EL PASO, Tx., December 12, 2025: On the last day to file to run for office, political newcomer, Arturo Andujo, filed a petition with Michael Apodaca, the Chair of the El Paso County Democratic Party. The petition is for Andujo to be added to the ballot to run against Congresswoman Veronica Escobar in the upcoming Democratic primary in March. Andujo is the only challenger Escobar faces in the March primary.
To run for office in Texas, a candidate must either pay a filing fee of $3,125 to run for Congress or submit a petition with 500 signatures of registered voters in the county. Andujo submitted a petition with 558 signatures on it on Monday, December 8 at 12:21, according to the party’s online candidate roster.
Screenshot of online candidate list, El Paso County Democratic Party, Martín Paredes/El Paso Herald Post, December 12, 2025.
The timestamp of 12:21 is important to note because in a letter sent to Andujo by Apodaca, the party chair, he wrote that he “unofficially” accepted the signatures on Monday. Apodaca went on to write that “soon after, on December 8th, the Veronica Escobar Campaign made an open records request,” for Andujo’s petition, although Apodaca does not state so but it is assumed in the letter. Looking at the candidate log provided by the party, it shows that Escobar filed her paperwork seeking reelection at 11:13am, less than an hour before Andujo.
Apodaca’s letter infers that Escobar’s campaign looked at the online list and decided to request a copy of Andujo’s petition via an open records request made to the party. Apodaca then added that “three of your signers sent a letter to the El Paso County Democratic Party,” asking that their names be removed from the petition. Apodaca did not identify who the petition signers are and how they knew to contact him to remove themselves from the petition.
At this point, according to Apodaca’s letter to the candidate, he still had 555 signatures in the petition, exceeding the 500 minimum required for him to be placed on the ballot. Apodaca wrote in his letter that he “officially accepted” the petition on December 10. He goes on to write that on the following day, he “received an official challenge to the validity of the signatures” from the Escobar campaign.
Lorraine Varela, campaign coordinator, for the Veronica Escobar Campaign, wrote in her December 11 letter that the campaign identified “over 100 signatures who appear to be ineligible for the purposes of the petition for a number of reasons, such as no birthdate, not old enough to vote, not registered at the time of signing the petition, registered to vote in a district other than TX-16,” and other unidentified issues the campaign argues invalidates Andujo’s petition to be added to the ballot. Varela added that the campaign is still looking to identify other signatures it believes to be invalid.
In response to Escobar’s challenge, Apodaca writes that the Party is the “filing authority” and has the duty determine the validity of Andujo’s petition. Apodaca wrote that Party officials will begin to immediately review the over 100 signatures the Escobar Campaign contends are invalid. By next Sunday at 3:00pm, Apodaca writes in his letter that they will share their findings with Andujo and Escobar. According to Apodaca’s letter, the reviewers will check the signatures against the Texas Democratic NGP-VAN voter file and the El Paso County Elections Department November 13 roster of registered voters. Apodaca adds that “another voter roster provided by the elections department” on December 9 will be used to verify the challenged signatures.
By 4:00pm on Sunday, Apodaca writes that he will hold a meeting to offer Andujo and Escobar the opportunity to challenge the findings and present evidence. After the challenges, Apodaca writes that he will decide on the signatures.
If Apodaca invalidates more than 55 signatures, Andujo will be removed from the ballot.
El Paso Herald Post reached out to Andujo for comment regarding Escobar’s attempt to have him removed from the primary ballot. In an email, Andujo wrote:
“I entered this race hoping to learn about the intricacies and participate in the democratic process. As a local El Pasoan and grassroots candidate I was unable to afford the $3125 filing fee so I spent 3 months talking to voters and asking for their signature on my behalf. After collecting 558 signatures I was placed on the ballot on Dec 8, 2025. Veronica Escobar and her team are looking to stack the playing field in her favor by now removing me from the ballot. By doing this she is sending a message that these types of positions are not meant for regular citizens but only the rich and powerful who can afford to spend $3,000. One could say they tried to cancel the primary election.”
Andujo concluded he will “stand firmly against these efforts to defend democracy because this is America.”
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