A dark-money group linked to El Paso supporters of the Meta data center sent another wave of mailers Thursday, including one attacking city Rep. Chris Canales, which drew strong condemnation from both the incumbent and the challenger who is purportedly supported in the ad.
“It’s nothing that I authorized, it’s nothing that I condone, it’s nothing that I approved … it’s not my brand of politics,” said Matthew Guzman, one of four people challenging Canales for the District 8 City Council seat in Tuesday’s election.
“If these are people that support me based on my stances, I can’t understand how they would think that this is helping me,” Guzman said.
Canales said the attacks on him are backfiring.
“I’ve had an outpouring of support in the last few days since the first mailers went out. El Pasoans are definitely tired of negative political ads, and they’ve likened the ones about me to the ‘Talarico is a vegan’ lies they see on TV. They’re both just so obviously, comically untrue, and, frankly, I think it’s condescending to the voters,” he said.
Eddie Trevizo, one of three original directors of Sun City Coalition who has been acting as the group’s spokesperson, didn’t respond to questions about the criticism of the latest District 8 mailer.
Sun City Coalition, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit created in September, reported that it spent almost $64,000 on the latest mailers, doubling its total spending this week to more than $127,000. That is an unprecedented level of direct election spending by an independent group in an El Paso City Council election.
The group says it is not required to disclose its donors under Texas law because of its nonprofit status. But unless it can demonstrate it spent more money on non-election purposes than on elections – there’s no evidence of spending on anything else – Sun City Coalition would be required to disclose election donors, according to Texas Ethics Commission guidelines.
But the public has no way of knowing in real time whether a nonprofit organization is meeting the guidelines that allow it to avoid disclosing donors, and the Texas Ethics Commission – which oversees campaign finance and election advertising laws in the state – doesn’t ask for any proof unless a complaint is filed.
Nonprofits are required to disclose their expenditures (but not their donors) in a federal tax form known as a 990. But Sun City Coalition wouldn’t be required to make its 990 public until late 2027 or some time in 2028.
The coalition’s website contains only general statements about its purpose.
It says one part of its mission is “creating high-paying jobs in El Paso.” But all of its publicly disclosed spending has been with a Wyoming LLC, whose ownership is shielded by that state’s corporate secrecy laws.
Canales said he plans to file a complaint with the Texas Ethics Commission and possibly other venues over the nondisclosure of donors.
“While those behind this likely won’t face punishment fast enough to have any impact on this election, I think it’s important to hold people accountable when they do something that violates the public trust and force them to disclose the secret donors they’re trying desperately to hide. El Pasoans deserve to know who is meddling in our elections,” he said.
Three of the mailers have supported incumbents seeking reelection – Alejandra Chávez in District 1, Ivan Niño in District 5 and Art Fierro in District 6. In District 8, the group has attacked Canales with a variety of unsupported or misleading claims. In the latest mailer, Sun City Coalition renewed its attacks on Canales and for the first time supported Guzman.
Two reports filed by Sun City Coalition with the City Clerk’s Office show the group has spent $40,672 supporting Chavez, $23,272 supporting Nio, $26,672 supporting Fierro, and $36,872 opposing Canales and supporting Guzman.
Business records with the Texas Secretary of State’s Office show Sun City Coalition was formed on Sept. 16 with three directors – Trevizo, a member of International Brotherhood of Electronics Workers Local 960, representing El Paso Electric’s bargaining unit employees who are working on the Meta data center project; Angelica Rosales, a project manager for Sundt Construction in El Paso; and Odette De Leon, a finance and operations specialist for the El Paso Chamber.
Rosales told El Paso Matters she had resigned her position with the group “because I do not want to draw any more attention to my employer.” Rosales has said Sundt has had no involvement with Sun City Coalition.
Trevizo hasn’t responded to El Paso Matters’ request for comment about Rosales’ resignation, or whether a new director has been appointed. Texas law requires that corporations registered in the state have a minimum of three directors.
Rosales and Trevizo both spoke in favor of Meta’s Northeast El Paso data center during a contentious June City Council meeting, where council members debated a proposal to possibly break the city’s incentives agreements with Meta. Ricardo Mora, the CEO of the ElPaso Chamber, also spoke in support of Meta at the meeting.
The council voted 5-3 to leave the agreement intact, with Canales in the minority and the three incumbents supported by Sun City Coalition in the majority.
A spokesperson for Meta said the company is not involved in the Sun City Coalition efforts.
Guzman was angered that Sun City Coalition used a picture of his family on the mailer, and listed his wife’s occupation.
“I think that was, you know, uncalled for, and definitely not something I would have condoned if I had the choice,” he said.
Trevizo said organizations like Sun City Coalition are required by election laws to act independently of candidates.
“By law, we do not coordinate with, consult, or seek permission from any candidate or campaign regarding our public education efforts,” he said.
“The image and biographical details used in the mailer were obtained entirely from publicly available sources; most, if not all, were obtained from candidates’ campaign websites and campaign social media.”
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