WASHINGTON — A Mexican mayor earlier this month urged her constituents to get their family in Texas to vote for Home Democratic candidate Bobby Pulido as a result of he would “take care” of their metropolis if elected to Congress.
“We have to get out the vote for him,” mentioned Patricia Frinee Cantú Garza, mayor of Basic Bravo in Nuevo León, lower than two hours from the US border, in a current Spanish-speaking Fb reel,which The Publish reviewed and translated.
“Speak to your households in the USA. Make certain they go vote,” Garza added, noting that she can be presenting the keys to the town to Pulido, a two-time Latin Grammy winner, on April 3.
“When he turns into a congressman,” she additionally mentioned, “we wish him to handle Bravo.”
Town ceremony celebrating Pulido in Basic Bravo by no means obtained sufficient funding and was cancelled, the Mexican outlet El Norte reported.
Pulido has headlined live shows in Basic Bravo as not too long ago as November 2023. Native officers promoted the present and the present mayor and her husband, then-mayor Edgar Cantu Fernandez, appeared.
“Bobby doesn’t know the mayor and has by no means met her,” a Pulido marketing campaign spokesperson mentioned in a press release. “He declined the invitation, didn’t attend the occasion, and isn’t liable for unsolicited feedback made by different folks.”
Bradley Smith, a former chairman of the Federal Election Fee, mentioned the statements wouldn’t pose authorized or moral points for Pulido — however that the remarks might have a political price, given the give attention to international involvement in US elections lately.
“Should you had been making monetary contributions, that may be a unique factor, however simply to exhort folks to vote,” Smith mentioned, “I don’t suppose that’s going to be an issue for them.”
Jessica Furst Johnson, a associate on the Republican-aligned marketing campaign finance and election regulation agency Lex Politica, famous that occasion appeared to operate as an in-kind contribution to Pulido’s marketing campaign however it might be tough to find out with out “extra particulars.”
Congressional Republicans have to date did not go a invoice this session aimed toward beefing up identification necessities for voters when registering, although many have mentioned legal guidelines as at the moment written are too lax and might result in non-citizens casting ballots.
State investigations and audits have proven lately that hundreds of non-citizens ended up being registered, however few have ever illegally voted. Those that have are federally prosecuted.
Pulido is difficult incumbent GOP Rep. Monica De La Cruz within the Texas district this November and has confronted questions from the press about his ties to Mexico, the place he has mentioned he maintains a house for elements of the 12 months.
The Latino music star admitted to splitting time along with his household between there and Texas simply two years earlier than launching his marketing campaign, telling a YouTube present in a 2023 interview that he’s a “summer time Mexican” however “winter Texan.”
“We reside on the border,” he has additionally mentioned. “My spouse and I’ve a home in Mexico. So, we journey there, and we spend time over there.”
There was no indication of a present mortgage on a property both there or within the US, based on monetary disclosures that Pulido filed April 15 with the Home. These filings additionally revealed he holds a checking account at a Mexican financial institution.
“Bobby lives in his household residence in Edinburg, Texas, the place he was born, raised, and is elevating his circle of relatives,” the Pulido marketing campaign rep famous. “He’s in full compliance with all Home disclosure guidelines — the property you’re referencing is just not his main residence so is just not required to be listed.”
