Texas Mayor Bolts with Illegal Lover

J.W. has discovered that love is a flame he can't put out

West Texas shocker: weighing what he calls "a choice between a promising political career and my humanity," San Angelo mayor J. W. Lown has come down - and come out - on the side of love.

The 32-year-old, three-term mayor was re-elected to a fourth term earlier this month by a landslide, with 89 percent of the vote; he was to have been sworn in at the city council meeting on Tuesday this week. Instead, via a phone call and a FedEx'd letter, he notified council members that he was resigning his office.

Lown has pulled up stakes and gone to live at an undisclosed location in Mexico with the man he fell in love with a couple of months ago, a student at Angelo State University who has been living in the United States illegally for the last five years.

The now former mayor's background, from his campaign website, reveals a solid small-town upbringing with a global attitude:

Born and raised in San Angelo, J.W. has deep roots in the city. As a child he spent a lot of time in his father's workshop on Upton Street. Born and raised in Mexico, his mother, Alicia instilled in her son the importance of faith, family, and community. J.W. attended Angelo State and graduated from Principia College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business. After completing a congressional internship with U.S. Representative Lamar Smith, he served two and a half years in the Peace Corps. As a volunteer assigned to Bolivia he showed the same entrepreneurial approach to problem-solving that he would later put to use as mayor by training impoverished women and young adults in small business development.

Lown, who has dual Mexican and U.S. citizenship, said he did not want to take the oath of office as mayor, knowing he was “aiding and assisting” someone who was not a citizen. He hopes to be able to get a visa for his partner while in Mexico, so that they can return to the United States.

According to the San Angelo Standard-Times, much of the local reaction there beyond the initial surprise has been supportive and appreciative of Lown's six years of service to the community.

Commentator Rick Casey, writing in the Houston Chronicle, compares Lown's resignation to the abdication of King Edward VIII (later the Duke of Windsor) "for the woman I love" in 1936, and then makes this observation:

For some this will be a story of sinful deviance.

Some will sigh at the power of love.

As someone who has closely observed politicians for many years, what I see is the rare integrity of a politician who couldn’t rationalize his way to swearing to uphold the laws of his state and nation while breaking them.

When it comes to sex, we’ve seen the president of the United States lie under oath, the governor of New Jersey provide a high-level job for his unqualified secret gay lover, the governor of New York frequent a high-priced prostitute.

The mayor of San Angelo chose not only love, but also honesty.

Who says nothing ever happens in West Texas? There's a reason they call this state the land of steers and queers. Sure sounds like a movie script in the making to me - what do you think, fellas?