Leo Montalvo served as city commissioner for the City of McAllen, Texas for 20 years before being elected the first Mexican American mayor of that City.  In this interview he recalls his family immigrating to Texas when he was a young boy and not knowing a lick of English.  Montalvo would be placed in the first grade but would quickly be advanced to the fourth grade and would graduate high school with his peers and on time.  After graduating from Texas A & M University, having attended with the help of a partial scholarship, Montalvo would teach high school math for a few years and later attend law school at the University of Texas School.

In 1972 Montalvo would be a candidate for Hidalgo County Tax Assessor Collector, the same year that Ramsey Muniz was a candidate for Texas Governor.