According to Pete's family, "In the early seventies, Pete played an integral part in establishing La Raza Unida Party in McLennan County, which helped propel his close friend, Ramsey Muniz, to the forefront as the Party’s candidate for Governor of the State of Texas in 1974. Pete was also President of the Alliance of Mexican Americans here in Waco. Nevertheless, one of his greatest accomplishments would be as one of the principal plaintiffs in an action against the Waco Independent School District in 1972. This lawsuit sought to balance the disparity in schools with disproportionately large numbers of Mexican American students; and would bring about many needed changes in Waco schools – changes that exist to this day. As Ramsey Muniz so eloquently put it in a letter he sent to Pete just days before Pete’s death, 'Pete’s sacrifices for the masses in Waco and for his beloved family cannot ever be denied. I will always be a testament to the love he had for his family and for his people….people who do not even know that we exist today.'"