Two Republican candidates – Guadalupe Giner and Minerva Torres Shelton – are seeking the party’s nomination for El Paso County judge in the March 3 primary in a bid to unseat Democratic incumbent Ricardo Samaniego in November.

Samaniego, a businessman and consultant with a background in mental health care, is seeking a third term in office. He is unopposed in the Democratic primary, which automatically advances him to the Nov. 3 midterm to face the Republican nominee. Early voting for the primaries is Feb. 17-27.

The primary marks the second time both Republican candidates seek county elected office. 

Giner, 62, a community affairs consultant, ran unsuccessfully as an independent candidate for county judge against Samaniego in 2022. Samaniego won 68% of the vote to Giner’s 32% in that election. Giner declined to be interviewed for this story but submitted an online candidate questionnaire.

Torres Shelton, 57, an Army veteran, former police officer and retired FBI agent, ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for El Paso County sheriff in November 2024. She lost to Democrat Oscar Ugarte, who won with 59% of the votes. She was unopposed in the Republican primary for the sheriff seat that year. 

“I’ve never been a politician. My whole career has been serving my country or my community through law enforcement or the military, but I did learn from the last race,” Torres Shelton told El Paso Matters, adding this campaign is more organized.

The Enrique Moreno County Courthouse in Downtown El Paso (Cindy Ramirez / El Paso Matters)

The county judge is one of five voting members of the elected Commissioners Court, which sets a tax rate, adopts budgets and makes policymaking decisions for county government. The county judge can also declare local disasters and public emergencies. The county has about 3,100 employees and an operating budget of $653 million.

The county judge’s annual salary is $152,700. The position is a four-year term.

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The county, in adopting its budget and tax rate for the current fiscal year, had each department reduce expenditures by 5% and did not give employees pay raises. About 53% of the county’s budget goes toward unfunded state mandates.

Torres Shelton said she believes constituents are being overtaxed and underrepresented by the current county administration, outlining how she views the responsibilities of the county judge.

She is campaigning on transparency, fiscal responsibility and creating citizen advisory boards to oversee spending, not issuing certificates of obligation unless they are for emergencies, strengthening disaster response and lowering the county judge’s salary. She did not indicate how much she would lower that salary.

“If the Commissioners Court does not approve the salary reduction, I will personally redirect the difference by making documented donations to entities, such as local non-profit organizations and/or small businesses serving our community,” she said.

Salaries for the county judge and commissioners have remained the same for two fiscal years after the court approved a 14% pay raise for itself for the 2024 fiscal year. The court has voted not to give county employees, aside from law enforcement with collective bargaining agreements, pay raises over the last two fiscal years.

Torres Shelton said she plans to look at the county’s spending, follow the money and ask tough questions. She did not specifically say whether she would cut services to avoid a tax-rate increase if it meant keeping the same level of county services.

“I’ve never told voters or the people that I’m going to reduce taxes, because a person who tells you that either is not being truthful or doesn’t understand how it works,” she said. “I will follow the money and I’m going to see how it’s being used. That’s the promise I’m making. I know how to ask the tough questions.”

Torres Shelton said there needs to be better communication and representation in the county judge position. She criticized Samaniego for voting to approve incentives for the  $1.5 billion Meta data center in Northeast and to contribute $1 million toward the design of the proposed deck plaza in Downtown.

Samaniego did not provide a response to Torres Shelton’s criticism.

“I still haven’t heard the justification of why that decision was made without having input from the voters,” Torres Shelton said about the Meta center.

Samaniego and County Commissioners David Stout, Illiana Holguin and former Commissioner Carlos Leon in December 2023 voted unanimously to approve tax abatements for the data center, which was negotiating under Wurldwide LLC. County Commissioner Sergio Coronado was not at the meeting. The incentives are for property tax abatements over five phases of development, with incentives available for up to 15 years per phase for up to 35 years. The incentives are performance based so that if Meta does not reach its commitments, the county will not provide the tax abatements.

Nobody spoke out during a public hearing before the vote. Samaniego, during the meeting, thanked county staff and CEO John Barela with the Borderplex Alliance for their work in securing the deal with Meta.

Torres Shelton did not say how she would have voted on the Meta data center, but said she would have explained the incentives to the public following the decision and questions how the data center will be held accountable.

The $1 million toward the deck park design was allocated from contingency funds from a $41 million issuance of tax anticipation notes in 2023 for public safety projects. 

“The county judge is there to represent us, we elect him so he can represent us and, quite frankly, we’re not being represented,” Torres Shelton said. “The $1 million (for the deck plaza) – the voters were never asked (if they supported it). It’s a decision that he made on his own to vote in favor of that (funding).”

Construction begins on a Meta data center, located between Stan Roberts Sr. Ave. and State Line Road in Northeast El Paso, Oct. 13, 2025. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters)

Neither Torres Shelton or Giner have reported raising much money to support their campaign.

Torres Shelton has raised about $8,600 in campaign contributions and loaned her campaign $10,000, her latest campaign finance report shows. Her biggest donations are $3,052 from Cinda Cotham, $1,000 from Sam Armijo, $500 from Pascual Olivas and $500 from Sandra Marquez. She received $2,100 in in-kind contributions, including $1,500 for campaign banners from Obed Torres and $600 for photography from Sandra Hijar. She has spent about $6,500.

Giner has raised about $2,800 and loaned her campaign about $6,500, according to her campaign finance reports. Her largest donations were $1,200 from Mary Davis and $500 from Hans Sassenfeld. She received $550 in in-kind contributions, including $200 for her campaign website from Ozwaldo Carrasco and a $350 discount for an article from Angie Rodriguez for her campaign published in The Journal.

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