More on Abe Peinado

I was able to track down District 1’s newest candidate Abe Peinado over the phone a couple days ago.


As you may have heard me say, District 1 is really short on talent in terms of the candidates. In general I think the municipal elections have a lower caliber of candidate overall, but it is especially true of the candidates in District 1.

But of the candidates in District 1, Peinado looks like he’s a little stronger than his peers. He is pretty young (in his late 20’s), which wouldn’t be bad for him if he had some prior political experience. But he doesn’t, so his sphere of influence in terms of a base of support and volunteers is going to be slim pickings.

Here’s a little more info about him. He went to Morehead, then Coronado, and graduated from UTEP with a degree in Finance in 2006. He then left El Paso and moved to Dallas a while back. He moved back to El Paso about a year and a half ago.

Peinado has started his own insurance firm last January and employs 3 people. He mentioned having to sell off some of his toys so that he can make payroll, so he’s a guy that knows what its like to sign the front of a paycheck, not just the back of one.

I had asked Peinado where he fit on the political spectrum and he was reluctant to answer the question, though he eventually described himself as a fiscal conservative. After doing the dance about what his political views are I finally asked him how many elections he’d voted in and if he voted in the Democratic or Republican primary. He said he voted in the Republican primary.

Not surprising and not the kiss of death. All of the candidates in District 1 are Republicans and several members of city council are conservative Democrats.

I asked Peinado several questions about the issues facing city council and he demonstrated a pretty strong grasp of the issues and most of his answers were focused around small business and making El Paso a more business-friendly city. He seemed to have concrete ideas on the matter and much more of a fleshed-out plan than the other candidates.

Near the end of our conversation we started talking about the Domestic Partnership issue. He said he would do what the voters said and I asked how he voted on the issue and he stated he voted against allowing city employees to have Domestic Partner Benefits. I don’t know if that makes him a social conservative across the board, but you all know how I feel about that particular issue.

He issued a press release that mentioned he lives with his brother and enjoys lifting weights. I think that might be the first time I ever saw someone mention their living arrangement and weightlifting in a press release.

Still, one of the biggest challenges Peinado will face in addition to being relatively politically unknown, is the fact that along with the other two candidates, the anti-incumbent vote will be split three ways. That makes it much more difficult for his candidacy, unless he gets some big money backing.

Being a pro-business candidate will make it easier for him to get the backing of the big money people, if they like what they see. There’s no way Besco is getting the money after the bridges he burned. There’s no way that Hinojosa gets the money because he’s simply not a top-tier candidate and his religious and social stances will turn off a lot of voters.