Don’t vote for

Eric Cantu

Corpus Christi City Council · District 3· Election Day: November 3, 2026

District 3 needs a yes on water. Eric Cantu keeps saying no.

Corpus Christi has exactly one water project that’s actually permitted and ready to build: Inner Harbor, the first fully permitted seawater desalination plant in Texas. Eric Cantu voted to stall it — tabling it in June 2026, then turning down the chance to chase up to $120 million in federal money to help pay for it. He’s also the councilman who told a public meeting that taxpayers were being “raped… every day on these contracts,” and wouldn’t fully take it back. This week, he joined four colleagues in an unforced $450,000 payout to a developer the city may not have owed a dime.

District 3 deserves better than this. Vote Eric Cantu out on November 3.

Opposes

Office

Corpus Christi City Council

District

Wrong on every issue that matters.

Stalled the One Water Project Actually Ready to Go

Inner Harbor isn't a proposal — it's the only fully permitted seawater desalination plant in the state, ready to move. In June 2026, Cantu voted with a 7-2 majority to table it instead of advancing it. Seven weeks later, he voted no on a gift that would have let the city chase up to $120 million in federal funding for it, brushing off the number on the record: "$120 million — that's not the case, we don't even know what we're going to get." Corpus Christi doesn't have years to spare on the one project that's actually cleared to build. (KRISTV, June 3, 2026; KRISTV, July 29, 2026)

As a Car Dealer, He Kept Customers' Money Instead of Handing It Over

Before politics, Cantu ran Cars-4-Credit, a Corpus Christi used car lot. In 2019, at least 45 customers complained to the Nueces County Tax Assessor that the dealership had collected their sales tax, title, and license fees at purchase — then simply kept the money instead of sending it to the state. People who'd paid in full couldn't legally drive off in cars they owned; one buyer waited nearly a year for his title. Cantu eventually paid back roughly $13,000 to clean it up, but only once state investigators and reporters made it public. (KRISTV, Nov. 20, 2019; KRISTV, Feb. 3, 2020)

One of the "Fatal Five" Behind an Unforced $450,000 Payout

This week, Cantu joined four colleagues — Gil Hernandez, Kaylynn Paxson, Carolyn Vaughn, and Sylvia Campos — in voting to settle hotel developer Ajit David's lawsuit for $450,000, on the same day the Texas Supreme Court had the standing opportunity to dismiss the case and end it for nothing. The same bloc has also directed city staff not to honor a separate, legally binding Type B contract with the Homewood Suites developer, exposing taxpayers to still more legal fees. (KRISTV, Aug. 27, 2026)

Campaign Books Voters Can't Fully Check

What's on file for Cantu: zero itemized contributions and more than $44,000 in outstanding loans. Multiple other disclosures required for this election cycle simply aren't posted anywhere the public can read them. (City of Corpus Christi Campaign Finance Reports)

Used Language About Sexual Violence to Talk About Contracts, Then Wouldn't Fully Apologize

At a December 2025 meeting about contract costs, Cantu said taxpayers were being "raped... every day." A fellow council member called out the double standard, and Mayor Guajardo issued a statement urging more respectful language — while Cantu held his ground instead of offering a real apology. (KRISTV, Dec. 10–11, 2025)

What the campaign mailers won't tell you.

There’s exactly one water project in Corpus Christi’s portfolio that’s fully permitted and ready to build: Inner Harbor. Eric Cantu voted to stall it anyway. In June 2026 he joined a 7-2 majority tabling the decision instead of moving it forward, then in July voted against the funding that could have brought the city up to $120 million in federal help — waving off the figure itself on the record. District 3 and the whole Coastal Bend are running out of time on water, and the one project cleared to help is the one Cantu keeps parking.

That disregard shows up outside City Hall too. Before he was a councilman, Cantu owned Cars-4-Credit. In 2019, dozens of his customers paid the taxes and fees required to title and register their vehicles — money that was supposed to go straight to the state. It didn’t. Buyers were left holding cars they couldn’t legally drive, some for the better part of a year, while Cantu used the money to keep the business afloat. He eventually repaid about $13,000 to clean up the mess, but only after it became a news story.

That same disregard for taxpayer money showed up again this week. Cantu joined four colleagues in settling Ajit David’s lawsuit over the Homewood Suites incentive for $450,000 — on the very day the Texas Supreme Court could have dismissed the case and ended it without costing the city anything. The same five have now told city staff to ignore a separate, binding Type B contract with the same developer, inviting still more legal fees on top of the ones taxpayers just absorbed.

Voters still don’t have the full picture of who’s bankrolling his campaign, either. The one clean filing on record shows tens of thousands in loans and no itemized donors, and several other required disclosures are simply missing from public view.

He treats his own constituents with a similar disregard. Cantu stood in a public meeting and told the people of Corpus Christi that taxpayers were being “raped” by city contracts, and when a colleague and the mayor’s office both pushed back on the language, he held his ground instead of offering a real apology. Making a point about wasteful spending doesn’t require language like that.

Keep Cantu in this seat and District 3 keeps a councilman who parked the one water project ready to help, who just helped hand a developer an unforced $450,000 payout, who used language about sexual violence on the public record and wouldn’t fully take it back, and who kept customers’ money for himself when he ran his own business. District 3 deserves better. Voters have a clear alternative on the ballot.
Keep Cantu in this seat and District 3 keeps a councilman who parked the one water project ready to help, who used language about sexual violence on the public record and wouldn’t fully take it back, and who kept customers’ money for himself when he ran his own business. District 3 deserves better. Voters have a clear alternative on the ballot.

“$120 million — that's not the case, we don't even know what we're going to get.”

Eric Cantu, District 3 City Council member, on voting against pursuing federal funding for Inner Harbor desalination

KRISTV, July 29, 2026

Eric Cantu had the chance to move District 3’s one real water solution forward and voted to slow it down instead — then helped hand a developer an unforced $450,000 payout, on top of a public record he wouldn’t fully apologize for and a business past that left customers holding the bag. District 3 deserves a representative who acts on water instead of stalling it and protects taxpayer money instead of giving it away. Vote him out on November 3.

Coastal Bend Coalition · Board of Directors