A Latin Grammy Award winner who is running as a Democrat for Congress in Texas has been slammed for his unusual weekend job and is facing scrutiny over associating with a convicted child sex offender.
Bobby Pulido, known for Tejano hits such as Desvelado, is vying to represent Texas’s 15th congressional district, which runs just east of San Antonio down to the border with Mexico, and flip the seat for Democrats.
The district’s incumbent, Republican Representative Monica De La Cruz, bashed Pulido in video statement published in early March.
‘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,’ she said.
The singer clapped back with a video of his own and said: ‘In South Texas, a quinceañera isn’t just a pachanga. It’s a rite of passage that brings family and neighbors together. And honestly that’s exactly what this campaign is about.’
He then leaned into the jab and began making highly visible appearances at the traditional Hispanic celebrations of girls’ 15th birthdays, performing his songs, handing out and signing apparel and taking photos with families.
The move has been a success. Pulido’s campaign created a Google form for requests to have the singer appear at quinceañeras, which has received more than 2,700 entries.
Although Pulido was able to turn his political opponent’s critique in his favor, he is facing renewed controversy over his longtime association with Frankie Caballero, a registered sex offender with whom he recorded songs and took on tour.
Bobby Pulido, a Latin Grammy Award winner who is running as a Democrat for Congress in Texas, has been facing controversy over performing at quinceañeras and associating with a convicted child sex offender
Pulido’s incumbent opponent, Republican Representative Monica De La Cruz, said in a video statement: ‘This election isn’t about who you want performing at your niece’s quinceañera’
Pulido turned his political opponent’s critique in his favor by making popular and highly visible appearances at quinceañeras in South Texas. He is pictured during one of those appearances
The New York Post first reported that Caballero was the accordionist in Pulido’s breakout hit, Desvelado, which was recorded in the 90s before the sex offender was sentenced to four years in prison in 2014 for indecent contact with an eight-year-old girl.
But Caballero also appeared at concerts with the singer and congressional hopeful in at least six cities between 2018 and 2021, after he was released from a four-year prison sentence for the conviction and placed on Texas’ Public Sex Offender Website.
Pulido’s campaign manager, Abel Prado, told the New York Post in a statement: ‘Bobby was never made aware of Caballero’s sex offender registration and would never knowingly associate with anyone with that kind of history.
‘Bobby extends his deepest sympathies and support to all of the victims involved.’
But other sources who spoke with the outlet said that it was highly unlikely that Pulido would not have known about his accordionist’s crime and conviction.
Ramon Rodriguez, a bass player who said he had performed with Caballero in 2020, told the New York Post the conviction was ‘a known fact in music circles.’
He added that the Tejano music industry is ‘very tight-knit and that ‘you get to a certain point in music where they vet everybody around you.’
And a former prosecutor in Hidalgo County told the New York Post that 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.’
Pulido has faced renewed scrutiny over his longtime association with accordionist Frankie Caballero, who served four years in prison for indecent contact with an eight-year-old girl
Pulido’s campaign manager said the singer had no knowledge of Caballero’s crimes or conviction, but other sources interviewed by the New York Post said that was unlikely. Pulido (right) is pictured performing in March
Caballero also has a criminal history that includes 13 other charges, including cocaine possession, transportation of an unlawful alien from Mexico into the US and domestic violence.
The possession charges were dismissed in 2009 following the sex offender’s guilty plea regarding the transportation of an alien. He was sentenced to 27 months in that case.
In 2020, Caballero 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 the domestic assault in 2024.
He was sentenced to five years in prison but credited with 747 days of served jail time, allowing him to be released on parole in January 2026.
As recently as March 2024, Pulido seemed to be aware of his accordionist’s frequent run-ins with the law, as he said in an interview at the time that it was a ‘shame’ Caballero ‘just can’t stay out of trouble.’
Prado, the campaign manager for Pulido, told the New York Post: ‘Frankie Caballero has long struggled with addiction issues and Bobby Pulido has acknowledged and attempted to help him with that battle.
‘When Jimmy Montez management learned of Caballero’s criminal history in 2021 he was immediately fired and that relationship was severed.’
The campaign manager also emphasized that a different accordionist named Homero Esquivel has spent the most time in Pulido’s band.
Beyond his sex crime conviction, Caballero also has a criminal history that includes 13 other charges, ranging from domestic assault to cocaine possession
Pulido has praised his accordionist sex offender pal in recent years, despite indicating that he knew of Caballero’s frequent run-ins with the law
But in November 2025, after Pulido announced his bid for Congress, he once again laid praise on his longtime sex offender pal when describing the story of how Desvelado was recorded.
During an interview for the Houston Chronicle, Pulido said that the song’s track ‘was supposed to be done with a keyboard,’ but the musician, named Brando Mireles, did not 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.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Pulido’s team for additional comment.
