EL PASO, Tx., February 5, 2026: The latest campaign finance reports were due on Monday. Incumbent Ricardo Samaniego failed to file his report and incumbent Sergio Coronado filed an incomplete report. Candidate for county judge in the Republican primary, Minerva Torres Shelton updated her January 15 report. The 30-day reports cover the period from January 1 through January 22. Here is what our review of the campaign reports found.
County Judge Race
In the county judge’s race, the incumbent, Ricardo Samaniego is running unopposed in the Democratic primary. He failed to file his report on Monday. As we reported, Samaniego’s expenditures to date have raised questions since he faces no opponent until November but has spent over $42,806.05 on his campaign. Since he did not file his report on Monday it is unknown if the large campaign expenses continue or have ended.
On the Republican ticket there are two candidates seeking the Republican nomination for November. They are Guadalupe Giner and Minerva Torres Shelton.
We asked Giner about her thoughts about Samaniego’s failure to file his latest campaign report.
Guadalupe Giner
In an email statement Giner said that “Judge Samaniego didn’t file his campaign finance report on time. That’s not okay.” She added that “Texas law exists so voters know exactly who’s funding campaigns.” Giner explained that “as someone running for County Judge, you have to lead by example – transparency and following the rules matter,” she added, “I filed mine on time because El Paso deserves full honesty and accountability from day one.”
Giner’s report shows that she accepted $150 in campaign contributions and spent $1,554. She reported a balance of $424.01 in campaign funds left in her account. Giner’s largest expense was $498.22 for banners.
Minerva Torres Shelton
As we previously reported, Minerva Torres Shelton filed her last report five days late. In addition to filing Monday’s report, she amended her January 15 report. According to the explanation for the amended report, Torres-Shelton wrote that she added the date of her loan, something we pointed out was missing in her late report. She also corrected her balances and added a missing fee of $77.30. The fee was for processing credit cards for contributions.
According to Monday’s report, Torres-Shelton accepted $1,900.14 in campaign contributions and spent $1,470. 94 in expenses. She reported $11,931.29 left in campaign funds, slightly more than the $11,502.09 she reported in the last period. Her largest contribution was $500 from Sandra V. Marquez. The largest expense she reported was $1,080.53 for signs.
There are two Democrats running for the District 4 county commissioners seat and one Republican. The two Democrats are the incumbent Sergio Coronado and Annette Griego. Leonard Arcos on the Republican ticket does not face an opponent in the primary. He will face the winner between Coronado and Griego in November.
Sergio Coronado
A required page in the report is the summary sheet that lists total political contributions received by the candidate as well as expenditures, money remaining in the campaign’s accounts and any loans that are outstanding. County Commissioner for Precinct 4 incumbent Sergio Coronado failed to accurately fill in the summary sheet.
According to Coronado’s summary sheet, he did not receive any political contributions during this period and spent $3,025. He also reported he has $34,805 left in campaign funds.
However, the itemized amounts in the report he filed show that he accepted $5,000 in campaign contributions, which he did not list in the summary sheet of his latest report. The $5,000 contribution was made by the El Paso Sheriff’s Officers Association on January 5.
Coronado also failed to add the address of his largest expense during this period. Coronado reported a $1,500 payment to Mick Martinez for “website mailers” but did not add the vendor’s address as required. Martinez is an El Paso graphics designer.
According to our previous reporting, Coronado’s largest campaign contributor was Stanley Jobe who was convicted of bank fraud in 1994 and later pardoned by Bill Clinton in 2001. The Sheriff’s contribution is the second $5,000 political contribution reported by Coronado.
Annette Griego
In her latest report, Annette Griego reported only $5.00 in campaign contributions. The contribution was made by her campaign consultant, Chris Hernandez. It is possible that the $5.00 contribution by her consultant was to test the “Donate Now” button on her website because the following day, Griego reported paying Hernandez $1,750 for “consulting and website.” This was Griego’s largest expense. Griego reported $2,599.77 in campaign expenses and reported having $21,405.23 in campaigns funds left in her account.
In the county commissioner District 4 race there are three candidates, two in the Democratic primary and one in the Republican primary. Thomas Sistrunk is unopposed in the Republican ticket and will face the winner between the two Democrats, incumbent David Stout and Miguel Teran. Sistrunk did not file a report on Monday, and his last report shows that he raised $1,423 and spent $2,300.14.
David Stout
In his report David Stout reported accepting $3,260 in campaign contributions and spending $5,169.98 Stout also reported having $24,852.75 in campaign funds left.
Stout’s largest contributor this period was Ted Houghton for $1,000. In his January 15 report, Stout reported contributions from Richard Aguilar for $2,500, Miguel Fernandez for $1,000, Stanley Jobe for $5,000 and $10,000 from the El Paso Sheriff’s Officers Association in two contributions.
Miguel Fernandez is one of the individuals behind the nation’s largest datacenter being built in Santa Teresa, Project Jupiter. Datacenters, including the one in Santa Teresa, are controversial because of their electricity and water usage.
Other notable campaign contributions made to Stout in the January 15 report included José and Carmen Rodriguez for $300. José Rodriguez is a longtime El Paso politician whose last elected office was state senator.
Stout’s largest expense was $3,408 paid to five people canvassing for his campaign.
Miguel A. Teran
Miguel A Teran, who is seeking Stout’s seat in the Democratic primary, reported no campaign contributions in his latest campaign report, and $4,493.01 in campaign expenses. But, like Coronado’s report, Teran’s report is also incomplete.
Although Teran’s summary report sheet lists no campaign contributions, his reported itemized list shows five contributors making $3,050 in contributions to his campaign. The largest contribution was $1,500 from Jesse Favela.
Teran’s largest expense was $2,250 to Ernesto Gamboa for contract labor.
Teran reported a $25,000 loan to his campaign but did not disclose the date and source of the loan in his report. He also reported not having any campaign funds left in his account, although his expenses do not reach the $25,000 he reported as a campaign loan.
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