Biography:

Silvestre Reyes was born in Canutillo, Texas, and lives in El Paso, Texas. He received an associate's degree from El Paso Community College and studied criminal justice and police administration at the University of Texas at Austin.

He served in the U.S. Army as a helicopter crew chief, 1966-68. He entered the Border Patrol in 1969 as an inspector in Del Rio, Texas. He transferred to El Paso in 1974 as an immigration inspector.

From 1978-79, Reyes served as a training supervisor at the immigration service training academy in Glynco, Ga. He then moved to Dallas as deputy regional chief for the Border Patrol. He was promoted to assistant regional commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service in Dallas.

Reyes was appointed chief patrol agent in the McAllen (Texas) Border Patrol Sector in 1984. He was appointed chief agent of the El Paso Sector in 1993 and retired in November 1995.

He was first elected to the U.S. House in 1996.

Reyes and his wife, Carolina, have three children.

Past Campaigns:

Silvestre Reyes was elected to the U.S. House in 1996, receiving 71 percent of the vote against Republican Rick Ledesma. He was re-elected in 1998 without major party opposition.

He was re-elected in 2000 with 68 percent of the vote.

He won the Democratic primary in 2002 and faced no Republican opponent in the general election.

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