Montoya Launches Bid for District Attorney
He graduated from Americas High School at just 16 years old. When he finished law school and passed the bar he was the youngest lawyer in Texas.
He's also an Eagle Scout.
And now several years later James Montoya is a seasoned prosecutor looking to succeed longtime District Attorney Jaime Esparza.
Montoya launched his campaign outside of the El Paso County Courthouse this morning in front of a large group of supporters, family, friends, elected officials, and members of law enforcement.
Montoya joins Yvonne Rosales in the race for District Attorney. Rosales announced several weeks ago and then did some weird re-announcement announcement. What was weird about it is how she sort of fumbled it.
I don't think she got any media attention the first time she announced and then took the opportunity to re-announce her announcement when District Attorney Jaime Esparza announced he was not seeking reelection. She posted a campaign announcement on her campaign page telling people to be ready for her to go live at 1:30pm, but actually went live on her personal account instead of her campaign page.
Whoops.
Anywho, in her "campaign announcement", there were two very notable things about it. One - she did it INSIDE the County Courthouse. Pretty sure that is NOT allowed. You step on your own message about being tough on crime and being ethical while you're making a campaign announcement somewhere you aren't supposed to be campaigning. As I recall, campaigning INSIDE the courthouse is strictly prohibited.
The second thing that was notable about her announcement is her assertion - and for the life of me I can't figure out where she got it from - that District Attorney Jaime Esparza isn't running for reelection because she announced she was running.
From what I personally know of Yvonne Rosales, that is a comment that is extremely out of character for her. She was always pretty humble and down to earth, so it surprised me to hear it. Not only because of the tone of the statement, but more so because it seems so detached from reality. She was in a run-off with a long-term incumbent. Esparza was talked about as Silvestre Reyes' heir apparent at one point to being in a run-off with a family law attorney with almost no felony experience, just a couple years later.
Thats a pretty steep decline. In that scenario, Rosales was supposed to win. If you take a long time incumbent into a run-off, you're supposed to win. Your voters are supposed to be the ones motivated to come back to the polls and put you over the top. The incumbent is supposed to be in major trouble if they end up in a runoff.
That race was hers to lose...and she did. So I don't know how she comes to the conclusion that Esparza is somehow afraid of her.
Lets be real for a minute...Rosales is far from the most notable candidate rumored to be interested in the DA's race. And she knows it. That is why her social media post about her "campaign announcement" was so obviously aimed at someone else.
But that strange assertion aside, Montoya made a remark in this video that seemed to crystallize what the DA's race is going to be about. He said its a choice voters have to make.
He said its a choice between someone with substantive experience as a prosecutor and someone who's biggest argument to be the District Attorney is that its their time.
That was an obvious reference to Yvonne Rosales' campaign motto, "Its Time!".
I never understood what that was supposed to mean, but that was her motto back then and she stuck with it this go around.
One of the more interesting things Montoya discussed in his roughly 10 minute speech was not using the justice system to deal with things like mental illness, homelessness, and other issues.
But he did zero in a DUI and Domestic Violence as areas to focus on to prevent murders and other crimes.
The primary election is in March 2020. Typically elections like this are over during the primary because they Republicans rarely field a candidate. Because there is no longer a straight-ticket voting option, Rosales is courting Republicans to cross over to support her in social media posts.
Interestingly the DA covers not only El Paso County but also Hudspeth and Culberson counties.
The field of candidates is likely to expand as we get closer to the end of the year.
He's also an Eagle Scout.
And now several years later James Montoya is a seasoned prosecutor looking to succeed longtime District Attorney Jaime Esparza.
Montoya launched his campaign outside of the El Paso County Courthouse this morning in front of a large group of supporters, family, friends, elected officials, and members of law enforcement.
Montoya joins Yvonne Rosales in the race for District Attorney. Rosales announced several weeks ago and then did some weird re-announcement announcement. What was weird about it is how she sort of fumbled it.
I don't think she got any media attention the first time she announced and then took the opportunity to re-announce her announcement when District Attorney Jaime Esparza announced he was not seeking reelection. She posted a campaign announcement on her campaign page telling people to be ready for her to go live at 1:30pm, but actually went live on her personal account instead of her campaign page.
Whoops.
Anywho, in her "campaign announcement", there were two very notable things about it. One - she did it INSIDE the County Courthouse. Pretty sure that is NOT allowed. You step on your own message about being tough on crime and being ethical while you're making a campaign announcement somewhere you aren't supposed to be campaigning. As I recall, campaigning INSIDE the courthouse is strictly prohibited.
The second thing that was notable about her announcement is her assertion - and for the life of me I can't figure out where she got it from - that District Attorney Jaime Esparza isn't running for reelection because she announced she was running.
From what I personally know of Yvonne Rosales, that is a comment that is extremely out of character for her. She was always pretty humble and down to earth, so it surprised me to hear it. Not only because of the tone of the statement, but more so because it seems so detached from reality. She was in a run-off with a long-term incumbent. Esparza was talked about as Silvestre Reyes' heir apparent at one point to being in a run-off with a family law attorney with almost no felony experience, just a couple years later.
Thats a pretty steep decline. In that scenario, Rosales was supposed to win. If you take a long time incumbent into a run-off, you're supposed to win. Your voters are supposed to be the ones motivated to come back to the polls and put you over the top. The incumbent is supposed to be in major trouble if they end up in a runoff.
That race was hers to lose...and she did. So I don't know how she comes to the conclusion that Esparza is somehow afraid of her.
Lets be real for a minute...Rosales is far from the most notable candidate rumored to be interested in the DA's race. And she knows it. That is why her social media post about her "campaign announcement" was so obviously aimed at someone else.
But that strange assertion aside, Montoya made a remark in this video that seemed to crystallize what the DA's race is going to be about. He said its a choice voters have to make.
He said its a choice between someone with substantive experience as a prosecutor and someone who's biggest argument to be the District Attorney is that its their time.
That was an obvious reference to Yvonne Rosales' campaign motto, "Its Time!".
I never understood what that was supposed to mean, but that was her motto back then and she stuck with it this go around.
One of the more interesting things Montoya discussed in his roughly 10 minute speech was not using the justice system to deal with things like mental illness, homelessness, and other issues.
But he did zero in a DUI and Domestic Violence as areas to focus on to prevent murders and other crimes.
The primary election is in March 2020. Typically elections like this are over during the primary because they Republicans rarely field a candidate. Because there is no longer a straight-ticket voting option, Rosales is courting Republicans to cross over to support her in social media posts.
Interestingly the DA covers not only El Paso County but also Hudspeth and Culberson counties.
The field of candidates is likely to expand as we get closer to the end of the year.
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