Businessman Renard Johnson has been elected El Paso’s next mayor, taking a significant lead over city Rep. Brian Kennedy in early voting with a margin that’s unlikely to close with Election Day votes.
Johnson won 57% of the early votes, while Kennedy took about 43%. The two were pushed into a runoff following the Nov. 5 general election, which drew eight candidates to the race.
Johnson, 58, who owns a systems engineering and information technology company and a tequila brand, was backed by community and business leaders who boosted his donations to more than $1 million in his campaign. He was the first to announce his mayoral candidacy, throwing his hat in the race in January.
A political newcomer, Johnson will be El Paso’s first Black mayor and will preside over the eight-member City Council that sets a budget, tax rate and wide-ranging policies for the city. Five of the city representative seats were also in the runoff with political newcomers, meaning several council members will be largely inexperienced.
Johnson has said that as mayor, he would work to lower property taxes, strengthen public safety and lure technology, aerospace and medical sectors to El Paso to enhance economic development and raise wages.
He promised he will give his salary to local charities – the mayor’s annual salary is about $95,000.
Born in Chicago, Johnson grew up in Northeast El Paso and graduated from Andress High School and the University of Texas at El Paso. He’s served on several community groups such as the El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and Boys & Girls Club of El Paso.
Kennedy, 68, an attorney and events and entertainment consultant, resigned his seat as the District 1 city representative effective in January when he ran for mayor. He was elected to the Westside representative seat in 2022, and served as mayor pro tem and head of the city’s Financial Oversight and Audit Committee.
He largely campaigned on economic development projects like creating walkable areas throughout the city and in Downtown, and using incentives to attract businesses to the city. Kennedy said he wanted to build in salary requirements with companies that get economic incentives and work to increase the minimum wage of city employees.
Kennedy, who spent much of his career running the El Paso County Coliseum through the El Paso Sports Commission, said he wanted to bring in more sports and entertainment tourism to the city.
Sitting city Reps. Isabel Salcido and Cassandra Hernandez also ran for mayor, but did not receive enough votes during the Nov. 5 general election to advance to the runoff. Hernandez’s term ends in January, while Salcido will have to resign her seat with two years left on her term.
Sitting members of City Council frequently run for mayor, but only two council members have been elected mayor in the past 50 years – Suzie Azar in 1989 and John Cook in 2005.
Read more about the powers and duties of the mayor
Although not a voting member of the City Council, the mayor can break ties, veto legislation, propose legislation and appoint members to boards and commissions with council approval.
The mayor can veto City Council legislation with the exception of the hiring or firing of the city manager, city attorney or city auditor. The council can override a veto with three-fourths of a vote.
The mayor can influence policies and decisions made by members of the council, who adopt an annual budget and tax rate and make policy decisions that impact economic development, public safety, streets and transportation and quality of life services such as libraries, museums and parks and recreation.
The new mayor will serve a four-year term and be sworn into office in early January alongside the new City Council members.
The post Renard Johnson elected El Paso mayor, easily defeating city Rep. Brian Kennedy appeared first on El Paso Matters.
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