In the race for an El Paso judgeship, Alex Cuellar increasingly attacked his Democratic primary opponent and the boss they shared. On March 3, he lost badly to one and was fired by the other.

Assistant District Attorney Amanda Enriquez won more than 67% of the vote in the 171st District Court Democratic primary against Cuellar, a fellow assistant DA. Hours before the vote counting began on Election Day, District Attorney James Montoya emailed a letter to Cuellar informing him that he was fired.

“While I expected a certain level of tension in our Office as two employees sought the nomination for the same elected office, you have greatly abused your position and the trust placed in you by flagrantly violating Office policy, casting aspersions on my support for Amanda Enriquez’s candidacy, and making public statements that could undermine the community’s confidence in our Office,” Montoya wrote in the letter, which El Paso Matters obtained under the Texas Public Information Act.

“Regardless of the outcome of the election tonight, your continued employment with our Office is no longer tenable. Your last day of employment with our Office is today,” he said in the letter.

Cuellar, Montoya and Enriquez all declined requests for comment from El Paso Matters about the termination.

Enriquez issued a statement that said: “I’m grateful for the trust voters placed in me and look forward to serving the people of El Paso with fairness and professionalism.” She has no opponent in the November general election.

The firing came after Cuellar increasingly attacked Enriquez and Montoya in the campaign’s closing days, including two mailers the Friday and Saturday before the Tuesday election that suggested she got a promotion by making campaign contributions to the district attorney.

The mailers seemed to have little effect on the race. Enriquez got more than 67% of the ballots in early votes, which were mostly cast before the mailers, and a similar percentage on Election Day.

Cuellar sought Montoya’s endorsement for the judgeship, but the district attorney supported Enriquez, his longtime colleague and friend. Elected officials are allowed to campaign for others, so long as they don’t do it during working hours or using government resources.

In the termination letter, Montoya said Cuellar’s “brazen, win-at-all-costs turn your campaign has taken the last several weeks is deeply unprofessional and has led me to lose all confidence in your ability to represent me as an assistant district attorney and to reliably fulfill the duties of the position.”

Records obtained by El Paso Matters show that Montoya had raised concerns with Cuellar on Feb. 13 about statements he made in the campaign.

In an email, Montoya said Cuellar had claimed at a candidate forum the previous night that the district attorney was acting unethically in supporting Enriquez for the 171st District Court position.

“While I understand your frustration that I declined to support your campaign, I must ask you to refrain from stating or suggesting that my support for Amanda is unethical or otherwise improper,” Montoya wrote.

Cuellar responded that he had received the email. “I will continue to run my campaign professionally,” he wrote.  

In a mailer sent out the final week of the campaign, Cuellar accused Enriquez of using “Trump-like tactics” in her campaign and implied that she received unspecified benefits by making $28,000 in campaign contributions to Montoya.

“The 171st District Court is NOT FOR SALE. But what does $28,000 buy you?” the mailer stated.

A follow-up mailer said Enriquez got a “promotion” after her donations to Montoya.

Cuellar presented no evidence that Montoya provided benefits to Enriquez in exchange for her campaign contributions. An elected official providing someone a job, promotion or campaign endorsement in exchange for a campaign contribution could be a felony under Texas’ bribery statute.

Texas Ethics Commission records showed that Enriquez donated $28,527.27 to Montoya’s campaigns in 2020 and 2024, with most of the donations coming in the 2020 campaign. The bulk of her contributions were to purchase social media ads for the campaigns.

Montoya and Enriquez worked together in the District Attorney’s Office for several years until Montoya lost the 2020 Democratic runoff for DA to Yvonne Rosales. Montoya and Enriquez, in interviews with El Paso Matters, described themselves as friends.

Enriquez was highly critical of Rosales in the 2020 campaign, saying she wasn’t qualified to be district attorney. Rosales purged the District Attorney’s Office of dozens of experienced prosecutors when she took over in 2021, including Enriquez and Montoya.

Rosales resigned after two years on the job as she faced a court petition seeking to remove her for reasons of incompetence. 

Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Bill Hicks to fill the remainder of Rosales’ four-year term, and Hicks hired Cuellar in October 2023 as part of his effort to rebuild prosecutor staffing. 

Cuellar was elected to the El Paso Independent School District Board of Trustees in June 2023.

Montoya defeated Hicks in the 2024 general election. Montoya then hired Enriquez, who had been working for the Public Defender’s Office, as a senior division chief when he took office in January 2025.

Cuellar’s mailer also accused Montoya of “publicly endorsing Enriquez’ campaign and encouraging others to support her, while rigging his own office rules against other candidates.” It was a similar accusation to the one he made at the campaign forum that led to Montoya’s Feb. 13 email.

In the termination letter, Montoya said he had asked Cuellar in the earlier email “to maintain professionalism for the remainder of the campaign.”

“Despite your assurances you would do so, you instead repeatedly distributed grossly misleading and defamatory advertisements that malign and denigrate the work of your colleagues as well as myself,” Montoya wrote.

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