El Paso Politics

The last thing to be discussed today at Commissioner's Court today was the maps issue. Boy do I have some things to say about that one... But, I think its a bunch of shit that Gandara wasn't there to weigh in. If there was ever a day that the Valley needed a voice at Commissioner's Court, it was a day like today. You might not see the significance of it, but mark my words, the Valley, and especially raza, needed a seat at the table today. Instead they had an empty chair...orta vez...

This is starting to become funny if it weren't so sad. Word on the street is that County Commissioner Willie Gandara is going to file as a candidate for HD 75 today. He has been criticized for not attending meetings regularly. And that was before the campaign. Running a full time campaign and being County Commissioner are both time consuming. So much so that if you don't focus 100% on one, the other will suffer. If he's absent today from Commissioner's Court, but he had time to go do a campaign function like file to run for office, then people are going to be understandably upset. Seriously, what is the point of keeping office if you aren't going to be at meetings because you are campaigning?

There will be several interviews that I'll be posting in the next couple of days. This is an interview with Mary Gonzalez, who is seeking the office of State Representative for HD 75 in the Lower Valley. The interview was done at the Westside Democrats Candidate Meet and Greet last week. Despite the fact that it was held on the same evening as another important event, Christmas with Council sponsored by the El Paso Stonewall Young Democrats, it still had a strong turnout of about 100 people. The event was the first time Gonzalez tipped her toes in to the El Paso political scene as a candidate. Here is the interview:

I've written about this several times now, but for some reason it just hasn't clicked with people. So if you are a candidate, or an elected official that is a member of the Paso Del Norte Tejano Democrats, you should be aware of something very important. The Paso Del Norte Tejano Democrats are not set-up as a political action committee (PAC). Meaning they cannot collect or contribute from or to political campaigns. I write this now for your own good. An organization cannot collect or spend more than $500 without filing the necessary paperwork to become a PAC. That is a lifetime threshold. That means within the lifetime of the organization they cannot spend or collect more than that amount. That is an amount that they exceeded a loooooooonnnggg time ago. Recently at a fundraiser for Danny Anchondo, the head of the Tejano Democrats Blanche Darley, pledged $1000 to Anchondo if he ran for re-election. That's what was what reminded me about the Tejanos. If you are a Democratic o...

I said I wasn't going to take a side publicly in the Congressional race because the last time I took a side in a race, I ended up being embarrassed by the conduct of person so badly that I made a spoof video making fun of a video of support I did for that candidate in a previous election. But I recently had a phone conversation with a friend, who's opinion means a lot to me. Which is a big deal because most of the time I could give a rat's ass what people think. In the conversation, the friend told me that she felt that I was "very pro-Reyes" in my writing. I remember being irritated by that comment. And in hindsight, its probably one of the few times I can recall that I actually under-reacted. So let me be clear about something. I'm not "pro-Reyes". I'm pro fairness . And honestly, the media have been very pro-O'Rourke . There is a clear media bias in favor of Beto O'Rourke in the Congressional race. He's smart, young, dynamic, etc, ...

Thanks to a reader named Joseph, I was able to get some more info about the Republicans that have filed to run so far. Here is the list as it looks now: Dee Margo - State Rep Charlie Garza - State Board of Education Barbara Carrasco - Congress Merritt King -  Bill Hicks - Judge of Something Paula Thomas - 388th Chris Antcliff - Court of Appeals There is also the other Congressional candidate I wrote about last week that I am supposed to meet with this week.  I also hear that Don Minton might be considering another run. I'm not sure for what court yet.

Alright one thing you guys should know is that there is going to be a lot of money spent in HD 75. I mean a lot. The richest elected official in El Paso, Willie Gandara, Jr is a candidate, Art Fierro has the ability to raise money, and Mary Gonzalez at least as some support from Annie's List. But if early spending is any indicator, it looks like Hector Enriquez has money to burn. He purchased a lot of ad space on bus stop benches in the district. Most of the one's I have seen have been at the edge of the district and in an industrial area. People don't live there, but they work in the area. There are probably one a few people that work in the area that are actually residents of HD 75, but every extra set of eyes that sees the signs is usually a good thing. So he's had the signs up for a long time now, but recently I noticed a change. At first I thought it was graffiti, but then I noticed it was on all of the signs in the area. Turns out, Enriquez has had his signs decor...