Mayoral Race & Moving the Elections Back To May

Moving the elections for city council to November is an experiment that has run its course. It has turned out to be a bad deal for El Paso voters. 

I'll circle back to this point in a bit, so lets not open that 12 pack just yet. 

As basically everyone predicted, Oscar Leeser won convincingly over Dee Margo for the Mayoral seat. To his credit, Margo did what no other Republican on the ballot in El Paso did - he conceded. 

Not that he really had a choice. He took a beat down. 

Gacho, too. He changed is social media page today to reflect the loss. 

I'm not going to kick the guy while he's down but I do want to point out the ridiculousness of something he said on election night in an interview. Margo blamed the loss on marketing from Leeser. 

He didn't lose because of marketing. Well not in the traditional sense. The reality is Leeser has been investing in his name for years - long before this election. That is likely how he made it into the run-off - but after the general election, it comes down to educated voters. 

Educated voters dumped Margo because of how he handled COVID - and probably because he's a Republican. 

Anytime you lose by the margin that Margo lost by, its time to acknowledge your defeat. 

Just like its time for Armendariz-Jackson and Bethany Hatch to acknowledge they were obliterated. And for all the Republican crazies to acknowledge that Trump lost too. 

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Do you REALLY care about political money?

Okay, if you're one of those people that like to use the term "oligarch" all the time, you should be with me on this one. Oligarch is a misused term that a lot of Bernie Bro's have been using lately as a catch all for anyone that donates to a candidate that isn't the candidate they support. 

The city elections were moved to November under the bullshit argument that more El Pasoans would be engaged in city politics. The truth is - it just makes money a bigger factor in elections. Its a disservice to those who care about city politics. The people that end up voting in November elections aren't there to vote for any of the municipal candidates. They don't know who is on the ballot, nor do they really give a shit. The majority of people who vote in November are there to vote for President, Governor, and MAYBE senate if its someone like a Beto on the ballot. 

So when they show up, who are these people voting for? Simple - they are voting for the name they are most familiar with. Who is in the position to make their name most familiar to the masses? Well-funded candidates. 

Who funds the well-funded candidates? The "oligarchs".

Need me to prove my point? Okay, cool. I'm glad you asked. 

Ask yourself one question - if Veronical Carbajal was as well-funded as Margo and Leeser...do you honesty think she wouldn't be our mayor right now? There's absolutely no way that given the choice between old rich white guys from the westside that used to be mayor and a Chicana, that El Pasoans would have chosen Leeser or Margo. 

November elections make it easier for the wealthy to control who is on council because money plays a bigger factor in who is on council. 

That is why its time to move the city elections back to May. You aren't really saving any money in November because you already have May elections because of the school districts and other political subdivisions. Money is less of a factor when you have a smaller May electorate to work with. Your grassroots - little campaign that could - candidates are in a better position to win. Who are those candidates?

Well when you November elections then the only people that can really afford to run are the people that don't look like your every day El Pasoan. You end up with a bunch of senior citizens that are retired, or white wealthy people. Neither of them are looking out for you and me. 

If this mayoral election didn't underscore why its time to take money out of the election process and move it back to May where everyone has a shot, then nothing will ever convince the working class in El Paso to stand up for themselves.