El Paso Politics

8.30.12 Voter Id Release

Getsemani Yanez, who previously ran campaigns for Lyda Ness and Carlos Leon, and most notably part of the recent Reyes re-election bid, is likely going to be the first official candidate in the District 2 race to replace City Rep Susie Byrd who is termed out. He already has a treasurer established and has been attending meetings and events for quite awhile now. Yanez will likely be the first in a crowd of candidates for the position. Prominent Democrat Mike Apodaca has already made his interest known about a possible bid for the seat. Its still very early and Yanez will be in a crowded field of candidates so he'll have to start pounding the ground pretty heard if he wants to make a run-off. More on this and other municipal races in the next few days...

Someone find the biggest milk carton available and plaster a picture of the UTEP University Dems. People around the UTEP campus have been asking what ever happened to the University Democrats. They were reborn (again) last year and were given much more fanfare within the El Paso Democratic Party than the Young Democrats because well, EPYD couldn't be controlled by the former chair. But in typical University Democrat fashion, here today, gone tomorrow. Even the College Republicans are asking what the hell happened to their colleagues from the left. Frankly, its a bit of a shame too because the UTEP College Republicans are in an almost all-Democrat town but have been recognized for their activism by the state entity of the College Republicans. So someone go wake up the University Dems and tell them to get off the bench and get their butts in the game will ya?

I previously wrote about the controversial meeting for the El Paso Democratic Party last Monday. I pretty much just gave an account of what I had heard from people in attendance. Now - its time for a bit of my own commentary. I'm really sick of the notion that the old fossils that are the Old Guard somehow deserve a "place" and that we are somehow compelled to respect them. Eff that. I don't. Respect is earned and I can tell you that acting like a spoiled child because your candidates lost is stupid. You don't deserve respect if you can't lose with a little class. Maybe if you old fossils got off your asses and actually worked then you candidates wouldn't lose. But you think working for the Party is showing up to meetings, making asses of yourselves, and trying to keep good people out, and drinking is working for the Party. It isn't. Hell you geezers couldn't manage a Facebook account. Sad to say that isn't an exaggeration either.  All of you i...

I am taking care of some family business right now so I am out of the loop on a few things. But since Monday night I have received a slew of phone calls, emails, text messages, and FB inboxes about the swearing-in ceremony for the new Chairman of the El Paso Democratic Party. It was a royal mess. Surprise, surprise.  Actually, some people should count themselves lucky I wasn't there because I would've been recording it and I would've posted the whole mess online. But since I wasn't there, they have a reprieve.  But I pieced together what happened based on my conversations with people that attended the event. Here's how it wen't down... On Monday night’s swearing-in ceremony held at The Garden, the local Democratic Party and its leadership proved once again why the local party is a joke to so many people. It was a damn novela for the people in attendance. There are a few things to take away from the entire evening: New Leadership The new leadership of the party...

Gilberto Hinojosa, the first Latino Democratic Party State Chairmen in Texas will be in El Paso as part of the swearing-in ceremony of the new El Paso Democratic Party leadership team. The event is being organized by the in-coming Chairmen Rick Melendrez and will be on Monday at 6:30pm at The Garden in downtown El Paso. This event is open to the public and there will be refreshments available.

Joe Moody's race for HD 78 has been called one of the most important races in the state legislature this year. Perhaps that's why Senator Rodriguez and State Representative-elect Mary Gonzalez have taken the lead and come out to financially support Moody. The mere fact that the head of our legislative delegation is leading the way in support of Moody should send a message to the rest of the delegation to jump on board. Chairman Pickett has stated that he's going to stay out of it and Representatives Marquez and Gonzalez have been pretty quiet so far. While I understand that there is some sort of unwritten rule about helping out against incumbents, I think Pickett, Marquez, and Gonzalez have a higher obligation to the people of El Paso to support a candidate who's positions are more consistent with the values and priorities of El Pasoans. Representative Margo toed the Republican Party line on key votes that have had a very negative impact on El Pasoans. Pickett, Marquez,...

Some updated information from yesterday's piece on the GOP faction stuff. It turns out there is another version of whats going on over there with my friends on the right. Apparently the other version is that Dan Chavez is not running the Republican congressional nominee's campaign because he is focused on his own senate run. He's going to lose that one bigger than the one he lost two years ago by the way. But it turns out the the Republican nominee's former campaign manager that left her campaign on election day is now running...you guessed it...Dan Chavez's campaign. But the reports of infighting within the Republican nominee's camp appear to be pretty consistent. Which is strange because they apparently haven't been looking at the math. No matter what happens, they just don't have the votes to be a threat in November...

Homegirls of the Week: County Judge Veronica Escobar and Commissioner's Perez and Chozet get the Homegirl of the Week Award for voting in favor of domestic partner benefits at the County. Good for them. It wasn't an easy vote and they took it anyway. It was an especially difficult vote on the part of Escobar because she's the only member of Court that is still going to be around come January and from the news coverage it appears she did it mostly because it was the right thing to do. But I think they also made an effective economic argument for domestic partner benefits at the County. It saves tax payers money and that is a hard argument to be against, even if your name is Dan Haggerty. The meeting had the usual group of people that are against gay rights including Bishop Brown, his wife, Sal "I Want Attention" Gomez, and Nacho "Oh, Pretty Please, Let Me Still Be Relevant" Padilla. We've seen this same show at the city. The only thing that has chang...

They certainly aren't at the point where they can have a good ol' fashioned El Paso Faction War between various groups within the El Paso Republican Party, but my friends from across the aisle seem to be in the midst of a little scuffle over factions. Apparently the campaign manager for their nominee, I forget her name, was a guy that left her campaign on the day of the primary election. Word on the street is that Dan Chavez is running the congressional campaign and apparently that is bothering another faction of the local GOP. Dan Chavez previously ran for State Senate in the last election against State Senator Jose Rodriguez. I should mention that the Ron Paul supporters are somewhat of a pivot point for the local GOP. Lets face it, they are the actual worker bees the GOP needs in order to make any of the elections they are about to lose in November look respectable. A good portion of the El Paso Liberty Group are supporters of the Democratic Nominee Beto O'Rourke. Some p...

On August 20th, there will be a changing of the guard with the El Paso Democratic Party. The new Chairman of the El Paso Democratic Party, Rick Melendrez, will take over from the current Chairman Danny Anchondo. Melendrez's previous reign as Party Chairman was shadowed by controversy and a range of allegations but the new Chairman is already making some changes. I've heard that the new Secretary of the El Paso Democratic Party is going to be Illiana Holguin, spouse of City Representative Eddie Holguin. They also made an official announcement yesterday that the new PIO is Soraya Holguin (pictured). I don't know what her public relations experience is as of yet but it is a step in a different direction for the Democratic Party. Lets face it, the Party's public relations has either been non-existent or terrible. There has been a complete lack of presence from the Party in local media and its a rare occasion that the Party ever voices opinion on local, state, or federal pol...

I tried to catch the Commissioner's Court meeting this morning on-line this morning because I wanted to see the Domestic Partners Benefits debate. However I thought another item was interesting. Justice of the Peace Brian Haggerty had to be before the Court to ask for permission to raise a fee about something I don't remember or care about. I thought it was funny that Judge Haggerty and Commissioner Haggerty (his older brother) were going back and forth on the issue. I got a kick out of them calling each other by their titles. Somewhere Ma Haggerty is smiling...

We are spending a bunch of money on an out-of-town artist to come to El Paso and make images from Loteria on our transit stations out of old car parts? Look, I love art as much as the next guy. I don't have an artistic bone in my body, unless you count the ability to tell someone to go to hell, in which case, I'm Picasso. I'd never be the type to say what is and isn't art. But I can say what is and isn't insulting. And this Alameda corridor art project is a slap in the face. As it is there is a problem with blight on Alameda. Its the part of town full run-down car dealerships and parts stores. Its something many are trying to overcome. And someone that it was a good idea to send money to someone out-of-town to make art out of old car parts in the area of town trying to overcome a stigma? If I didn't know better, I'd think someone was TRYING to perpetuate a stigma rather than have a worthwhile art project. BTW, I feel I should note that I think Loteria is a d...

I guess it wasn't really advertised much but I dropped in on a joint meeting of El Paso's City Council and Commissioner's Court. I gather that the main topic was shared services and consolidation. If you think a City Council or Commissioner's Court meeting is exhilarating and entertaining on their own, imagine all that fun jam-packed in to one meeting! Sorry...that's sarcasm. I apparently have a reader who's lips still move when they read and they don't always understand sarcasm so I feel I need to point it out now. For some reason, they beat the crap out of a dead horse on the topic of IT consolidation. Not sure why considering that is the part of consolidation that seems to have been the most successful consolidation venture. But for some reason Representative Robinson couldn't seem to wrap his head around the fact that a cost avoidance is similar to a cost savings. Either way, its money the tax payer's don't have to spend. Not sure why that is...

I've written in the past about operatives and volunteers in the area and the work they do. Since most of Team Perez are people you probably have never heard of, I thought I'd do a profile of them so you get to know the people that played a key role in helping Vince Perez pull off a major political upset. So, first things first. None of it could have happened without a gifted candidate. You can have the best team in the world, but if your candidate is sub-par, doesn't know the issues, is horrible on camera, stubborn, shoots off at the mouth, or doesn't listen to advice, then no amount of talent is going to pull out a win. I've seen that first hand. Here's the team you've probably never heard of: The Mastermind – Jose Landeros was the campaign manager and Perez and Landeros quickly became a strong team. In fact, for most of the campaign, it was just the two of them. Interestingly Landeros wasn't Perez's first choice for the position. Landeros tells th...

Obviously all the candidates that won could be considered winners but there is more to that in terms of run-off winners and losers. Lets start with winners. First and foremost the people of Precinct 3 -   They won more than anyone in the run-off because now they will be able to move past the culture of corruption and failed leadership that has plagued the valley for so long. If Vince Perez has shown anything in this race, he's shown that he's a fighter and gets results. Vince Perez -  He won by not listening to people when they said it can't be done. He won by out-working his opponents and not being afraid to go in to hostile territory if necessary. He won by beating them at their own game. His win gives him some very valuable political clout that isn't given, its earned. Its called street cred. Diana Navarrete -  She soundly defeated Theresa Caballero who has now been in three consecutive races and has lost every time. In my opinion the message from voters about Th...

Yes, I am the Arch Duke of Democrats, I fully acknowledge that. But sometimes, my own party makes me want to put my head in my hands and say "What the hell?" Word on the street, although unconfirmed, is that Aaron Barraza, who was closely tied to the Moreno faction of the Party in his run for State Rep earlier this year is now going to be the new Parliamentarian for the El Paso Democratic Party under the new Party Chair, Rick Melendrez. So the person who is going to make official interpretations of the state TDP rules is someone who has only voted once in their life? Great...I'm sure thats going to work out wonderful. Oh and hey, speaking of voting for the first time in this last election...shout out to El Paso County Commissioner Tania Chozet who despite being registered to vote since '08, finally voted in her first election in El Paso during the Primary earlier this year. A couple more elections and she'll be considered a reliable voter. Yay.

So I took a look at Dee Margo's PAC earlier today and I noticed its called Amigo's de Dee Margo. Wow, he's really buying in to this whole Latino heritage thing now huh? Interestingly of the "amigos", only contributor appears to have a Spanish name and only one appears to be from El Paso. Dee Margo, the gift that keeps on giving. Oh, in other Margo news, it appears the son that famously said something along the lines of El Paso isn't good enough for his dad when he lost to Joe Moody the first time is apparently back in town.

According to a Facebook post, the Republican candidate for the 388th Family Court in November, Paula Thomas, has withdrawn her name from the ballot. So if the report is accurate, then Laura Starthmann is Judge-Elect of the 388th Family Court. Smart move on the part of Thomas, she was going to lose anyway. You have to go pretty far back to the last time a Republican won a countywide seat.

Take a look at this image. Its a picture of list of candidates that Representative Quintanilla poll sitters were passing out to voters during early voting. The candidates listed forged alliances with Quintanilla because the perception was that he would be able to get out the vote. I guess it didn't occur to any of them that Quintanilla has never really had a serious challeger in an election. Know what all the names have in common? They all won. Except one.

Long-time El Paso journalist Sito Negron will be joining the staff of State Senator Jose Rodriguez soon. Negron will be the Communications Director for El Paso's Democratic Senator for the 29th District of Texas. Negron has worked at the El Paso Times, Newspaper Tree, and the El Paso Inc.

David K nailed it in this piece in that special way only The Juice can. Especially when he talks about staying relevant and rejection. Read it here! http://refusethejuice.typepad.com/thinkaboutit/2012/08/pat-yourself-on-the-back-el-paso-you-finally-did-something-right.html

Long-time State Representative Innocente “Chente” Quintanilla was soundly defeated Tuesday by Vince Perez in the Democratic run-off election for El Paso County Commissioner Precinct #3. Perez defeated Quintanilla by more than 13%, which in political terms, is a big win. Especially when you consider the context. Quintanilla was for all intents and purposes an incumbent. A 13%+ victory over an incumbent is a huge victory. Before other voices start whining about the results, let me just lay it out for you. Last night was the ultimate story of the underdog. By conventional thinking, Vince Perez was not supposed to win. He was supposed to lose and lose big. Quintanilla had every single advantage possible and was still solidly thumped by Perez. So before people start rolling out excuses, lets face the facts. The people of Precinct 3 spoke loudly last night. The people chose Vince Perez to be the next County Commissioner of Precinct #3. Chente had more money. Actually, LOTS more money. (I...

As I look at the results of last night's election I started to wonder if any of the candidates that lost called the victor to congratulate them. I know that Vince Perez has not received a phone call from Chente Quintanilla as of yet. If I remember correctly I don't think O'Rourke ever received a call from Reyes though I think Reyes might have congratulated O'Rourke in the media, and I'm not sure if any of the other candidates called their opponents. I know Rudy Loya called to congratulate Perez for making the run-off during the primary and Rudy Loya actually attended Perez's results-watching event last night. In fact, Loya and his wife collected all the Perez signs from the valley so that the Perez family could get some much-needed rest. I remember a time in politics that even in hotly-contested races the opponent would call the victor and offer congratulations. Hell, even though I'm often critical of former State Representative Norma Chavez, I have to admit...

This is just a quick little note to someone who frequently comments on pieces I write about the Precinct 3 race (more to come on that race in just a few minutes by the way). Memmer when we were talking about the split between urban voters and rural voters in Precinct 3 and how I said that a majority of the voters in that Precinct come from the metro areas of El Paso, Horizon City, and Socorro? Memmer when you were saying that I didn't know what I was talking about and that I should get a Precinct map? Well I had already seen the numbers which is why I made that statement in the first place and knew what I was talking about. But I didn't respond to you then but filed your remark away in my head for today. So now that the race is over, I think maybe you are the one that has never seen the Precinct 3 map. The majority of the voters in the Precinct live exactly where I said they did. Check the scoreboard Rosie...