Letty Garza-Galvan Defends the Only Thing She Has, Her Name.

A last name says it all.

A last name is an insignia. In politics, it functions as both credential and liability, often at the same time.

Starr County has a long habit of treating last names as verdicts, saving time by skipping straight to judgment. And the prime example of that judgment is "los Peñas."

The Peña family's presence in local governance spans generations. Amando Peña Sr. was a Roma Independent School District school board trustee. Fernando Peña, his son, served as mayor of Roma. These positions established a pattern of civic involvement that became part of the family's public identity, and it also marred the next generation with the burden of doubt.

In Starr County, having a familiar last name can cost everything. Few races in recent history define that tension more clearly than the one involving Leticia Garza-Galvan.

Born Leticia Garza Peña, she grew up in Roma, where that family history followed her everywhere. Her parents, Heraldo Garza and Leticia Peña Garza, spoiled her the same way any loving parent spoils their children, whether they are raised in a seven-bedroom mansion or in a two-bedroom apartment, whether they are raised with a silver spoon in their mouth or a plastic spork.

As a child, Letty didn't know the difference. Her mother embarrassingly dressed her three daughters the same, she made them attend family functions they didn't want to be a part of and she gave them "the look" when they were misbehaving. Letty's parents were not "los Peñas" that everyone talks about. Her parents were standard protocol parents.

They got spanked. They got yelled at. They got grounded for weeks. Letty knew better. She grew up with an iron fist. And that made her even more proud to be part of the Peña pack. Even though Letty became a mother at a young age, she still managed to put herself through school. She dealt with the loss of the father of two of her children while she was building her professional life. Being a Peña did not protect her from the hardships of life. If anything, they sharpened her.

Even though Letty became a mother at a young age, she still managed to put herself through school. She dealt with the loss of the father of two of her children while she was building her professional life. Being a Peña did not protect her from the hardships of life. If anything, they sharpened her.

In 2009, she opened Bright Star Therapy, a

Speech and occupational therapy clinic in Roma that provided specialized services to children and families throughout Starr County. Before establishing the clinic, she had worked for the Roma Independent School District while also taking on contract therapy work after school hours and on weekends, building the experience and credibility that would allow her to open her own practice.

In 2011, Letty initiated her public service career when she was appointed to a Roma ISD board position, beginning nearly a decade of public service that would last until 2020.

The role placed her inside the administrative machinery of local governance, where decisions

about budgets, policies, and community programs were made in meetings that rarely drew public attention or media coverage.

Every vote she cast, every position she took, was analyzed by people looking for evidence that she was advancing a family agenda rather than serving the community's interests. The scrutiny was constant, and it came from a place of deep suspicion that had nothing to do with her actual performance and everything to do with the assumption that a Peña in office was automatically working some angle that benefited the family rather than the public.

That tension between her actual record and the perception of her motives came to a head in 2018 when she decided to run for Starr County judge against Eloy Vera, a race that would become one of the most brutal and controversial elections in recent

county history.

During the campaign, Vera circulated a mugshot from Garza-Galvan's 2015 arrest on theft charges at a Macy's. The image became the centerpiece of the race, turning the conversation from governing to

character. Garza-Galvan talked about it publicly during debates and campaign stops, saying the charge never went anywhere and she was never convicted.

According to public records, the charge was dismissed after she proved her innocence. The record was later expunged, meaning it was erased from her criminal history like it never happened. But that didn't matter to Vera.

Mugshots move faster than dismissals. Once the people of Starr County saw that image, the explanation didn't matter. The race stopped being about policy and became about whether she could be trusted, forcing Garza-Galvan to defend herself over something that legally didn't exist anymore.

The Starr County judge race became one of the closest and ugliest in recent county history. Vera got 7,197 votes. Garza-Galvan got 7,008. A recount followed and landed at a 159-vote difference, close enough to feel stolen, wide enough to stick.

She handled that while raising three kids andrunning her clinic. There was no separation between the attacks and her real life.

Garza-Galvan did not withdraw after the loss. She continued running her clinic and remained visible in local professional circles. In politics, what people remember often matters more than what actually happened, and Garza-Galvan has never been the type to disappear when things get difficult.

The scrutiny intensified in December 2022 when Letty's sister, Bernice Annette Garza, was arrested during a traffic stop in Victoria County. Bernice, who had worked as the crime victims coordinator for the Starr County District Attorney's Office, was found transporting four people in the country illegally in a government vehicle registered to the DA's office.

Her sister pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport people in the country illegally and was sentenced to three years in federal prison in September 2024. For Letty, who was already fighting to prove that her Peña name was earned rather than exploited, her sister's conviction became one more mark against the family she couldn't erase.

Everyone expected Letty to distance herself from Bernice, to issue a statement condemning her sister's actions or to publicly sever ties in order to protect her own political future. The pressure to do so was immense, especially for someone who understood how quickly association becomes culpability in the court of public opinion. But Letty refused to abandon her sister when she needed support the most.

She maintained their relationship even as the consequences mounted. Letty knew what it felt like to be kicked when you're down, to have your worst moment weaponized against you. She wasn't going to do that to her sister, regardless of what it meant for her own career.

Letty has faced harsh realities that would have broken the average person. Each blow has carried its own consequences, and together they created a narrative that should have ended with withdrawal from public life. Letty has never denied her family.

Whatever scandal she has faced, she has faced alone. She has been transparent, answering the difficult questions and addressing the uncomfortable accusations. While others might have hidden under a rock, Letty has remained accessible, treating her record as an open book even when doing so has meant reliving her worst moments in public.

Now, six years after running for Starr County judge, her name will once again be on the ballot, and her last name.

After all, what's in a name if not pride?

@Santitos

@salinasmariasantos

Copyright © 2026 Maria Santos Salinas for FRONTeras.

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