Bobby Pulido’s Political Ambitions and Controversial Associations
Bobby Pulido, a Latin Grammy Award-winning artist known for his Tejano hits like Desvelado, is making waves as he runs for Congress in Texas. His campaign to represent the 15th congressional district, which stretches from just east of San Antonio down to the Mexican border, has been marked by both success and controversy.
Pulido’s political journey has not been without challenges. His opponent, Republican Representative Monica De La Cruz, criticized him in a video statement, saying, “This election isn’t about who you want performing at your niece’s quinceañera. It’s about who you trust with your family’s future.” In response, Pulido leaned into the cultural significance of quinceañeras, calling them a rite of passage that brings families and neighbors together. He even began appearing at these celebrations, performing his songs, signing merchandise, and taking photos with families.
His strategy paid off. Pulido’s campaign created a Google form for people to request his appearances at quinceañeras, which received over 2,700 entries. However, despite this success, Pulido is now facing renewed scrutiny over his long-standing association with Frankie Caballero, a registered sex offender with whom he recorded songs and toured.
The New York Post reported that Caballero was the accordionist on Pulido’s breakout hit Desvelado, which was recorded in the 90s before Caballero was sentenced to four years in prison in 2014 for indecent contact with an eight-year-old girl. Despite being released from prison in 2018, Caballero remained on Texas’ Public Sex Offender Website. He continued to appear at concerts with Pulido between 2018 and 2021.
Pulido’s campaign manager, Abel Prado, stated: “Bobby extends his deepest sympathies and support to all of the victims involved. Bobby was never made aware of Caballero’s sex offender registration and would never knowingly associate with anyone with that kind of history.”
However, sources suggest that it was unlikely Pulido was unaware of Caballero’s criminal past. Ramon Rodriguez, a bass player who performed with Caballero in 2020, told the New York Post that the conviction was a “known fact in music circles.” He added that the Tejano music industry is “very tight-knit,” and “you get to a certain point in music where they vet everybody around you.”
A former prosecutor in Hidalgo County also claimed there is “simply no version of this story where Bobby Pulido did not know the man he employed and befriended for decades is a career child predator.”
Caballero has a long criminal history, including 13 other charges such as cocaine possession, transportation of an unlawful alien from Mexico into the U.S., and domestic violence. His possession charges were dismissed in 2009 after he pleaded guilty to the transportation charge, for which he was sentenced to 27 months in prison. In 2020, he was arrested for strangling a family member named Nancy Caballero but was released on a $2,000 bond. He was charged a year later and pleaded guilty to domestic assault in 2024, receiving a five-year sentence with credit for 747 days of served jail time, allowing him to be released on parole in January 2026.
As recently as March 2024, Pulido seemed to acknowledge Caballero’s legal troubles, calling it a “shame” that he “just can’t stay out of trouble.” Prado, the campaign manager, said that when Jimmy Montez management learned of Caballero’s criminal history in 2021, he was immediately fired and the relationship was severed.
The campaign manager also emphasized that a different accordionist named Homero Esquivel has spent the most time in Pulido’s band. However, in November 2025, after Pulido announced his bid for Congress, he once again praised his longtime association with Caballero when discussing the story behind Desvelado. During an interview for the Houston Chronicle, Pulido recalled that the song was initially supposed to be done with a keyboard, but Brando Mireles didn’t show up because he was partying the night before. Caballero, as a “prolific accordion player,” was quickly subbed in. “And I said, ‘F**k Brando, we’re keeping the accordion,’” Pulido said.
