El Paso Politics

I really dislike when people pretend to be something they aren’t. I especially hate it when they do so to people in the Lower Valley. Minerva Torres Shelton has been playing a shell game with voters and hasn’t been honest with them about her political affiliation.  Because I can’t stomach her fooling people in The Valley, I think its important that we talk about her candidacy and what it means for working people in The Valley.  If you see her campaign material, there is something missing.  The word REPUBLICAN. In fact I  chose the title to this piece because you won't see her admit to being  a Republican on any of her material.  Now that’s interesting. Because when people are proud of something, they usually don’t hide it. They put it on everything. Yard signs, mailers, Facebook posts your tia shares at 6am with three American flags and a prayer emoji. But here? Quiet. And there’s a reason for that. Because once you say “Republican” out loud in El Paso, you...

J udge Lucilla Najera's recent campaign material says she cleared the court backlog at El Paso Justice of the Peace Precinct 5. State records show the backlog barely moved for nearly three years - until roughly 40,000 cases vanished in the two-month window her reelection campaign launched. By Jaime Abeytia  |  El Paso, Texas  |  April 6, 2026  |  Data: Texas Office of Court Administration When Justice of the Peace Judge Lucilla Najera launched her reelection bid in November 2025, she came to voters with a confident message: she had done what her predecessor could not. She had cleared the backlog. Her campaign materials cited a chart showing she scheduled more than twice as many cases as the judge before her, framing the court at Precinct 5 as a model of productivity under her leadership. The problem is the data - specifically, the monthly activity reports published by the Texas Office of Court Administration, the state agency that tracks every case filed, r...

If you’ve been keeping up with  Lucila Najera  over the last few months, you know the campaign has turned into less of a race and more of a… let’s call it a creative writing workshop. Because at this point, we’re not just dealing with spin. We’re dealing with numbers that seem to come from fairy tales, fever dreams, or possibly a broken calculator from 1997. Let’s take a quick stroll down memory lane, shall we? Because she's told so many fairy tales I lost track.  Just kidding, here is a list: There was the now-famous “cash-only weddings” situation. First, she said she made about $4,000. Maybe $5,000. You know, just a casual “I’ll ballpark my own income” moment. Then, a few days later, boom, we’re at $10,000. And look, inflation is bad, but it’s not that bad. Now, a reasonable person might think, “Hey, shouldn’t someone know how much money they’re making, especially if they’re, I don’t know… reporting it to the IRS?” But that’s where things get interesting. Because when e...

There are two types of change in politics. The kind where someone has a genuine moment of self-awareness, reflects on their behavior, and decides to do better. And then there’s the kind where 75% of voters basically grab you by the collar, shake you like a piñata, and suddenly—mira qué milagro—you “update” your website. Guess which one we’re dealing with here. Because yes, after getting politically curb-stomped in the primary, Lucila Najera has officially made a bold, courageous, absolutely stunning move… She deleted the “cash-only” part of her wedding services page. 👏👏👏 Growth. Evolution. Personal transformation. We love to see it. Now for those of you who missed it the first time around, Najera wasn’t just doing weddings on the side like every other judge trying to make a little extra feria. No, no. She was the only judge in West Texas out here proudly advertising: Cash. Only. Not “preferred.” Not “accepted.” Not “we take everything including your cousin’s Cas...