EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Three Democrats are running for El Paso district attorney (34th Judicial District).
The candidates are: lawyer and retired Judge Alma Trejo; Nancy Casas, an assistant county attorney and former assistant district attorney; and public defender James Montoya, who is also a former assistant district attorney.
They will face Republican incumbent Bill Hicks who is running unopposed in that party’s primary. Hicks was appointed to fill the vacancy when previous DA Yvonne Rosales resigned in December 2022.
The big issues have been the handling of the state’s case against Walmart shooter Patrick Crusius and how the DA’s Office is administered and run. Crusius has already pleaded guilty to federal charges in the 2019 Walmart massacre.
Crusius killed 23 people and wounded more than 20 others on Aug. 3, 2019.
During Rosales’ tenure, she came under repeated fire for cases being dropped and other administrative issues that raised questions about competency.
The district attorney for the 34th Judicial District oversees the prosecution of state criminal cases in El Paso, Culberson and Hudspeth counties.
In the county attorney race, two Democrats are running — Christina Sanchez, who is an assistant county attorney, and Sergio Saldivar, who is a lawyer in private practice. Incumbent Jo Anne Bernal is not running for re-election. Bernal was first appointed to the job in 2009 and has been -re-elected every four years starting in 2012.
There are no Republicans or third-party candidates running for county attorney.
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