District 1 Candidates At GEPRW Forum

Once again these are just my opinions on the Candidates who showed up to the forum Hosted by the Greater El Paso Republican Women. Not an endorsement of any kind. I haven't seen enough my self to decide who I can't vote for yet. (I don't live in this district either.)

Ann Morgan Lilly:


The incumbent in this race. Should have had an advantage on the other candidates at this forum considering the demographics of the membership of the GEPRW. But somehow she was able to blow it. She was the only candidate who I heard get booed. She said El Paso is the safest city in the country, she must not be watching the evening news since she goes to sleep so early, that caused the crowd to mumble in disbelief. She reinforced her statement by saying "No, we are" that caused someone to boo and many to nod her fingers at her. She was lucky it wasn't the middle finger. Her answers were weak and other candidates took advantage of that and stomped all over her answers that drew cheers from the crowd. I think unless she pulls a complete 180 degree turn around Ann Morgan Lilly will be looking for another place to fall asleep.

Lyda Ness-Garcia:


I'm not a big fan of trial lawyers. Lyda Ness-Garcia runs her own law firm in El Paso and if I remember correctly she is the only candidate not originally from El Paso. But that doesn't really matter. It wouldn't be the first time someone who wasn't originally from the place they ran for office had been elected. (ha, yet another funny) But all presidential jokes aside. I don't have a problem with having someone who was not originally from El Paso represent us. Why? Because in the case of one of our current state representatives, he is not originally from El Paso. Yet he has been in El Paso longer than the former state representative he beat had been alive. I think that if they live here, have a family here, work or have a business here and call here home, they would do as good of a job as anyone who was born here. But back to Lyda. Hearing her speak reminds me why lawyers are not on the top of my favorite list. Like many lawyers, not all, she talks like if she is in front of a jury. Always trying to convince a jury the defendant is guilty. In this case she sounded like she was telling the jury(the crowd) what they wanted to hear. She had them nodding their heads yes agreeing with her but then took a swift left turn and lost most of the conservative crowd. At best she might have got a mistrial because she didn't convince the whole jury of one thing or another. From the outside looking in she seems like a strong and aggressive person, women or man it doesn't matter. That's a great trait for a lawyer, but is it good for a city representative? Maybe it might be. I would just prefer someone who is stern yet diplomatic. Someone who can get things done without having to get into a cat fight and have a judge make a ruling. Someone who can work together with others and not always be on the defensive. I think she will make a descent run at the position but at the end I think her temperament will get the best of her. If I would be running against her, I would be making her loose her temper in public time and time again to show her constituents what she really is about.

Manny Hinojosa:


Manny is making many strides. he has made it a point to try to talk to as many people as he can and give them all one of his famous 100 dollar bill campaign flyers.He is polishing up on issues and doesn't sound like the one issue candidate many thought he would be. But he still needs more work. I have heard Manny speak at different events but had never heard him speak with any of his opponents in the room. Manny looked nervous. I think Manny cut his answers way too short. He didn't give himself enough time to drill the message home. He said the right things pretty much but didn't deliver them very well. He definitely needs to relax a little and not worry about his opponents and only focus on the audience. Because at the end of the day the audience might vote for him. And I'm pretty sure his opponents already know who they are going to vote for in this race. (for the slow ones........they are going to vote for themselves)

Abe Peinado:


Abe surprisingly performed the best at this event. He was well spoken, was straight forward with his answers, not like a lawyer, and even when he lost his train of thought he was able to capitalize on it and get the crowd to applaud. He gave a yes or no answer when it was a yes or no answer with ought being too abrupt about it. He was the candidate who took advantage of Ann Morgan Lilly's weak answers and expanded on them with better solutions. He is a young educated man with business experience who can work a crowd. Even though some people have said that he is not a threat of any kind in this race,  but I think he is definitely someone to watch out for.


These forums are performances and you have to be able to perform well under pressure. But you can't forget you have to perform in front of people's doors, in front of news paper reporters, on the radio and on television. You have to be in candidate mode 24/7. I think the person who can successfully stay in candidate mode, no matter what is thrown at them, and the person who can associate best with the constituents in District 1, a very conservative district, will come out on top. Let's just see who that will be.