EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – Voters in two of El Paso’s largest school districts will help shape their future during the May 3 election.
Both the El Paso and the Socorro Independent School districts will have four seats each that are being contested.
Both districts, like many others across Texas, are facing budget deficits and difficult decisions.
Election Day is Saturday, May 3 and polls will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Early voting is available through Tuesday, April 29.
In the El Paso ISD, four incumbents are facing challenges in their races.
In District 1, incumbent Leah Hanany is facing challengers Monica Elena Benjamin, an office administrator, and Nelson Bank, a former teacher.
In District 3, incumbent Jack Loveridge is facing challenger John Ponce De Leon.
Ponce De Leon is a public relations professional. Loveridge was appointed to fill the seat after Josh Acevedo successfully ran for City Council.
In District 4, incumbent Isabel Hernandez is facing special education teacher Juan Duran and Mindy Sutton, an instructor at the Otero County Detention Facility.
In District 5, incumbent and Board President Israel Irrobali is facing Robert Osterland, a veteran, and Melvin Milton, a mobility manager for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
In Socorro ISD, there are four seats also up for election. Only one of the races has an incumbent in the field.
In District 2, network planner Ryan Woodcraft and Shawn Ollis, who is self-employed, are running for an open seat.
In District 3, four candidates are also running for an open seat – Jose Alonzo Jr., Pablo Caldera Jr., Charles W. Smith, a business owner, and paralegal Joshua Carter Guerra.
El Paso Matters reports that Caldera is no longer running but did not file in time to get his name removed from the ballot.
In District 4, incumbent Paul Guerra is running against Raul Villalobos, an orthopedic physician assistant and business owner, and Caryn Gonzalez, a policy coordinator.
In District 5, Cindy Hernandez, Gary Gandara and Manny Rodriguez are running for an open seat.
Gandara is a former SISD trustee, Hernandez is a director of strategy and analytics and Rodriguez is a government affairs manager.
Also on the ballot, there are two contested races for El Paso Community College and two contested races for San Elizario ISD.
For EPCC, District 4 incumbent Jesus Mendez is facing challengers Eduardo A. Flores and Luther Marcena. Flores is an EPCC employee.
In District 6, Diana Yadira Mooy, an associate superintendent with Ysleta ISD, is facing Eduardo Mena.
In the San Elizario ISD, incumbent Axel Lopez is facing Asael Cardona in Place No. 2. For Place No. 3, Michael Martinez and Alexis Ann Tellez are running for an open seat.
The Town of Anthony, Texas, has a contested mayor’s race. Incumbent Anthony Turner is facing Rick Villarreal, Martin Lerma and Benjamin Romero.
In Horizon City, there are three City Council races that are being contested.
Guillermo “Willie” Ortega is facing Charlie Ortega for Place No. 1 on the Horizon City Council.
For Place No. 4, Robert Avila is facing Sandra Sierra.
For Place No. 6, Adrian Rivera is facing off with Matthew Gardea.
For the City of San Elizario, there is one contested alderperson race. Incumbent David S. Cantu is facing Tony Grijalva for Place No. 2.
The Haciendas Del Norte Water Improvement District is asking voters to approve issuing up to $5 million of bonds for a “waterworks system.”
In the Village of Vinton, voters are being asked to approve a tax rate reduction.
You can click here to find more information about the May 3 election, including Election Day polling places and sample ballots.
Read: Read More