Amanda Enriquez defeated a colleague in the District Attorney’s Office to win election to the 171st District Court, early voting results show. Chris Anchondo will win the Democratic nomination for the 120th District Court, while Enrique Holguin and Bernardo Cruz appear headed for a runoff in the 168th District Court race.
Christina Montes and Frances Maldonado will meet in a runoff for County Court at Law No. 2. Eunice Reyes has just over half the votes in early voting for County Court at Law No. 4, but Marcos Lizarraga could force her into a runoff if he performs better among Election Day voters than early voters.
Anchondo, a longtime El Paso attorney, won 65% of the early vote to defeat Leonard “Lenny” Morales for the Democratic nomination for 120th District Court, which is held by appointed incumbent Republican Ben Ivey, who was unopposed for the GOP nomination.
In the 168th District Court race, Holguin led the three candidates in the field with 37% of the early vote even though he didn’t actively campaign for the seat. Cruz, a former lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union and a current assistant county attorney, was in second place with 35% and attorney Robert Perez was third with 28.5%. Attorney R. Wayne Pritchard was unopposed in the Republican primary.
Enriquez won more than two-thirds of the early vote to defeat her fellow assistant district attorney, Alex Cuellar, who also is an elected trustee of the El Paso Independent School District. There is no Republican candidate in the race.
“We were just so blessed,” Enriquez said of the election results. She said voters told her during the campaign they were looking for “transparency, fairness and somebody with the right experience.”
In the County Court at Law No. 2, race Montes got 43% of the early vote. She is an attorney with her own firm, which focuses on criminal, family, immigration and juvenile law, according to the State Bar of Texas website.
Montes could not be reached for comment.
Maldonado, an attorney who operates her own private practice received 35% of the early vote.
“I’m very grateful to the voters of El Paso for the support that they gave me and that they showed me,” Maldonado said. “I want to congratulate my opponent, Ms. Montes, for making it to the runoff. I’m ready to continue to run a full blown campaign.”
Sergio Saldivar garnered 21% of the early vote.
Salvidar, who lost a bid for El Paso County attorney in 2024, agreed to a protective order in 2019 after he was accused of stalking a woman and family violence. Saldivar denied the allegations.
In the County Court at Law No. 4 race Reyes garnered 51% of the early vote.
Reyes is an attorney with her own law firm, which focuses on family, juvenile and criminal law. She has also served as the municipal court judge in Anthony, Texas, and as a part-time jail magistrate judge for about five years.
Marcos Lizarraga got 36% of the early vote.
Last year, Lizarraga was issued a public admonition by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct for engaging in several improper “ex parte” communications in a high-profile murder trial.
Jeffory “Jeff” Rago got 13% of the early vote.
In races where no candidate garners at least 50% of the final vote, the two with the most votes will head to primary runoffs May 26.
District courts
The three contested district court judgeships this year handle criminal and civil cases. New district judges are paid $193,000 a year, with more experienced judges earning up to $238,500 annually.
Lizarraga is the longtime judge of the 168th District Court, but chose to run for the county court position in 2026.
Incumbent 171st District Court Judge Bonnie Rangel announced her retirement in the fall of 2025.
Four incumbent district court judges – Francisco Dominguez in the 205th, Alyssa Perez in the 264th, Selena Solis in the 267th, and Monique Velarde Reyes in the 270th – are unopposed in the Democratic primary and face no Republican opponent in the fall, meaning they are effectively reelected.
In the 120th District Court race, the candidates relied heavily on personal loans to fund their campaigns – $19,000 from Anchondo and $22,000 from Morales.
Cruz raised more than $39,000 in contributions for his 168th District Court race and loaned his campaign $16,000. Perez’s only reported contribution was $1,500 from himself.
In the 171st District Court contest, Enriquez reported about $40,000 in contributions and loaned her campaign $10,000. Cuellar raised about $27,000.
County courts at law
El Paso County has seven county courts at law, with the races for Nos. 1, 3, 5, 6 and 7 uncontested in this election.
The two contested races are for open seats after the incumbent judges chose not to seek reelection. The Democratic candidates won’t face any Republican opponents in November and the winners will be seated on Jan. 1, 2027, to serve a four-year term.
The winner of County Court at Law No. 2 will succeed Julie Gonzalez, who has been a judge for about 30 years. In the County Court at Law No. 4 race, the winner will succeed Alex Gonzalez, who took office after running unopposed in 2022.
Maldonado, 45, an attorney with her own private practice, raised nearly $16,900 and gave her campaign a $20,000 loan.
Salvidar, 58, a private attorney, raised $4,700 throughout his campaign and gave himself $22,200 in loans.
Montes, a private attorney, collected $2,000 in political contributions and gave herself a $1,600 loan.
Lizarraga, 69, collected nearly $18,800 in political contributions in his campaign. He has also charged $22,600 to a credit card and used nearly $81,600 of his personal funds in this campaign, including a $60,000 loan payment to his wife and campaign treasurer, former city Rep. Cecilia Lizarraga.
Reyes, 38, an attorney with her own law firm, serves as a municipal court judge in Anthony, Texas. She loaned herself about $28,700 for her campaign.
Rago, 61, an attorney with his own private practice, raised more than $17,000 in campaign contributions.
County Courts at Law judges handle criminal misdemeanor cases such as DWIs, family violence, bond forfeitures, burglaries and prostitution. Their salaries range from $157,000 to $193,400 per year, depending on their years of judicial service.
The post Amanda Enriquez and Chris Anchondo win district judge races; other El Paso judicial races may need runoffs appeared first on El Paso Matters.
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