Voters will determine key seats in city leadership during the Dec. 14 runoff election where the mayor and five city representative spots are up for a final vote.
Voters in the Nov. 5 general election, where an unprecedented seven city elected offices, including the mayor’s were up for vote, sent all but one race into a runoff. District 2 city Rep. Josh Acevedo was the sole incumbent who received more than 50% of the votes for an outright win. The District 1, 3, 4, 5 and 7 races were sent into a runoff.
Typically, four City Council seats are up for election every two years, but this year, six were on the ballot because two representatives – Brian Kennedy and Isabel Salcido – resigned mid-term to run for mayor.
The mayor and council are now in a “lame duck” period that prevents elected officers from making appointments, including appointing or firing a city manager or city attorney, from the date of the city general election until the newly elected officials take office, which is tentatively scheduled for Jan. 6, 2025. The city’s budget resolution also prevents the elected officials in the lame duck period from spending any discretionary funds.
The mayor and city representatives can serve two four-year terms and cannot serve more than 10 years if filling an unexpired term. The mayor’s salary is currently $95,000, the city representatives currently earn $63,038.
The City Council is set to formally call for the runoff election during the Wednesday, Nov. 13 special meeting when the Nov. 5 election results will be canvassed. The cost of the runoff election is about $970,000.
Here are key things to know about the upcoming December runoff election:
Can I vote in the runoff even if I didn’t vote Nov. 5?
Yes. Any registered voter can vote in the December runoff regardless of whether they voted in the November general election.
What if I’m not registered to vote?
There’s still time. The last day to register to vote to be eligible to cast a ballot in the runoff is Thursday, Nov. 14. Click on this link for resources on how to register
When can I vote?
First day of early voting by personal appearance: Monday, Dec. 2
The last day to apply for a ballot by mail (received, not postmarked): Tuesday, Dec. 3.
Last day of early voting by personal appearance: Tuesday, Dec. 10
Election Day: Saturday, Dec. 14
Ballots by mail must be received by Dec. 14 or can be postmarked on Dec. 14 before 7 p.m. as long as the El Paso County Elections office receives them by the next business day – Dec. 16 – with a legible postmark stamped before the polls closed.
A voter may also deliver a marked ballot by mail to the early voting clerk’s office while the polls are open on election day with identification.
Voting locations will be posted after the City Council officially calls for the election Wednesday, Nov. 13.
Who’ll be on the ballot?
All registered voters within the El Paso city limits will have the opportunity to cast a vote for mayor. El Pasoans who live within Districts 1, 3, 4 and 7 will also be voting for their respective city representative. Enter your address into this map to find your city representative’s district.
The runoff ballot will also include the race for judge of Municipal Court No. 4.
Here’s how the races break down:
Mayor
City Rep. Brian Kennedy and businessman Renard Johnson are in the runoff to be El Paso’s next mayor. Johnson received about 33% of the votes and Kennedy received about 24% of the votes in the eight-way race. City Rep. Cassandra Hernandez and Steven Winters, both mayoral candidates, endorsed Johnson after the Nov. 5 election.
Kennedy, an attorney and events and entertainment consultant, was elected to represent District 1 in December 2022. He had to resign his seat to run for mayor because he had more than a year left in his term, which was not set to expire until January 2027. He’ll have to resign his city representative seat in January regardless of the runoff election results.
Johnson, 58, owns METI Inc., a systems engineering and information technology company, as well as the El Perro Grande tequila brand. He’s also developed real estate projects.
About 184,000 El Pasoans – 35% of registered voters – cast votes in the mayoral race Nov. 5.
District 1
Alejandra “Ale” Chavez and Monica Reyes are in the December runoff. Chavez received about 37% of the votes while Reyes received about 27% of the votes. District 1 covers parts of the West Side and Upper Valley.
Chavez, 47, was the owner and chef of Thyme Matters restaurant on Mesa Street, which she operated for 20 years before selling the business last year. Reyes, 55, served as the executive director of the Department of Student Support Services at the Canutillo Independent School District.
The candidate who wins the seat will serve out the remainder of Kennedy’s unexpired term, which ends in January 2027.
District 3
Jose Rodriguez will face Deanna Maldonado-Rocha in the District 3 runoff. Rodriguez garnered about 27% of the votes to Maldonado-Rocha’s about 22%. District 3 covers portions of the city’s East Side and Lower Valley and is now represented by Hernandez.
Rodriguez, 78, is a Realtor who ran unsuccessfully for District 3 representative in 2020. Maldonado-Rocha, 51, works as a capacity analyst for Accolade, a healthcare technology company.
District 4
Incumbent Joe Molinar will face Cynthia Boyar Trejo in the runoff election. Molinar garnered about 38% of the votes while Boyar Trejo received about 28%. District 4 covers most of El Paso’s Northeast.
Molinar, 64, is seeking his second term in office. He is a former U.S. Marine and retired El Paso Police Department officer. Boyar Trejo, 58, is a businesswoman and founder and CEO of Crowning Point and founder and president of the In Her Element Foundation.
District 5
Ivan Niño and Amanda Cunningham will face off in the runoff for District 5. Niño garnered about 39% of the votes while Cunningham garnered about 25%. The district covers most of the Upper East Side east of Joe Battle Boulevard roughly north of Montwood Drive.
Niño, 33, chief of staff for Salcido, also unsuccessfully ran in the March 2020 primary for tax assessor collector. Cunningham, 39, is a political newcomer, social worker and consultant with a background in nonprofit project management and social services.
The candidate who wins the seat will serve out the remainder of Salcido’s unexpired term, which ends in January 2027.
District 7
Former city Rep. Lily Limón will face Chris Hernandez in the runoff. Limón received about 41% of the votes while Hernandez received about 22%. District 7 covers most of the Lower Valley and parts of the Eastside.
Limón, 74, a retired educator, previously served one term as the representative of District 7 from 2013-2017. Hernandez, 40, is an independent political consultant and technology entrepreneur who also serves on the Ysleta Independent School District Board of Trustees.
Municipal Court No. 4
Attorney Samuel Flores, 38, and incumbent judge Lauren Ferris, 37, will head to a runoff for judge of Municipal Court No. 4. Flores received about 43% of the votes while Ferris received about 35%.
El Paso Municipal Court judges handle Class C misdemeanors and civil parking citations issued within the city limits. The judges serve four-year terms.
The post What to know about El Paso mayor, City Council runoff election appeared first on El Paso Matters.
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