Westside Candidate Debates Coming
Looks like there will be a debate coming together for the two races that matter on the westside. I'm speaking of course of the county commissioner race for precinct 4 and the Justice of the Peace race. Once it all comes together I'll share the details but it appears that all four candidates will be participating.
The race for Justice of the Peace which features two actual real-life attorneys facing each other in the November general election. It is probably the most high-profile JP race in El Paso since Texas became a state. Normally no one gives a crap about JP races because, well, they are JP races.
But the JP race is more than just about the actual race. Its actually even more than the fact that its the first time I can remember two real lawyers going at it for a JP seat.
This race is about the Republicans being able to hold on to one of the few offices they have. Its a gubernatorial year and they will have the edge in turnout in the area. Under Tom Holmsely's leadership the Republicans no longer run a sacrificial lamb for the sake of having a Republican on the ballot. The Republican candidates that normally would have run for office for the sake of having their ego stroked have decided to run as Libertarians now.
Its been a while since I've said this but the Republicans actually have strong candidates running. Y'all know I love my boxing analogies so indulge me if you will, but it appears that Holmsley has the Republicans fighting at a much better weight class.
Running people for countywide races was always an exercise in futility and was a waste of time, treasure, and talent. Now the focus appears to be on expending resources in winnable races. It may also be a function of them just getting tired of taking beat downs and now they have to defend seats they didn't have to before.
I know you'll think I'm biased because I'm a Democrat and all but lets do some objective political analysis of the candidates.
So here's a quick tale of the tape between the candidates.
County Commissioner Precinct 4
Candidate: Andrew Haggerty
Party: Republican
Political Assets: He's a Haggerty. He's running to replace a Haggerty. He's from the most storied political family in town. Clan Haggerty has won races at city council, commissioners court, school board, state representative, constable, and JP. Short of congress, a Haggerty has represented part of El Paso at every level of government. And in memory of "Uncle Dan" I'll just tell it like it is, he's replacing someone with near sainthood status. The guy was dying of cancer and still went to work for the people of precinct 4 literally until just before his passing.
Political Liabilities: He's young and thin on experience in government. Although Republicans look at experience in government as a negative. We'll see how that plays with potential cross-overs. No ground-game at all. He didn't have a difficult primary so he didn't really have a tune-up fight prior to this title shot.
Advantage/Equalizer/X-Factor: Money and the fact that he's a Haggerty are his advantages. The fact that the Republicans will likely come out in bigger numbers because of the gubernatorial election is also a big advantage for Haggerty. The X-Factor is work ethic. In close races the person with the best ground game has the advantage. The Republicans don't have anyone on their side with serious ground-game experience.
Candidate: Julio Diaz
Party: Democratic
Political Assets: Hardworking campaigner. Young and good-looking. Diaz won a tough Democratic primary against an opponent who had experience in county government, was young and dynamic. She was also smoking hot! He out-worked her and it was a great tune-up fight for the general election. He knows the groundwork that needs to happen in order to win.
Political Liabilities: No experience in government. He touts military experience, but its not active duty and its some sort of public affairs job in the military. He's an officer and all, but he plays up the military side but the GI Joe act annoys a lot of combat veterans. Veterans vote. There were several legal issues raised in the primary and mug shots leaked but it wasn't done effectively and he largely killed any concerns about the legal stuff. He has a pretty bad accent, but combined with the telenovela looks, he's got an Antonio Banderas thing going on. However the reality is that people incorrectly assume that because you speak with an accent that you think with an accent. They're wrong, but they think that nonetheless and it will likely hurt him.
Advantage/Equalizer/X-Factor: His advantage is that he's going to outwork Andrew Haggerty. Republicans aren't good ground-gamers in general. Its likely that Haggerty will be heavily relying on his name ID so he may not even be working the ground. Not sure if its going to be enough to overcome Haggerty's money, but it might be. The X-Factor is his choice for campaign manager. Her name is Alma Lopez and her political experience is with the PAN. As in the Partido Accion Nacional. The one from Mexico. Ironically its Mexico's Republican Party equivalent. She's helped several PAN candidates get elected so her experience isn't in doubt. I've never heard of her involvement with campaigns on this side of the border so the X-Factor is will the experience translate, no pun intended.
Justice of the Peace
Candidate: Kelly Dickson
Party: Republican
Political Assets: She's an attorney and can self-fund the campaign. She's got a great reputation in the legal community and on the westside. Smart, dynamic, and has been a worker bee in the Republican Party in the past. She's a conservative but doesn't come across as an extremist and could score some cross-over voters if she touches enough of them. She will also benefit from the Republican brand in a gubernatorial election.
Political Liabilities: The Republican Party doesn't have a mechanism in place for the implementation of a ground game or a straight-ticket push. She also has no established base of support.
Advantage/Equalizer/X-Factor: The X-Factor for Dickson is going to be the ability to communicate with the most amount of voters. Its unlikely any of the Republicans will make a pitch towards Spanish-dominant voters. I'm not sure if Dickson is bilingual but it would be good for her if she was.
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Candidate: Sergio Coronado
Party: Democratic
Political Assets: Name ID. He ran for county judge in a previous election and he's an elected official in an area that is within the JP precinct. That means he already has a base of support and voters have at least a passive knowledge of his name. He's a seasoned attorney and his bilingual.
Political Liabilities: In terms of a JP race, I don't think he has one. I don't think losing the county judge race is really a liability in this race.
Advantage/Equalizer/X-Factor: Kathy Coronado. She's a huge advantage for Coronado because she has ground game experience and has run races around Texas and even in other parts of the country. She knows what she's doing and in a JP race the ability to run a ground game is extremely advantageous. It will likely be the deciding factor in the race if she's able to overcome the Republican's advantage in turnout through an effective ground game.
The race for Justice of the Peace which features two actual real-life attorneys facing each other in the November general election. It is probably the most high-profile JP race in El Paso since Texas became a state. Normally no one gives a crap about JP races because, well, they are JP races.
But the JP race is more than just about the actual race. Its actually even more than the fact that its the first time I can remember two real lawyers going at it for a JP seat.
This race is about the Republicans being able to hold on to one of the few offices they have. Its a gubernatorial year and they will have the edge in turnout in the area. Under Tom Holmsely's leadership the Republicans no longer run a sacrificial lamb for the sake of having a Republican on the ballot. The Republican candidates that normally would have run for office for the sake of having their ego stroked have decided to run as Libertarians now.
Its been a while since I've said this but the Republicans actually have strong candidates running. Y'all know I love my boxing analogies so indulge me if you will, but it appears that Holmsley has the Republicans fighting at a much better weight class.
Running people for countywide races was always an exercise in futility and was a waste of time, treasure, and talent. Now the focus appears to be on expending resources in winnable races. It may also be a function of them just getting tired of taking beat downs and now they have to defend seats they didn't have to before.
I know you'll think I'm biased because I'm a Democrat and all but lets do some objective political analysis of the candidates.
So here's a quick tale of the tape between the candidates.
County Commissioner Precinct 4
Party: Republican
Political Assets: He's a Haggerty. He's running to replace a Haggerty. He's from the most storied political family in town. Clan Haggerty has won races at city council, commissioners court, school board, state representative, constable, and JP. Short of congress, a Haggerty has represented part of El Paso at every level of government. And in memory of "Uncle Dan" I'll just tell it like it is, he's replacing someone with near sainthood status. The guy was dying of cancer and still went to work for the people of precinct 4 literally until just before his passing.
Political Liabilities: He's young and thin on experience in government. Although Republicans look at experience in government as a negative. We'll see how that plays with potential cross-overs. No ground-game at all. He didn't have a difficult primary so he didn't really have a tune-up fight prior to this title shot.
Advantage/Equalizer/X-Factor: Money and the fact that he's a Haggerty are his advantages. The fact that the Republicans will likely come out in bigger numbers because of the gubernatorial election is also a big advantage for Haggerty. The X-Factor is work ethic. In close races the person with the best ground game has the advantage. The Republicans don't have anyone on their side with serious ground-game experience.
Party: Democratic
Political Assets: Hardworking campaigner. Young and good-looking. Diaz won a tough Democratic primary against an opponent who had experience in county government, was young and dynamic. She was also smoking hot! He out-worked her and it was a great tune-up fight for the general election. He knows the groundwork that needs to happen in order to win.
Political Liabilities: No experience in government. He touts military experience, but its not active duty and its some sort of public affairs job in the military. He's an officer and all, but he plays up the military side but the GI Joe act annoys a lot of combat veterans. Veterans vote. There were several legal issues raised in the primary and mug shots leaked but it wasn't done effectively and he largely killed any concerns about the legal stuff. He has a pretty bad accent, but combined with the telenovela looks, he's got an Antonio Banderas thing going on. However the reality is that people incorrectly assume that because you speak with an accent that you think with an accent. They're wrong, but they think that nonetheless and it will likely hurt him.
Advantage/Equalizer/X-Factor: His advantage is that he's going to outwork Andrew Haggerty. Republicans aren't good ground-gamers in general. Its likely that Haggerty will be heavily relying on his name ID so he may not even be working the ground. Not sure if its going to be enough to overcome Haggerty's money, but it might be. The X-Factor is his choice for campaign manager. Her name is Alma Lopez and her political experience is with the PAN. As in the Partido Accion Nacional. The one from Mexico. Ironically its Mexico's Republican Party equivalent. She's helped several PAN candidates get elected so her experience isn't in doubt. I've never heard of her involvement with campaigns on this side of the border so the X-Factor is will the experience translate, no pun intended.
Justice of the Peace
Party: Republican
Political Assets: She's an attorney and can self-fund the campaign. She's got a great reputation in the legal community and on the westside. Smart, dynamic, and has been a worker bee in the Republican Party in the past. She's a conservative but doesn't come across as an extremist and could score some cross-over voters if she touches enough of them. She will also benefit from the Republican brand in a gubernatorial election.
Political Liabilities: The Republican Party doesn't have a mechanism in place for the implementation of a ground game or a straight-ticket push. She also has no established base of support.
Advantage/Equalizer/X-Factor: The X-Factor for Dickson is going to be the ability to communicate with the most amount of voters. Its unlikely any of the Republicans will make a pitch towards Spanish-dominant voters. I'm not sure if Dickson is bilingual but it would be good for her if she was.
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Party: Democratic
Political Assets: Name ID. He ran for county judge in a previous election and he's an elected official in an area that is within the JP precinct. That means he already has a base of support and voters have at least a passive knowledge of his name. He's a seasoned attorney and his bilingual.
Political Liabilities: In terms of a JP race, I don't think he has one. I don't think losing the county judge race is really a liability in this race.
Advantage/Equalizer/X-Factor: Kathy Coronado. She's a huge advantage for Coronado because she has ground game experience and has run races around Texas and even in other parts of the country. She knows what she's doing and in a JP race the ability to run a ground game is extremely advantageous. It will likely be the deciding factor in the race if she's able to overcome the Republican's advantage in turnout through an effective ground game.
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