Jesus ‘Jesse’ Moreno, a senior majoring in economics and minoring in management at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), is running for the El Paso City Council to represent District 6 in Texas. Representing Gen Z and other UTEP students while leading an upcoming generation in the borderlands.
Moreno has held several leadership roles at the university, including president of UTEP College Democrats, Outreach Director for the Political Economy Club, and a member of the Business Student Council for The Woody L. Hunt College of Business [COBA]. Through this leadership experience, Moreno says he decided to take on a bigger role and run for District 6 City Council.
“A lot of my colleagues in the student orgs weren’t aware of many fiscal decisions or policies in our state, local or national politics,” Moreno said. “I want to take those burdens and put them at the forefront so that people know different demographics of the past and what issues they‘re going through, but truly just bringing back compassion to government and representation.”
Moreno has taken multiple jobs to support his family while leading organizations and being a college student. His experiences inspired him to run and advocate for students that work multiple jobs to provide for their family.
I have witnessed people’s struggles getting by, having experienced it myself, making ends meet, but also being a provider for my household,” Moreno said. “Still going to school, still working, and still being active in my community and on campus. The experiences you learned, the opportunities you went through, the failures, the successes, all truly matter, and I want to make that on a great scale.”
As a Gen Z candidate, Moreno takes pride in his youth, believing that his generation is the future. Although he is younger than his constituents, he is not targeting only Gen Z, but all of his district, no matter their age.
“A lot of Gen Z has very important values and goals for themselves. There’s a whole other population that is unaware or not educated on various policies of municipalities in Texas government,” Moreno said. “Targeting Gen Z truly is the forefront because we are the future.”
As a candidate, Moreno has seen a wide range of views related to basic services, infrastructure, and data centers across generations and wants to reach all demographics, including those who believe what is best for El Paso, through his campaign.
“I think understanding everybody’s problems first through education is what I want to do and then see how we can move forward by being very considerate of everybody’s living situation, budgets, their background, their history, where they live, who they represent, what goals they have,” Moreno said.
If elected, Moreno plans to bridge the information gap between government entities and residents, amplify basic services, including transit, infrastructure and the rising cost of living. He wants to include all 91,000 of El Pasoans in his decision-making.
“It’s making city council meetings more accessible; they are always on Mondays or Tuesdays, which is not accessible for those who are working, going to school, or too busy with life and responsibilities, and making sure we have those meetings at least quarterly so that people know what’s happening and they know who is representing them.” Moreno said.
Moreno’s second priority is focused on lowering utility rates.
“Everybody’s electricity bills and water bills are going insanely high. They’re increasing at an alarming rate, which students can’t afford for basic services. UTEP has been fortunate enough that you can have low prices for food and materials that you need for classes,” Moreno said. “But that’s not reflected for somebody who is on a fixed income, Social Security check, the elderly, your parents, your friends, whoever you live with.”
He testified before the Federal Trade Commission to lower energy costs and grocery prices.
“I want to give that opportunity to constituents and students and say, ‘Hey, together if we advocate strongly enough and with enough people, we can show that this is wrong and that this can be lowered,’” Moreno said. “This issue I’ve always seen is whenever there’s not enough people showing up to these meetings, to these halls, they don’t take into consideration who else is going through these issues.
His campaign addresses concerns on data centers.
“It’s a national issue, it’s a bipartisan issue. I don’t want to live in a city where my water quality is questionable, my air is polluted, my electricity bill is high because somebody in office who is representing me had no regard because they won’t be here as long. I’ll have to deal with this in the future,” Moreno said.
Through campaigning and block walks, this experience has taught Moreno to be patient and to lead with compassion. Moreno has faced challenges and has struggled with being disregarded because of his age and background.
“I think that’s what makes me want to strive harder because I have a whole generation, I feel behind me, and I need to reflect. That I need to fight for,” Moreno said. “But the struggle just makes it more worth it because the harder the struggle, the more glorious the triumph, and I think that’s a huge pillar of my values to show them that this is a time for change, and it’s time to prove them wrong.”
Voting will be held Oct. 19- 23 for early voting for the midterm elections, and Nov. 3 will be general elections. Check out The Prospector to find more information about candidates running from local to national level.
Mia Colmenero is Layout Editor and may be reached at [email protected] and @Miajcolmenero on instagram