Two Republicans, Minerva Torres Shelton and Guadalupe Giner, are facing off in the primary race for El Paso County Judge. The winner will face incumbent Democrat Ricardo Samaniego in November. Samaniego remains unopposed in the Democratic primary.
Shelton, was born in Oxnard, California, to migrant worker parents and later moved to Paracho, Michoacán. The family eventually returned to the United States, where they have lived since. She holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and has a background in military and law enforcement service, including work as an Army intelligence sergeant, a police officer with the El Paso Police Department and in the FBI’s criminal and terrorism divisions.
Shelton said she wants to increase visibility in county government and highlight small businesses.
“I want to highlight one or two small businesses during the county commissioner’s court. They meet every Monday, and the public will get to submit who they think should be that small business or two that should be highlighted,” Shelton said
In addition to promoting small businesses, she said educating homeowners about tax exemptions would be a priority.
“Everybody who’s a homeowner gets a homestead exemption deduction. That’s just our right. If it’s your primary home, you’re going to get a certain amount of money taken off your taxes. For people that are over 65, there’s another incentive that they can deduct some more money. You’d be surprised how many people don’t take advantage of those two,” Shelton said. “The reason why is because the county and the city have not done a good job in educating our community. Those are the two things I want to focus on: small businesses and educating more communities on the incentives that are out there that are their right.”
Shelton also emphasized rebuilding trust between local leadership and residents.
“There’s no transparency. All of a sudden, you just know that your taxes are going up,” Shelton said.
If elected, she said she would provide advance notice of agenda items and encourage El Pasoans to participate in meetings either in person or by phone.
“I will let you know, ‘this is what we’re going to be voting on, on Monday,’” Shelton said. “If you don’t agree with it, I want to hear from you.”
She drew back on her experience with federal budgets; Shelton said she would conduct a review of county spending.
“Whenever Congress gives you money, you have to justify it,” Shelton said. “I know how to follow the money.”
She said her goal would be to audit the budget and identify what she described as wasteful spending. Giner, was born in Juárez, Chihuahua and is a naturalized U.S. citizen. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business and spent 20 years in the private sector at a medical products company, working in purchasing and planning.
Her campaign centers on limited government, fiscal responsibility and tax reduction. She argued that a significian portion of the county’s budget is directed toward state-mandated responsibilities.
“I’m for limited government and fiscal responsibility, so lower taxes and transparency,” Giner said. “Fifty-three percent of our budget is being used to do what the state is telling us to do instead of doing it in our local community.”
Giner said she would focus on efficiency rather than expanding county government. She estimated taxpayers could potentially see annual savings of $200 to $300.
“That’s one way to lower taxes. We’re not going to grow government because I’m a small government person. That doesn’t mean I’m laying people off, it means we’re being more efficient with what we have,” Giner said.
Giner also proposed creating a county economic development council to attract businesses to the region.
“My goal is to create a county economic development council,” Giner said. “We have a dedicated workforce, and I want to be able to provide information about why they should come to El Paso.”
She suggested offering first-year tax relief for new small businesses under certain conditions, such as hiring and training local workers.
“A lot of people are coming out of college and they want experience,” Giner said.
Giner also addressed public safety, she said she would work with the county attorney to pursue stricter consequences for driving which intoxicated offenses.
“Most of the time, when you commit a DWI, you go to jail, get processed and out you go with a bond,” Giner said. “I want to make it so the first time you get a DWI, you serve three days in jail. My goal is to work with the county attorney, we can collaborate as a team and say we have got to be more serious about this. After the second [DWI], I don’t know, maybe you lose your license immediately for six months.”
She proposed mandatory jail time for first time offenses and longer license suspensions for repeat violations.
Samaniego, an El Paso native, has served as county judge since 2019. He holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology and three master’s degrees in psychology, bilingual bicultural education and international economics and public policy.
Before taking public office, Samaniego held leadership roles across public and private sectors, including juvenile probation, housing, human resources, operations, business management, consulting and franchise ownership.
“My first year, in 2019, we had the death of Pete Herrera, the deputy, the beginning of the immigration crisis, the Walmart tragedy and the pandemic. There was not one single county judge that ever went through any one of those,” Samaniego said. “You can imagine the lessons that I’ve learned from that. Because of my history, I am always very focused on this binational relationship. You have to really understand your region and community. I decided to run four more years because I learned from those lessons.”
Samaniego addressed criticism over tax increases during his administration, Samaniego said rising costs are often tied to unfunded mandates from the state.
“When we increase taxes, it’s not because we didn’t do the budget properly or we’re mismanaging the money,” Samaniego said. “What happens is that we get unfunded mandates from the state that are really difficult.”
He argued that delaying infrastructure repairs to avoid raising taxes can result in higher costs in the long term.
“It’s very easy not to raise taxes and then you don’t fix something that costs $10 now, but it’s going to cost $20 in three or four years,” Samaniego said.
He also discussed utility rate increases approved at the state level, noting that inflation affects operational costs for gas and water providers.
“I can advocate because the hardest thing, whenever you have an increase, is you’re hitting the individuals that have a fixed income,” Samaniego said.
After residents were impacted by the increases, local officials took legal action against the Texas Railroad commission regarding gas hikes.
He also responded to criticism regarding salary increases during his two terms.
“This was something that was started by a previous county judge,” Samaniego said. “Think about that; we’re about 70% of the salaries of communities the size that we are. So, it was an HR process.”
He noted that county salaries remain below comparable communities and said he supported the adjustment alongside commissioners.
“I actually sacrificed a lot of money to be a county judge,” Samaniego said.
Election Day is Tuesday, March 3.
The winner of the Republican primary will face Samaniego in the November election for El Paso County Judge.
Vanessa Orozco is a contributor writer at The Prospector and may be reached at [email protected]