El Paso City Council candidate Jesse Moreno has denied that he “physically struck” his former girlfriend last year, but one of his largest backers, Amanecer People’s Project, has at least temporarily withdrawn its support in the wake of the allegations.
A city staffer told El Paso Matters on Friday that they witnessed him being verbally abusive to his former girlfriend on multiple occasions, and once saw him push the woman’s son. Moreno denied pushing the boy.
Social worker Angelica Rodriguez said earlier in the week that Moreno punched her in the face in December 2025. Moreno did not confirm or deny the allegation in an initial statement Wednesday night, but on Friday morning provided a new statement to El Paso Matters.
“Regarding December 21, 2025, I vehemently deny the allegation that I physically struck Ms. Rodriguez,” Moreno said in the Friday statement. “I recognize the seriousness of allegations of domestic violence and believe the circumstances surrounding this matter deserve to be represented truthfully and accurately.”
The latest statement was provided through his campaign manager Michelle Rivera and was posted in his campaign’s Instagram story. Rivera on Friday said lawyers had advised Moreno to not directly address the domestic violence allegation, which is why he did not deny it earlier.
Rodriguez, 29, posted a statement about the December incident on her private Instagram account Tuesday night. She gave further details in a Wednesday interview with El Paso Matters, saying that Moreno broke the car stereo and punched her in the face after a conversation in his car escalated.
Moreno’s former boss, District 3 city Rep. Deanna Maldonado-Rocha, and a city staffer confirmed to El Paso Matters that Rodriguez had shared the alleged punching incident with them in July. The city staffer asked that their name not be used for fear of personal retaliation from Moreno.
The staffer said Moreno disclosed the punching allegation to them after they witnessed Moreno speak aggressively to Rodriguez after a District 3 community meeting in July. The staffer said Moreno was annoyed about the son’s presence at the meeting and shoved the boy, who was wet from the water park, after he tried to give Moreno a hug.
This was not the first time Moreno had lost his temper and yelled at Rodriguez at city events, they said.
Rodriguez said Wednesday Moreno had yelled at her at the July meeting, as well as other public occasions, but had never been harmful to her son.
In a statement to El Paso Matters on Friday, Moreno said he “acknowledges that his relationship with Ms. Rodriguez experienced personal difficulties,” adding that he “unequivocally denies the allegation” that he ever “pushed or physically mistreated her minor son.”
Maldonado-Rocha said she approached Human Resources about the alleged punching incident, but was told there was not a way to proceed without a police report.
“Regarding the domestic violence allegations involving Mr. Jesse Moreno, no police report was filed, and the alleged incident did not occur in the workplace,” city spokesperson Laura Cruz-Acosta said in an email. “As such, the city did not initiate an internal investigation.”
‘11th-hour attack’
Moreno disputed Rodriguez’s story Friday, calling it “an 11th-hour attack to discredit me to voters and by her own admission this is coming from the incumbent.”
He questioned whether city Rep. Art Fierro pressured Rodriguez to release her statement – an accusation both Rodriguez and Fierro have rejected. Moreno, 25, faces Fierro, 64, in the Dec. 12 runoff to represent District 6 on the Eastside.
Moreno and Rivera provided a screenshot of what appears to be a private Instagram conversation between Rodriguez and an unknown person, with Rodriguez saying, “Art’s team is giving me until Friday to say something because they are ready to release a flyer.”
The messages do not have a time stamp, so it’s unclear when the conversation occurred. Rivera did not disclose who shared the screenshot with them, and could not provide a date and time for the communication. She said Moreno’s team does not have communication from Fierro’s team as evidence.
“I have never sought out any details of the incident described by Ms. Rodriguez,” Fierro said in a statement to El Paso Matters on Friday. “And I certainly would never force a victim of a crime to speak on her experience for purposes of a political campaign.”
Fierro urged Moreno to offer evidence of coordination between his campaign and Rodriguez.
“Otherwise, I believe this is a shameful distraction to divert attention from Ms. Rodriguez’s courage,” Fierro said.
Amanecer People’s Project, a climate justice and progressive political advocacy organization, suspended its support of Moreno’s campaign Friday, but left open the possibility of renewing support after a vote.
The group initially endorsed Moreno in a Sept. 11 Instagram post, citing the group’s work to “organize against the data center explosion in El Paso,” and spent $9,800 on mailers supporting Moreno in the general election. That represented about a third of the money the group spent on three City Council races in the Nov. 3 general election.
“We are aware of and deeply disappointed by the allegations against Jesse Moreno,” the group’s executive director, Ana Fuentes, said in a statement. “We will follow our member-led vote process to determine how we move forward in the D6 City Council runoff. Until then, Amanecer has stopped all support for Jesse Moreno’s campaign.”
Rodriguez has not responded to El Paso Matters’ requests for a follow-up since the initial interview.
On Wednesday, she said it has been traumatizing to address the incident and put herself on “public trial.”
Since posting her statement, Rodriguez said, she has received a flood of emails and messages. She said many people have questioned the timing of her statement – published three weeks before early voting for the runoff begins – and assumed she’s working with Fierro in retaliation.
Rodriguez denied collaborating with Fierro.
“For me, it’s more than an election and people don’t understand that,” Rodriguez said.
“I’m not up there saying, ‘Don’t vote for Jesse,’” she said. “I’m just letting people know what I’ve been experiencing.”
Community responds to domestic violence accusation
During his campaign, Moreno’s supporters positioned the young, first-time candidate as the more progressive, grassroots choice against Fierro, who’s backed by wealthy businesspeople including Woody Hunt, Raymond Palacios and the Bowling brothers.
Moreno said he respects Amanecer’s decision to withdraw its support from his campaign and the principles that brought them together remain unchanged.
“My respect for Amanecer and its mission remains unwavering, and I look forward to continuing our shared efforts to protect our community,” he said in a statement.
The University of Texas at El Paso’s College Democrats chapter withdrew its endorsement and involvement with Moreno in a Nov. 12 Instagram post. Both Rodriguez and Moreno have served as president of UTEP College Democrats. The group added that its withdrawal did not imply it was endorsing Fierro.
Moreno is the second City Council candidate to be accused of intimate partner violence this year, after El Paso police records revealed District 8 candidate Arturo Alluin was arrested in 2022 on suspicion of assaulting his then-girlfriend. Alluin did not respond to El Paso Matters’ questions about the incident and failed to advance to the runoff election.
Prior to the November election, El Paso Matters filed an open records request for police reports involving the City Council candidates. The El Paso Police Department did not return any reports listing Moreno as an offender or victim.
Moreno has repeatedly alleged that Rodriguez was disappointed over not being appointed his campaign manager.
El Paso political influencer Jaime Abeytia, who posts commentary under his social media handle @ThatVatoJaime, said Thursday he met Rodriguez for the first time Monday at a County Commissioners Court meeting. He said Rodriguez asked him if he could persuade Moreno to make her his campaign manager.
Abeytia said he was surprised to see Rodriguez’s statement posted the following night, adding that he did not know either person particularly well.
Abeytia, who recommended people vote for Moreno in an Oct. 17 video, said that while he did not want to “defend an abuser,” he also did not want to comment on the accusation.
Abeytia said he took a different position on Alluin’s domestic violence allegation because that case had police records and a witness statement given to the police.
“I wouldn’t tell anybody to vote for somebody who perpetuated domestic violence,” Abeytia said. “My only comment … doesn’t have to do anything with whether or not it actually happened because I don’t know and I don’t have any information on that.”
Complexities around domestic violence
Rodriguez works as an administrative coordinator for El Paso County Commissioner David Stout. She is studying for her master of social work at UTEP, where she and Moreno met. Rodriguez also has a 9-year-old son, with whom Moreno had a relationship.
The two remained in communication after the alleged domestic violence incident and broke up prior to the November election, according to their accounts.
Rodriguez said she did not time her statement with the goal of harming Moreno’s runoff chances. She said she struggled with whether to come forward about the allegation and only recently felt empowered after one of her social work classes.
“What if I came out and nobody believes me?” she said of her worries. “Or I come out and I’m not prepared to answer questions? The months of November and December are terrible for grad students. I wouldn’t put myself through the wringer just because. There is literally no perfect timing.”
Rodriguez said she received “ugly messages” after sharing her story. People have questioned the validity of her claims because she did not file a police report or speak up publicly sooner.
“I think it’s hard in the moment to take pictures and call the police, to text anyone,” Rodriguez said. “It’s hard to remember all that when you’re going through trauma.”
Sandra Garcia, executive director of the Center Against Sexual and Family Violence in El Paso, said she wants to emphasize that survivors of domestic violence are navigating a complex relationship, sometimes with a shared household or close bond to children.
“The idea that people equate, ‘If I was victimized I would have made a report,’ that doesn’t always happen,” Garcia said. “There are different barriers that could occur, from (having a) similar circle of friends, or you’re trying to build your career and you don’t want to be stigmatized.”
“A police report doesn’t validate something happening,” Garcia said. “It means you went through an additional step, that you felt safe enough to be able to do that. Not everybody feels safe enough to do that.”
Garcia described speaking up about abuse as a “damned if you, damned if you don’t” situation because it comes with scrutiny and victim blaming, even from family and friends. If someone speaks up about their abuse now, people will ask why now; if they speak up later, people will ask why not sooner.
“For someone to come to you and share one of the most personal hardships that they can actually go through … it took a lot for that individual to come out and say that,” she said. “They’re dealing with embarrassment, sometimes shame, they blame themselves with, ‘What could I have done differently, how could I have reacted differently?’ or ‘I shouldn’t have asked that question.’”
Domestic violence hotlines
In El Paso, the Center Against Sexual and Family Violence provides crisis intervention, emergency shelter and other support services and offers a 24-hour hotline at the phone number 915-593-7300.
The National Domestic Violence Hotline is 800-799-7233.
The post El Paso city rep candidate Jesse Moreno denies domestic violence accusation as supporters back away appeared first on El Paso Matters.
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