Venetta Seals

Seals graduated from Tyler Junior College with an Associate of Arts, and was a member of Phi Theta Kappa.^[4] She continued her education at the University of Texas at Tyler and the University of Texas at El Paso, eventually graduating with a bachelor's degree in commercial art design with a minor in English literature.^[4] While working towards her bachelor's degree, she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.^[4]

Prior to becoming mayor, Seals served as the president of the Pecos Area Chamber of Commerce,^[3] and is currently a board member.^[5] She is the owner of Hang Your Hat Storage, and is the director of public relations, marketing, community development, physician recruitment, and grants for the Reeves County Hospital District.^[4]

Prior to being elected mayor, Seals was a member of the Pecos City Council for four years.^[6]

On May 8, 2010, Venetta Seals won the mayoral election with 49% of the vote. She defeated David L. Flores by two percentage points.^[7] During her first two-year term as mayor, she saw a spike in housing demand due to increased oil drilling activity in the Wolfbone formation under Reeves County.^[8] Pecos' population increased from 8,680 in 2010, to around 9,500 in early 2012, and the Pecos City Council voted to open a 500-capacity RV park to deal with the increase.^[8] She also had to deal with the sudden death of City Manager Joseph Gilbert Torres on March 31, 2011, following his indictment for indecency with a child.^[9]

On May 12, 2012, Seals was re-elected for a second term, with 496 of 956 votes. She defeated Bernadette Portillo Lopez and Noel Mata Ybarra.^[10] During her second term, she defended O'Hara Flying Service, the city's air ambulance, after it was found to have state EMS rule violations.^[11] She also dealt with the prolonged closure of the Pecos Zoo due to new regulations.^[12]

On May 10, 2014, Seals was re-elected for a third term, defeating David L. Flores with 51% of the vote to his 49%.^[13] In September 2014, she oversaw the city's response to heavy flooding after the Pecos River overflowed, with help from state and federal agencies.^[14][15] In June 2015, the Mayor supported the council's ban on plastic bags.^[16]

Seals was re-elected for a fourth term on May 7, 2016, with a 35-vote lead.^[17]

She ran for a fifth term in the May 4, 2019, mayoral election^[18] but failed to garner enough votes against opponents David L. Flores and Jesus Orosco, leading to a runoff between Seals and Flores. The runoff election occurred on June 8, 2019, and resulted in Seals losing to Flores by 221 votes.^[19]