pioneering Mexican-American politician," said Garcia.

The son of politically active parents, Raymond Telles was among the thousands of Mexican Americans who returned from World War II to an El Paso of limited opportunity. Though the city proudly acknowledged its considerable Mexican-American heritage, and overt discrimination was rare, Chicanos were decidedly underrepresented in the business community, among the educated class, and particularly in politics. Determined to reduce these inequities, returning Mexican-American veterans helped fuel a fledgling political movement.

Telles had enlisted as a private but emerged at war's end as a major in the Army Air Force, a precursor to today's Air Force. His distinguished military record and his earlier service as a clerk in the New Deal's Work Progress Administration made him an attractive, if initially reluctant, would-be politician, andin 1948 El Paso's Mexican-American elite pressed him to run for county clerk.

"He won a stunning victory and it laid the groundwork for the election of 1957. Telles ran as a non-ethnic candidate, as a person who was interested in doing the job and who had the credentials. Even so, the Mexican-American community knew it had to organize if he were to have a chance," said Garcia.

Telles went on to serve as county clerk for several years, taking a leave of absence to join the war effort in Korea. In 1957 El Paso's Mexican-American leadership felt the time was right for Telles to pursue a larger political prize: the mayor's office. But even with their prodigal son on board, the obstacles to victory were daunting.

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