Ben Reyes 1947 – 2026
Politicians
Politicians
Biography
Ben Torres Reyes (February 16, 1947 – November 6, 2026) was an American politician who broke barriers for Mexican American representation in Houston. Born in Burton, Texas, and raised in Houston’s Denver Harbor neighborhood, he was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1972, the first Mexican American from Houston to serve there, and in 1979 became Houston’s first Latino city councilman, representing District I for sixteen years. A Marine and Vietnam veteran, he later served a nine-year federal sentence after a 1998 bribery and conspiracy conviction. The Houston Chronicle reported his death on November 6, 2026; he was 79. He was to be laid to rest at Houston National Cemetery with full military honors.
