EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – El Pasoans will vote for a new sheriff next month during the general election on Nov. 5.
For the first time in 16 years, there will be a new sheriff in town beginning in 2025, with current El Paso County Sheriff Richard Wiles stepping down at the end of this year.
Wiles will retire after 40 years of law enforcement service, including the past 16 years as sheriff.
The race comes down to Democratic candidate and El Paso County Constable Oscar Ugarte, and retired FBI El Paso field supervisor and Republican candidate Minerva Torres Shelton.
Oscar Ugarte Courtesy campaign website
Minerva Torres Shelton Courtesy of campaign website
Torres Shelton faced no opposition in the Republican primary, while Ugarte emerged out of a crowded field of five candidates vying for the Democratic nomination, eventually beating Robert “Bobby” Flores in a runoff.
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office oversees a budget of approximately $128 million and has over 1,000 employees, according to EPSCO.
EPSCO also oversees the Jail Annex in far East El Paso and the Downtown Detention Facility, and they patrol El Paso County including the unincorporated parts.
Ugarte’s career in law enforcement spans 20 years in which he has served as a state jailer, a police officer with the Socorro Police Department, and eventually as a deputy constable before being elected to constable in Precinct 1. He has served two terms as constable.
According to Ugarte’s campaign website, his focus is to ensure “taxpayer resources are efficiently used and on addressing mental health policing.”
To learn more about Ugarte, you can click here.
Torres Shelton began her career with the El Paso Police Department in 1997, and for 21 years served as an agent with the FBI Field Office in El Paso, and retired from the FBI as a supervisory special agent. She would be the first woman sheriff of El Paso County if she wins.
According to Torres Shelton’s campaign website, her candidacy will be “driven by a resolute determination to revive public confidence and revolutionize the Sheriff’s Department.”
To learn more about Shelton, you click here.
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