County Commissioner's Health & Re-Election

There are a lot of questions surrounding the health of County Commissioner Carl Robinson, who is up for re-election in this upcoming primary. Sources indicate that at the last El Paso Days functions in Austin at the state legislature, Robinson allegedly passed out. 

Prior to COVID-19, Robinson missed a lot of meetings, which is a matter of public record. Once COVID hit, Robinson's participation in meetings was virtual, but almost always over the phone. Rarely, if ever, has he come on camera. Admittedly I'm not familiar with the specifics of the rules governing virtual meetings but it seems having your camera on - at least during a vote - makes sense. Otherwise how do we know he's the one voting? How do we know if he's paying attention in the meetings? How do we know if someone is there telling him what to say or how to vote?

The answer is, we don't. 

Now I don't know exactly how bad his health is because I ran into him at the American Legion Hall in September I believe and he was sitting at the bar talking with some folks. He left right after recognizing me and I didn't notice if he was drinking or not because I was there for other business. In fact, I don't recall seeing him drink anything, but I don't know what happened before I got there. It was about halftime during a Monday Night Football game. 

All I'm saying is that if he's fine enough to be belly-up to a bar, he should be able to be on camera during the people's business. Or better yet, if you can be at a bar in-person, you can probably be at the Commissioner's Court meetings in-person now. After all, he was elected to represent the people of Precinct 4. 

Some say that there are indeed health issues with Commissioner Robinson, which is likely why he participates virtually. There is talk in political circles that he's not well enough to complete another term. I'm not a doctor so I don't know if its true or not, but I mention it because of the possible political outcomes if that were in fact true. 

If Robinson were to win re-election and were unable to complete another term, the County Judge is the individual that would be the one to replace Robinson. 

What do Robinson and the County Judge have in common? Their political consultants are former City Reps Lily Limón and Eddie Holguin - spouse of Commissioner Holguin. 

Now you see the movida? 

That is probably why the commissioner's court precincts were cut the way they were. City Rep Peter Svarzbein, long rumored to have been considering taking on Robinson in a Democratic Primary was drawn into Commissioner Stout's Precinct. I'm pretty sure Commissioner Stout wouldn't like having, in addition to the two opponents he currently has, another potential opponent who's super power is raising money and has a support base within Stout's precinct now - courtesy of Commissioner Holguin's team. 

That doesn't solve the problems for Robinson though. There are several potential candidates now licking their chops at jumping in a race against Robinson, especially if Svarzbein has been taken off the board. 

The filing deadline is mid December, which politically is practically a lifetime away. A lot can happen in that time span.