El Paso Politics

Perez and Loya at an event earlier in the campaign The question on people's mind about the El Paso County Commissioner's race for precinct #3 is who will Dora Oaxaca endorse in the run off? Personally, I don't think its much of a question. There's no way in hell she ever endorses Vince Perez. She will either not endorse anyone or she will endorse Quintanilla. From the sound of her election night interviews it sounds like she is going to endorse Quintanilla. The two candidates running on a reform or change message were Rudy Loya and Vince Perez. Loya immediately endorsed Perez. It makes sense considering they were pretty like-minded in terms of their platform. Oaxaca used to work for Quintanilla in the past so it wouldn't be a shocker if she endorsed Quintanilla. Theoretically if you added Oaxaca's numbers to Quintanilla's numbers it would be enough to give him a win. But that would be predicated on every single Oaxaca supporter went back to the polls and vot...

Things are a little cloudy following the election for the State Board of Education. Martha Dominguez apparently won solidly with 55% of the vote. Which is weird because she basically did no campaigning for the job at all. And no one can seem to find her. She's pretty much disappeared. The reason that raises eyebrows is because word on the street is that Dominguez may have actually sent a letter  indicating she was dropping out of the race prior to the election. But I don't think its actually possible to drop out after the filing deadline, so the question would then become whether she would actually accept the nomination to take on Charlie Garza in the general election. I'm trying to track this one down so stay tuned...

These are in no particular order, just stuff that was running through my mental camera today. "I really like Metallica, do you have any Metallica?" - Phil Mullin "Its good to be in my old hood." - Phill Mullin "...Cuz when you're with a Quintanilla, shit gets done!" Matthew Quintanilla (Note: I'm not breaking my resolution about cursing on my blog because I'm quoting someone else!) "I have never voted." Aaron Barraza "I am not associated with any of them." Carlos Leon "Willie Gandara was an absent Commissioner." Dora Oaxaca "He just shuffled papers for the Congressman." Chente Quintanilla "What did you have for breakfast?" Reporter to Beto O'Rourke "I'm a Baptist-Catholic" Ben E. Mendoza "I am unapologetic about that because this community deserves better. And I intend to fight for these people that have been for too long, taken advantage of by a cycle of failed leadership...

Press Release Release-05!30!12

Quick thoughts on the Congressional race. To Reyes supporters - I know its going to take awhile, but the Congressman lost. Process it and move forward. Don't be bitter. Its politics, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. To O'Rourke supporters - Reyes isn't the devil. He never was. And lets not pretend that he didn't make a big contribution to El Paso because he did. Don't gloat, its not going to win you any friends. I am surprised at how many Republicans appear to have turned out to flip for O'Rourke. I didn't think that would happen and it apparently did. When O'Rourke's Democratic credentials were challenged it probably made it a lot easier for Republicans to cross over. The Reyes campaign showed exactly why you should never run a campaign by committee. Too many people debating minutia. And it is also a lesson about social media. The Reyes people really flipped out online. Calling City Representative Susie Byrd a p$%* on Facebook just looks crass...

The local El Paso Democratic Party has been castrated. I say that as a loyal member of the El Paso Democratic Party. Lets just rip the band-aide off here. We are completely ineffective. We have lost our connection to the people and that happened because the people stopped being the priority and power started being the focus. The only real power comes from the people. The local Democratic Party is incapable of getting anyone elected. We are completely ineffective on that front. Endorsements from the Democratic Party mean nothing. Absolutely nothing. The party itself doesn't work. A few of the clubs do, but the party itself is a mess. A hot mess. And the hope for a new direction in the Party was Butch Maya. And somehow Maya lost. Rick Melendrez will want to take credit for guerilla campaigning but lets be honest, he won because of his name. Butch had a long name that sounded white on the ballot. Melendrez is not liked within the party. Actually, that is putting it lightly. He is desp...

It wasn't supposed to happen. He wasn't supposed to do it. He's not “valley enough”. He's not “Mexican-enough”. He looks to young, he's too skinny, he doesn't have money, he's not connected to power factions in the valley, he doesn't come from a political family. Oh, and he doesn't speak Spanish. And yet, Vince Perez was able to end up in a run-off election against State Rep Chente Quintanilla for the El Paso County Commissioner Precinct 3 seat. He was able to defeat two valley candidates. He was able to beat someone with more name ID. More money. More political connections. How did he do it? By running the most efficient campaign in town. Vince Perez along with Jose Landeros and Jorge Reyes ran the most effective campaign I've seen in a long time. From day one Perez had strategy in place. He had, hands down, the most effective message discipline of any campaign. More so than either of the Congressional candidates. They made eve...

Former El Paso County Commissioner Precinct #3 candidate Rudy Loya threw his support behind Vince Perez last night. I spoke with Mr. Loya last night and he confirmed he would be supporting Perez in the run-off election against Chente Quintanilla. "I'm going to support Vince Perez. You can quote me on that." More details to follow.

State Rep Marisa Marquez soundly defeated political new-comer Aaron Barraza last night, getting over 60% of the vote. Clearly Marquez is more popular than others would have you believe. It took a tough campaign for her to defeat former State Rep Paul Moreno and she had to go against almost the entire political establishment to do so. A campaign against a new-comer shouldn't have been all that difficult. And it wasn't. But I do have to give credit where credit is due. As a candidate, Barraza really improved along the way. When I first met him, he didn't know anything. But he clearly was able to bone up on issues and improved as a candidate greatly. The problem for him was that the campaign itself didn't improve along the way the same way he did. He needed experienced campaign people guiding him. Not his best friend. (BTW, Matt has a future in politics too, this was a learning experience. No one does anything well the first time.) The fact that Barraza did as w...

Its usually the most unlikely person that ends up making history. An older black woman in the South who refuses to “know her place” and move to the back of the bus. A skinny middle-aged Hindu who leads a peaceful revolt against the British Empire. Or a young Chinese man staring down a tank. The most unlikely people making change happen. And now...a college professor who is at heart a country girl from Clint has shattered a huge glass ceiling in El Paso County. No woman has ever been elected to a major valley seat before. Alicia Chacon was elected County Judge, but that was a countywide seat. A valley-only seat has never been occupied by a woman. That is until now. Mary Gonzalez was elected to represent House District 75 over her two opponents Tony San Roman and Hector Enriquez. She won the race by the book. She had a well-funded successful ground game. She had a team of consultants around her helping her out. But give credit where credit is due. None of that could've happened...

Sorry, I know the title gets everyone all excited, but its not a credible candidate for Congress. Its one of the Republicans. Sources close to the campaign indicate that Barabara Carrasco, one of the Republican sacrificial lambs in September, has parted ways with her campaign manager. Apparently the cover story is that he left for health reasons. Yeah right. Sources indicate that there were no health reasons and that the departure came about because of something else. Sadly, this is probably the most exciting thing that is going to happen to her campaign, other than being this year's also-ran. That reminds me...that vato owes me Cattleman's...

Sorry about this piece. Doesn't really have a point, but I'm ranting here. So here we go. What the hell is up with Arditti's opponents. They decide during early voting to start campaigning hard? You don't win an election during early voting if you know what you are doing. What the hell happened to Cervantes? I haven't seen him on the campaign trail in months. Literally. I got some text messages, but the candidate hasn't been seen by me in months. Anna Perez and Dolores Reyes have been working it pretty hard. During the first couple of days I saw some of his family campaigning, but thats it. Standing at street corners is not productive. I don't know who the hell started telling people that standing on a street corner during early voting was a worthwhile venture, but it isn't. It is an INCREDIBLE waste of time. Yes, more people will see you at a street corner. But that doesn't mean more VOTERS will see you. Think about it, a small percentage of the peo...

I would encourage you to check out my YouTube channel. There is PLENTY of stuff there for you to look through. I have interviewed just about every candidate who is running for anything. If I didn't interview them, I at least posted video of their speeches or debates. Take some time and watch whatever you find useful. Make informed choices, its your patriotic duty as an American. http://www.youtube.com/user/LionStar75

Okay media types, here is were some of the candidates will be on election night. If you need contact info for them, contact me and I'll hook it up. Congressman Reyes - Doubletree Hotel Beto O'Rourke - The Garden Mary Gonzalez - Mammacita's (it's in Clint, across from Cotton-Eyed Joe's) Anna Perez - Playa Azul 9515 Gateway West Dolores Reyes - The Lunchbox Laura Strathmann - Geogeske's (Cincinatti) Don Williams - The McCall Center Lucila Flores Camarena - Chicago's Street Food (on Mesa by UTEP) Liza Montelongo - Vista Hills Country Club Carlos Leon - Radisson (Airport) Rudy Loya - Del Rio Hall (11380 Reid Road, Socorro) Those are the only ones I know about right now. I asked candidates to let me know, so if any others contact me I will update this piece, so check back from time to time. I still don't know where Aaron Barraza, Hector Enriquez, Rep Marquez, Vince Perez, Chente Quintanilla, Dora Oaxaca, or any of the other major candidates are having their e...

All the local coverage is focused on the 16 th Congressional District in El Paso. It makes sense, its the largest and most hotly-contested race the county has seen in many years – possibly ever. But I think the biggest story is being missed by most people. The biggest story in El Paso is going to be the race for Texas House District 75. Why? Simple. Because despite the fact that we are more than a decade in to the 21 st century, there has never been a woman elected to a major seat in the Lower Valley. Mary Gonzalez is poised to do just that. She is poised to shatter the biggest glass ceiling in the county. Her opponent has tried to highlight her sexuality as an issue and her election would also be historic for the LGBT community. But I think its more of a story about women. The valley is almost entirely Latino. Women hold a special place in Latino families. They are the glue that binds the family. They are the first leaders in a family. And yet, there has never been a woma...

Okay candidates, the media is going to call me and ask anyway, so lets make this easy. Send me an email, text, or comment below the location of your election night event. Then I'll make another post on Election Day with the location of everyone's election night shin-digs so that it will be easier for them to send out their crews.

I had another opportunity to shadow a candidate earlier this week and it was Vince Perez. Perez, who was formerly the Press Secretary to Congressman Reyes is a candidate for El Paso County Commissioner Precinct #3. The day started at 8:00am at his home near Bel Air High School. I'd been to the home before and it has been transformed. It is now a giant campaign headquarters for his campaign, with signs, walking lists, and other campaign materials all over the place. If you haven't met Perez its important you understand who he is. Vince Perez is a nerd. I don't mean it in a derogatory way, what I mean is, he is the text-book example of what you think of that nerd you went to high school with that is all grown-up now. He is successful, incredibly intelligent, and he is a little awkward. He's lanky and tall. Dresses in nice suits when its necessary but is most comfortable in western shirts, a pair a boots, and jeans that look uncomfortably tight. And he's a very nervous...

If this is accurate, I think the media is going to be asking some very difficult questions to Victor Flores, the County Tax Assessor Collector. Armando Rodriguez, his opponent, has been requesting documents through open records and was finally able to "connect the dots". Here's what he came up with:

The correct date is the 23rd.

Gallego Invite

Complaint Details Multiple Violations of State Campaign Finance Disclosure Laws Alexis Reza filed another ethics complaint against Candidate Hector Enriquez for failing to report campaign activities required by Texas campaign finance laws. “I just want to know what else is he hiding? We have had enough of corrupt politicians who think they are above the law and routinely lie to the public about their finances,” Reza commented. State representative candidates are required to pay a $750 filing fee with the Texas Democratic Party. The complaint points out that at a minimum, the campaign failed to report that payment, in addition to another incomplete expense entry and failing to properly report Cash on Hand amounts on 1/13/2012, 1/23, 2012 and 1/25/2012. Enriquez also spent more money than he reported raising in his finance reports, indicating unreported contributions. Reza said, “Enriquez must have either been too busy running his same old tired smear campaign to follow the law or j...

Hector Enriquez never ceases to amaze. According to his 8 day report, he neither captured any money nor spent any money. 8 Day Report And yet he ends with a balance that is $12,000 less than what it was for the previous report. Uh, that doesn't add up. I think Mr. Enriquez should realize that he actually had to "swear, or affirm, under penalty of perjury..." that the information in the report "is true and correct." Or maybe he is just really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, bad at math. Its a non-stop sequence of blunders with this guy. I think I will now actually be offended if Gonzalez doesn't beat him without a run-off. That's okay Enriquez. Just remember what you told me the other day at Pavo Real... "Jesus loves you."

A shoving match broke out at Carolina. I actually had to get involved. I'll post more about it later but it was between camps of rival judicial candidates Regina Arditti and Ray Gutierrez. I was a witness so I can say that from what I saw, the Gutierrez worker was 100% at fault. Mario Arditti recorded the audio. Which makes you wonder what the vato was thinking considering there are some pretty big guys there like Jose Landeros, Matt Quintanilla, and myself. Judge Arditti showed up as it was dying down but it flared up again. Details later ...

Lucila Flores Camarena is coming on strong in this race. She got a real bounce from her Times endorsement and her spouse has apparently spent all his free time putting signs up over the last week. I don't know if they did any mail at all, but she has really upped her campaign visibility. There were a few times when it appeared that she was hard to find. But she's got a definate higher profile than before. Couple that with the fact that she's the only Hispanic female and it makes it hard for me to really call who is going to be in the run-off with Strathmann.

Shadowing Okay, I'm shadowing another candidate for the day. This time its Vince Perez. Don't complain about who I'm shadowing because I issued a blanket invitation and they are the ones that responded so far. Offer still stands if you are interested. Clarifying Enriquez & Perry Donation I've been having a conversation with someone on Twitter about Mary Gonzalez and Hector Enriquez. This person and I, (I don't know if the person is male or female) agree on more than 90% of everything, except HD 75. Their issue with Gonzalez is the Austin money. My issue with Enriquez, other than not knowing much about issues, is that he donated to Rick Perry, three different times and in my opinion there has not been a worse Governor for El Paso than Perry. So maybe I haven't clarified why its such a problem. Enriquez donated to Perry on more than one occassion. Enriquez counters that he's been a life-long Democrat and donated a $1000 to the TDP. In fact I think En...

Mike Cervantes is one of the judicial candidates vying for a seat on the bench. This campaign season has seen more than a few candidates try new tactics in social and electronic media. None of which is really ground breaking, but it does show a growing acceptance and implementation of social and electronic media in a town that is still decidedly old-school when it comes to campaigning. But for the first time that I can remember, this campaign season has seen the implementation of a text messaging campaign. To my knowledge, thats the first time its been done. The O'Rourke team had it as part of its campaign roll-out. Their text messaging campaign started with a universe of zero if I understand it correctly. Cervantes was the first candidate to actually buy in to an EXISTING text messaging universe. The reason I am commenting on it is because I am pretty familiar with what he did, seeing as I was one of the people who managed the texting community at Entravision, which is where he pu...

After spending a great deal of time in the filed during early voting I think I need to modify a couple predictions. First, based on what I've seen, I think the Congressman may be in some trouble. There are a lot more voters that are heading to the polls than expected. And they aren't people that regularly vote in the Democratic Primary. Even down in the valley it is pretty close. That's bad for Reyes because he needs to take the valley vote by a wide margin. Dolores Reyes had to clarify to she was running in a different race...to a Spanish dominant voter. And in the constable race down in the valley, I think Javier Garcia is going to win that one pretty handily. You can tell they worked it pretty hard.

This isn't a problem for the staff that work in the Elections Department at the county, but it is a big problem for the staff out in the field. Seriously, they need some customer service training. It doesn't cost anything extra to be nice. It requires no additional effort. It looks like they went out of their way to find some of the most sour people to be election workers and data people. It needs to get fixed.

As I previously wrote, I offered candidates a chance to have me shadow them for a day so they could take me through a day in the life of a campaign. The only one who took me up on the offer was Mary Gonzalez, who is a candidate for State Representative in HD 75. After spending a day with someone, you start to get to know them pretty well. I spend a lot of time with the candidates in general and I try to be as observant as I can along the way. But a day with Mary Gonzalez was eye-opening and I now understand why she does some of the things she does. I'll explain that later. BREAKFAST We met at 7:00am at Cotton-Eyed Joe's, which is the place to hang out in Clint if you want to talk politics. And the food is pretty good too. The restaurant is pretty much another campaign office for the young candidate. I arrived a few minutes before she did and she sent me a text to let me know she had arrived. I went to meet her at her truck and she was already multi-tasking. She was on speaker p...

Just a quick note here. I have been asked by a few people lately about other places to comment on material posted here on the LSB. Yes, people can and do comment on my personal or LSB Facebook pages as well. So if you prefer to do so there, feel free. Send me a friend request or "like" my LSB page on Facebook. Very simple.

President Barack Obama: A Courageous and fearless Man Mitt Romney? A Bully By Joe Olvera ©, 2012 I believe that President Barack Obama’s support of gay marriage is one of the most  courageous acts I’ve ever seen any President exercise. He could’ve waited until he is re-elected, which he will be. But, no, he took a plunge that will have far-reaching repercussions in making our nation the most liberated and visionary in the world. Knowing that gay people still face murder, persecution, discrimination and hatred for their sexual proclivities, he said that he will accept gay marriage as part and parcel of what makes this country great. By legalizing, in his mind, marriage between gays, he is opening the hearts and souls of Americans, whether they agree with him or not. As you all know, only five or six states have leg...

I just posted a line in the previous piece about the problem with using the toilet at the Fabens polling site. Its at the Roads and Bridges building, which is a county facility. Roads and Bridges didn't want poll sitters to use the restroom. Some please explain to me who the hell the idiot is that made that executive decision. And then tell me why they still have a job. So Rudy Loya, candidate for El Paso County Commissioner Precinct #3 decided to come up with a solution to the problem. He decided to organize, as they say in the valley, a "collecta" among the other candidates to get a port-a-john for the site. Mary Gonzalez and Rudy Loya are now going to split the costs of renting the unit and it will be serviced daily. From what I understand there is now a problem with where they can put it. Props to the two for finding a solution, but that's not the point. There is no reason that they should have to come up with a solution for a problem that some admin pendejo never...

So it looks like the Texas Association of Business is sticking up for their guy, Hector Enriquez. They sent me this document in response to the Texas State Teacher's Association Press Release from earlier in the week. TSTARESPONSERELEASE

Props to the poll sitters out there. I've been keeping an eye on the Eastside and Lower Valley polling places. I love to go to them because they are so intense and all the fun stuff happens there. Some are paid to be out there. But it isn't a lot. Most are just family, friends, and supporters of the candidates. Either way, being out there can be taxing. People pass the time by talking with the other workers. But every once in a while, the competitive nature of the campaign flares up and there are some spats that break out. The valley, as usual, is the hot bed for this type of stuff although it happens every where. I think I've figured out a general trend in terms of the culprits. Not all the time of course, but most of the time, when there is a flare up - it involves family members. Paid poll workers and volunteers are there to support their candidate but in general they aren't as passionate about the candidate as family. Family has skin in the game. And when you have s...

I know, I haven't written as much lately as I normally do. Been a little preoccupied with some other stuff but time to get back in to the swing of things. So, here's the deal with the Congressional exit polling. I said it was going to be really close. It appears to be pretty close too. But lets keep something in perspective about that polling. I actually observed the pollers for about 40 minutes on the first day of voting. The polling is being done by high school students. I'm not sure what their sample is going to be like but I couldn't recognize a pattern in the time I was there. Don't get me wrong, the Coronado students are awesome. Really bright and motivated kids. Seriously, they will impress you if you get a chance to talk with them and their instructor deserves a pat on the back for his work. But they are teenagers. They tend to socialize with one another when they get bored. Or text or play around on Facebook. All I'm saying is that I wouldn't read t...

Apparently this happened last night, but as you can see Mary Gonzalez's campaign sign was hit again by another act of vandalism. No word on whether the campaign filed a police report.

Hector Enriquez has apparently stepped in it again with his retweets. This time he has apparently upset the Texas State Teachers Association, which is now a good thing for a former school board member. In this press release sent out a few minutes ago, the TSTA takes issue with Enriquez retweeting and promoting an effort to "repeal educational standards". The entire press release is at the bottom. Arlina Valencia, president of the Ysleta Teachers Association, issues this pretty stinging statement. “I can’t imagine why an El Paso candidate would align himself with private charter operators who seek to eliminate public education standards instead of supporting the legal effort being waged by our local school districts,” said Arlinda Valencia, president of the Ysleta Teachers Association.  “El Paso needs better state support for our local schools, and we won’t get that from people seeking to enrich themselves by cramming students into overcrowded classrooms with untrained, unqual...

Yesterday at the Carolina Center, Theresa Caballero got in a verbal altercation with a voter that did not want to vote for her. The confrontation, which got the attention of all the poll workers stationed at the lower valley polling place lasted about a minute. The exchange lasted for about a minute and eventually got pretty personal. Caballero also went on the attack against her two opponents, Jose Castillo and Diana Navarette alleging that they are campaigning on county time in an email sent out to her supporters. "That is absolutely false and is a libelous statement!", Castillo stated when asked for comment. Castillo was referring to this statement that is part of the email sent out: "Both of my opponents, with their limited experience manage to draw over $100,000/year in salary and benefits of taxpayer money while campaigning openly during work hours." So Caballero is making a statement about both candidates that they deny doing and she offers no proof. I'm...