeastern Mexican state of Tamaulipas,and the municipal seat of the homonymous municipality. It is on the southern bank of the Rio Grande,directly across the border from Brownsville,Texas,United States. Matamoros is the second largest city in the state of Tamaulipas. As of 2016,Matamoros had a population of 520,367. In addition,the Matamoros–Brownsville Metropolitan Area has a population of 1,387,985,making it the 4th largest metropolitan area on the Mexico–US border. Matamoros is the 39th largest city in Mexico and anchors the second largest metropolitan area in Tamaulipas.
Ciudad Acuña,also known simply as Acuña,is a city located in the Mexican state of Coahuila,at 29°19′27″N100°55′54″W and a mean height above sea level of 271 m (889 ft). It stands on the Rio Grande,which marks the U.S.-Mexico border,and offers two border crossings via Lake Amistad Dam International Crossing and Del Río-Ciudad Acuña International Bridge with the neighboring city of Del Rio in the U.S. state of Texas. It serves as the municipal seat of the surrounding municipality of Acuña. The 2017 estimated city population was 201,778,whereas the municipality's population was 214,616. The city is the fourth-largest in the state of Coahuila and the fastest-growing city in Mexico. The area is served by the Ciudad Acuña International Airport.
Laughlin Air Force Base is a facility of the United States Air Force located east of Del Rio,Texas.
The Lower Rio Grande Valley,commonly known as the Rio Grande Valley or locally as the Valley or RGV,is a region spanning the border of Texas and Mexico located in a floodplain of the Rio Grande near its mouth. The region includes the southernmost tip of South Texas and a portion of northern Tamaulipas,Mexico. It consists of the Brownsville,Harlingen,Weslaco,Donna,Pharr,McAllen,Edinburg,Mission,San Juan,and Rio Grande City metropolitan areas in the United States and the Matamoros,Río Bravo,and Reynosa metropolitan areas in Mexico. The area is generally bilingual in English and Spanish,with a fair amount of Spanglish due to the region's diverse history and transborder agglomerations. It is home to some of the poorest cities in the nation,as well as many unincorporated,persistent poverty communities called colonias. A large seasonal influx occurs of "winter Texans" —people who come down from the north for the winter and then return north before summer arrives.
Santos Benavides was a Confederate colonel during the American Civil War. Benavides was the highest-ranking Tejano soldier in the Confederate military.
South Texas is a geographic and cultural region of the U.S. state of Texas that lies roughly south of—and includes—San Antonio. The southern and western boundary is the Rio Grande,and to the east it is the Gulf of Mexico. The population of this region is more than 5 million according to the 2024 census estimates. The southern portion of this region is often referred to as the Rio Grande Valley. The eastern portion along the Gulf of Mexico is also referred to as the Coastal Bend.
The Republic of the Rio Grande was one of a series of political movements in what was then Mexico which sought to become independent from the authoritarian,unitary government of Antonio López de Santa Anna;the Republic of Texas and the second Republic of Yucatán were created by political movements that pursued the same goal. The rebellion lasted from January 17 to November 6,1840.
Jiménez is a town and seat of the municipality of Jiménez in the Mexican state of Coahuila,at an altitude of 250 meters above sea level. It is located on the confluence of the Río San Diego and the Rio Grande bordering with the U.S. state of Texas. It had a population of 1,160 inhabitants in the 2010 census,and is,unusually for a Mexican municipal seat,the second-largest locality in the municipality,after the town of San Carlos.
Eligio "Kika" de la Garza II was an American lawyer,Korean War veteran,and politician who served 16 consecutive terms as the Democratic representative for the 15th congressional district of Texas from January 3,1965,to January 3,1997.
Camargo is a municipality in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. It is located on the US border,across from Rio Grande City,Texas. It has an official population of 14,933 inhabitants. The municipal seat is Ciudad Camargo,with a population of 7,984. The municipality is connected to Rio Grande City,Texas,via the Rio Grande City-Camargo International Bridge.
Ojinaga is a town and seat of the municipality of Ojinaga,in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua. As of 2015,the town had a total population of 28,040. It is a rural border town on the U.S.–Mexico border,with the city of Presidio,Texas,directly opposite,on the U.S. side of the border. Ojinaga is situated where the Río Conchos drains into the Río Grande,an area called La Junta de los Rios. Presidio and Ojinaga are connected by the Presidio–Ojinaga International Bridge and the Presidio–Ojinaga International Rail Bridge.
The Garza Revolution,or the Garza War,was an armed conflict fought in the Mexican state of Coahuila and the American state of Texas between 1891 and 1893. It began when the revolutionary Catarino Garza launched a campaign into Mexico from Texas to start an uprising against the dictator Porfirio Diaz. Because of this violation of neutrality,the United States Army became involved and assisted the Mexican Army in tracking down Garza's followers. The war was relatively minor compared to other similar conflicts in Mexican history though it has been seen as a precursor to the major Mexican Revolution from 1910 to 1920.
Pablo Pineda Gaucín was a Mexican crime reporter and photographer for La Opinión,a newspaper in the border city of Matamoros,Tamaulipas,Mexico.
Boca Chica is an area on the eastern portion of a subdelta peninsula of Cameron County,at the far south of the US State of Texas along the Gulf Coast. It is bordered by the Brownsville Ship Channel to the north,the Rio Grande and Mexico to the south,and the Gulf of Mexico to the east. The area extends about 25 miles (40 km) east of the city of Brownsville. The peninsula is served by Texas State Highway 4—also known as the Boca Chica Highway,or Boca Chica Boulevard within Brownsville city limits—which runs east–west,terminating at the Gulf and Boca Chica Beach.