Voters have elected Democrat Oscar Ugarte to be the next sheriff for El Paso County, early voting results show.
He defeated Republican Minerva Torres Shelton in Tuesday’s general election.
Ugarte, who now serves as constable for Precinct 1, received 60% of the early votes. Torres Shelton, an Army veteran, former police officer and retired FBI agent, earned 40% of the early votes.
In the constable race for Precinct 4, incumbent Luis “Louie” Aguilar defeated Republican Ozzie Carrasco. Aguilar, the Democrat, had 63% of the early votes to Carrasco’s 37%.
Aguilar said that he was grateful to the voters and hoped that their support is a testament to him doing his job the way it is supposed to be done. His celebration plans were simple: “I’m going to take a shower and go to bed.”
Ugarte, 41, started his law enforcement career with the Socorro Police Department in 2005. He then worked as a bailiff for the El Paso County Council of Judges. Voters chose him to be constable of Precinct 1 in 2016. He was reelected four years later.
Torres Shelton, 56, worked in military intelligence before she joined the El Paso Police Department as a patrol officer for five years. The FBI hired her after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. She spent 21 years with the agency to include her last five as a supervisory special agent.
The incoming sheriff will take office in January and serve a four-year term. The new sheriff will replace Richard Wiles, who is retiring after 15 years in office. The job pays more than $199,000 annually.
Ugarte is just the third person elected El Paso County sheriff in the past 40 years, following Wiles and Leo Samaniego.
The job mostly involves administration, executing policy and setting budgets. The office oversees a budget of approximately $122 million and about 1,000 employees made up of staff, deputies and detention officers. It manages criminal investigations and drug detection programs. The office provides law enforcement in the unincorporated parts of the county and operates the Downtown jail and the jail annex on the far Eastside.
El Paso County constable, Precinct 4
Aguilar, who has been a law enforcement officer for 40 years, has held that office since 2005. Carrasco has served within the city and county offices of emergency management and has been a COO and program director with several nonprofits.
Precinct 4 covers the Montwood and El Dorado high schools’ area.
El Paso County has seven constable precincts. They work in collaboration with justices of the peace, make arrests, serve warrants, and carry out convictions as ordered by the courts. They serve four-year terms and earn annual salaries of $107,300.
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