Two Republicans, Minerva Torres Shelton and Guadalupe Giner, are facing off in the primary race for El Paso County Judge. The winner will\u00a0face\u00a0incumbent Democrat Ricardo Samaniego\u00a0in November. Samaniego\u00a0remains\u00a0unopposed in the Democratic primary.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shelton,\u00a0was born in Oxnard, California,\u00a0to\u00a0migrant worker parents\u00a0and\u00a0later moved\u00a0to\u00a0Paracho,\u00a0Michoac\u00e1n. The family eventually returned to the United States, where they have lived since. She holds a\u00a0bachelor\u2019s 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\u00a0and\u00a0in the FBI\u2019s criminal and terrorism divisions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shelton said she wants to increase visibility in county government and highlight small businesses.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to highlight one or two small businesses during the county\u00a0commissioner\u2019s\u00a0court.\u00a0They meet every Monday, and the public will get to\u00a0submit\u00a0who they think should be that small business or two that should be highlighted,\u201d\u00a0Shelton said\u00a0<\/p>\n
In addition to promoting small businesses, she\u00a0said educating homeowners about tax exemptions would be a priority.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody\u00a0who\u2019s\u00a0a homeowner gets a homestead exemption deduction.\u00a0That\u2019s\u00a0just our right. If\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0your primary home,\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0going to get a certain amount of money taken off your taxes. For\u00a0people that are\u00a0over 65,\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0another incentive that they can deduct some more money.\u00a0You\u2019d\u00a0be surprised how many people\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0take advantage of those two,\u201d Shelton said.\u00a0\u201cThe\u00a0reason why\u00a0is because the county and the city have not done\u00a0a good job\u00a0in educating our community.\u00a0Those\u00a0are 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.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shelton\u00a0also\u00a0emphasized rebuilding trust between local leadership and residents.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s\u00a0no transparency.\u00a0All of a sudden, you just know that your taxes are going up,\u201d Shelton said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
If\u00a0elected, she said she would provide advance notice of agenda items and encourage\u00a0El\u00a0Pasoans\u00a0to\u00a0participate\u00a0in meetings either in person or by phone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI will let you\u00a0know, \u2018this is what we\u2019re going to be voting on, on Monday,\u2019\u201d Shelton\u00a0said.\u00a0\u201cIf you\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0agree with it, I want to hear from you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She\u00a0drew back on her experience with federal\u00a0budgets;\u00a0Shelton said she would conduct a review of county spending.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhenever Congress gives you money, you\u00a0have to\u00a0justify it,\u201d Shelton said.\u00a0\u201cI know how to follow the money.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She said her goal would be to audit the budget and identify what she described as wasteful spending. Giner, was born in Ju\u00e1rez, Chihuahua and is a naturalized U.S. citizen. She holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in business and spent 20 years in the private sector at a medical products company, working in purchasing and planning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her campaign centers on limited government, fiscal\u00a0responsibility\u00a0and tax reduction.\u00a0She argued that a\u00a0significian\u00a0portion\u00a0of the county\u2019s budget is directed toward state-mandated responsibilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m\u00a0for limited government and fiscal responsibility,\u00a0so\u00a0lower taxes and transparency,\u201d Giner said.\u00a0\u201cFifty-three percent\u00a0of our budget is being used to do what the state is telling us to do instead of doing it in our local community.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Giner said she would focus on efficiency rather than expanding county\u00a0government. She estimated taxpayers could potentially see annual savings of $200 to $300.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s\u00a0one way to lower taxes.\u00a0We\u2019re\u00a0not going to grow government because\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0a small government person. That\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0mean\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0laying people\u00a0off,\u00a0it\u00a0means\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0being\u00a0more efficient with what we have,\u201d Giner said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Giner\u00a0also\u00a0proposed creating\u00a0a\u00a0county\u00a0\u00a0economic\u00a0development\u00a0council to attract businesses to the region.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMy goal is to create a county economic development council,\u201d Giner said.\u00a0\u201cWe have a dedicated workforce, and I want to be able to provide information about why they should come to El Paso.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She suggested offering first-year tax relief for new small businesses under\u00a0certain\u00a0conditions, such as hiring and training local workers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people are coming out of college and they want experience,\u201d Giner said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Giner also addressed\u00a0public\u00a0safety,\u00a0she said she would work with the county\u00a0attorney to pursue stricter consequences for driving which intoxicated offenses.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of the time, when you commit a DWI,\u00a0you go\u00a0to jail, get processed and out you go with a bond,\u201d Giner said.\u00a0\u201cI 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\u00a0attorney,\u00a0we can collaborate as a team and say we\u00a0have got\u00a0to be more serious about this. After the second [DWI], I\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0know,\u00a0maybe you\u00a0lose\u00a0your license\u00a0immediately\u00a0for six months.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She proposed mandatory jail time for first time offenses and longer license suspensions for repeat violations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Samaniego, an El Paso native, has served as county judge since 2019. He holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in sociology and three master\u2019s degrees in psychology, bilingual bicultural education and international economics and public policy.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before taking public office, Samaniego held leadership roles across public and private sectors, including juvenile probation, housing, human resources, operations, business management,\u00a0consulting\u00a0and franchise ownership.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMy 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,\u201d Samaniego said. \u201cYou can imagine the lessons that\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0learned from that. Because of my history, I am always\u00a0very focused\u00a0on this binational relationship.\u00a0You\u00a0have to\u00a0really understand your region and community.\u00a0I decided to run four more years because I learned from those lessons.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Samaniego addressed\u00a0criticism over tax increases during his\u00a0administration,\u00a0Samaniego said rising costs are\u00a0often\u00a0tied to unfunded\u00a0mandates from the state.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we increase taxes,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0not because we\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0do the budget properly or\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0mismanaging the money,\u201d Samaniego said.\u00a0\u201cWhat happens\u00a0is that\u00a0we get unfunded mandates from\u00a0the\u00a0state that\u00a0are\u00a0really difficult.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He argued that delaying infrastructure repairs to avoid raising taxes can result in higher costs in the long term.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0very easy\u00a0not to raise taxes and then you\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0fix something that costs $10\u00a0now,\u00a0but\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0going to cost $20 in three or four years,\u201d Samaniego said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He also discussed utility rate increases approved at the state level, noting that inflation affects operational costs for gas and water providers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u00a0advocate\u00a0because the hardest thing, whenever\u00a0you have an increase, is\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0hitting the individuals that have a fixed\u00a0income,\u201d Samaniego said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
After residents were\u00a0impacted\u00a0by the increases, local officials\u00a0took\u00a0legal action against the Texas Railroad commission\u00a0regarding\u00a0gas hikes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He also responded to\u00a0criticism\u00a0regarding\u00a0salary increases during his two terms.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis\u00a0was something that was\u00a0started by\u00a0a previous\u00a0county judge,\u201d Samaniego said.\u00a0\u201cThink about that;\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0about 70% of\u00a0the salaries\u00a0of communities the size that we are. So, it was an HR process.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He noted that county salaries\u00a0remain\u00a0below comparable communities and said he supported the adjustment\u00a0alongside\u00a0commissioners.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u00a0actually sacrificed\u00a0a lot of money to be\u00a0a county\u00a0judge,\u201d Samaniego said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Election Day is\u00a0Tuesday, March 3.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The winner of the Republican primary will face Samaniego in the November election for El Paso County Judge.\u00a0<\/p>\n