Nelda Martinez

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Nelda Martinez (born July 22, 1961) is an American real estate agent and politician who served as mayor of the Texas city of Corpus Christi from 2012 to 2016.

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Career

Nelda founded and served as President of First American Closing Office and later sold the business to Stewart Title. Nelda has owned and grown four businesses. Currently, Nelda serves as President, Owner of Adlen, Enterprises, Inc.

Nelda served as President of the Corpus Christi Chapter of Executive Women International. In 1999, the Coastal Bend Area GI Forum Women's Chapter honored Nelda as the "Outstanding Businesswoman of the Year," the YWCA gave her the "Y Women in Careers Award for Corporate/Business Management in 2000 and the US Small Business Administration, awarded Nelda the 2007 "Women in Business Champion." At the 25th Annual State Conference, the Hispanic Women's Network of Texas honored Nelda as an Estrella of Tejas, Star of Texas. The Texas Speech Communication Association awarded Nelda the "Communicator of the Year for 2013-2014.

Nelda has served on the Board of Directors of the South Texas Public Broadcasting Systems, Inc., where she organized fundraising for the PBS documentary on Dr. Hector P. Garcia, "Justice for My People." She also served as a Board Member of Christus Spohn Health System Foundation and is a current Board Member of Foster Angels of South Texas, an organization supporting foster children, and serves on the Advisory Board of Girl Scouts of Greater South Texas. Nelda was President of Texas Municipal League.

Nelda was the first woman and first Hispanic to be the highest vote-getter in an at-large election in the Corpus Christi city council elections, a feat she continued for three elections and became the first Hispanic Woman to be elected Mayor.

A Corpus Christi native, Nelda graduated from the University of Texas at Austin.

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Mayor of Corpus Christi, Texas

Nelda Martinez is a former Mayor of Corpus Christi, Texas, and was the third woman to hold the position since the election of Betty Turner, the first female mayor, in 1987. She was elected in 2012. Before becoming mayor, she was an at-large member of the Corpus Christi City Council from 2007 to 2012. Martinez announced that she would run in 2016 but lost re-election for a third and final term to Dan McQueen on November 8, 2016. After McQueen resigned from office after five weeks, Martinez announced her intent to run in the special mayoral election, formally filing on February 28, 2017.