A Break Down Of The City Elections And Analysis on Run-Offs

The city elections have come and gone in El Paso, Texas. They were a little bit on the dull side if you ask me. Except for one race.There was not really much competition in two of the four races where the winners easily won with over 50%  of the vote avoiding a run off even though there was several candidates on the ballot. I'll start my analysis on the races from the bottom up. It will be more interesting that way.


District 8:


Courtney "Can't Do No Wrong" Niland easily won with over 54% with here nearest competitor, Ernesto Villanueva, only getting just under 14%. Not too bad for Villanueva considering the controversial photos of his birthday party that were released. i'm wondering what he has planned for next years party. The surprise in that race was Jorge Artalejo. His shorts and tennis shoes approach actually got him 67 votes. Congratulations Jorge. Throw in a pair of pants, not even slacks just jeans maybe, and a half descent shirt and you might break 100 next time.



District 6:


Eddie "Can't Find A Camera That Don't Like Him" Holguin easily beat out his two opponents by getting over 64% of the vote. Zulema Lazarin and Gerardo Rosiles were easily out worked, out signed and out talked by Holguin. I had said it before and I will say it again. Lazarin and Rosiles had to take the position away from Holguin and not expect him to loose it. In other words they had to go out and win it and not expect Holguin to loose it. Rosiles and Lazarin were depending on the anti-Holguin vote. Well they split that vote between them but even if they put it together it wouldn't have been enough. They did not have enough signage, Holguin had a yard sign at every corner and on almost every other house on main streets. Lazarin did not attend enough forums and when she did she was not very well spoken, on the other hand Rosiles attended to many forums and allowed his choppy English to become an issue. Not only do you have to understand your constituents, they have to be able to understand you. Just three words for Holguin. Class, class, class. Don't allow people around you to ruin your win. The high road is always the best path to take, even though it is the road least traveled in this town. Don't let those around you make you think otherwise.

District 5:


Dr. "It's pronounced Mike" Noe will be facing Mayela "Pobresita" Mejia in a run off like most people expected. Noe received 41% of the vote while Mejia received just over 31%. This will be an interesting run off. Noe is very well spoken, has plenty of business experience, has delivered at least one child in every household and seems to want o hold the line on taxes, but a big but, has Dora Oaxaca running his campaign. You know, Doara Oaxaca also known as Willie Gandara Jr's Chief of Staff who was recently named to the UMC hospital board that caused the El Paso delegation in Austin to pass a bill restricting the nomination of board members. With all the stuff that is going on with the Gandaras I would distance my self from them as soon as possible. On the other hand you have Mejia who has no business experience, sounds like she will say yes to just about anything, but who has some experience at city council and who has the almighty Kenny Sutherland running her campaign. I'm going out on a limb here and saying that the campaign manager will make a big difference here. If it was just candidate versus candidate I would say yes to Noe. But since he has handicapped himself by having someone who has ties to corruption I say he better walk like there is no tomorrow and knock on as many doors while leaving Dora behind. It is just hard for me to understand how a guy who wants to fight corruption can associate himself with Oaxaca and the Gandaras. Why would a County Commissioner want to help out a City Representative. I like Dr. Noe but something smells fishy here.

The surprise in this race. Phillip Garcia, who dropped out early in the race actually received 68 votes, one more than Artalejo, without even being at any forums. I feel bad for Jorge Artalejo. The guy gets around on the bus. I would have saved my bus tokens on this election if I was him. Poor guy. 


District 1:


This is a long one. I'll start with the ones who didn't get into the run-off first. Tim Besco received a humiliating 8% of the vote. He was relying on getting all those who voted for him in the Congressional race in that district to turn around and vote for him in this election. Unfortunately two major factors were not taken into consideration. One, reyes was not on the ballot to pull the anti vote and two, the infamous good-bye letter to the Republican party. Oscar, his campaign manager again, did not take those two things into consideration when he promissed Besco he would get him elected....again. Tim, please stop paying Oscar so much money. I really mean it. He is taking your money and just ruining your name. Cut your loses, take some time off, focus on your career but most importantly cut Oscar off.

Abe Peinado who received just 5% of the vote, was seriously a viable candidate in the beginning and one day might be elected to an office but this go around he had too many distractions. Richard Shecter 5% and Theresa A Ware Ashburn 8%, well they were just along for the ride. Manny Hinojosa grew up some and matured during this race but it wasn't enough as he only was able to get over 12% of the vote

Now for the juicy stuff. The only race to cause excitement and controversy. The cat fight that has everyone on the edge of their seats and all the news channels being the paid spokespeople for one candidate........Ann "The Sleeper" Morgan Lilly will face off against Lyda "What A Mess" Ness-Garcia in a run off that is expected nothing less than a straight out cat fight with nails flying in the air, eyes being scratched out and all sorts of name calling. Morgan-Lilly received just over 38% of the vote while Ness-Garcia received just over 21% of the vote. This was a packed race with 7 candidates on the ballot. Now that five have been eliminated will the race be this close? What percent of those who voted for the unsuccessful candidates back Morgan-Lilly who just received a major wake up call in this election? How many will turn around and support a candidate who owes the IRS about $200, 000 in back taxes and who has a couple of henchmen on her team doing her dirty work. Danny Rollings/Steele who works at the Sheriff's Department who uses county time and county equipment to research anyone who publicly goes against Lyda-Ness-Garcia and post their private information on line and Jaime "Its My Way Or The High Way" Abeytia who has somehow found a way alienate, no pun intended, Democrats and members of the gay community for not supporting Ness-Garcia. Jaime has pretty much told people that they are not real Democrats or gay enough if they don't vote for Ness-Garcia. It's the same thing when he says I'm not a real Mexican because I am a Republican. Come on someone tell Jaime he has to stop that because he doesn't listen to me. People can think, do and act the way they want without having to conform to any restrictions because of their race, ethnic background, income level or sexual orientation. I have a bit of advice for Jaime. Tolerance is a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward opinions and practices that differ from one's own. I suggest you start practicing what you claim to be preaching.