![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Aboud-GOP-EP-643x1024.jpg\")
Michael Aboud<\/p>\n
Aboud said some GOP candidates decided to run for office after Charlie Kirk, the founder of the conservative advocacy group Turning Point USA<\/a>, was shot and killed while speaking at a Utah university in September.<\/p>\n \u201cThey said that was the last straw,\u201d said Aboud, who is seeking reelection for a second term in the position and is facing two opponents in the primary.<\/p>\n Citing projects such as the controversial $207 million deck park planned for Downtown, Aboud said Republican candidates are looking to hold the line on taxes<\/a> and focusing on more basic needs such as fixing and connecting roads.<\/p>\n PODCAST: Is the El Paso Downtown I-10 deck park a visionary plan or a costly gamble? Hear from both sides in our latest podcast<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re sick and tired of taxes and the local government not representing local people at all,\u201d Aboud said. The deck park, for example, candidates expressed they don\u2019t want to do that, they don\u2019t want the expense.\u201d<\/p>\n ANALYSIS: Why El Paso\u2019s city government spends far less on services than other big Texas cities<\/a><\/p>\n Aboud points to the economy and immigration as the two key issues drawing Republicans not just to the polls but to the candidate pool, saying many back the policies of President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n Trump made deep inroads in El Paso County in the 2024 presidential election, with his strongest performance in rural and suburban parts of the county outside the city limits. In 2024, Trump took nearly 42% of the votes in the county against Kamala Harris \u2013 an uptick from about 32% against Joe Biden in 2020 and nearly 26% against Hillary Clinton in 2016.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s job approval rating among Latinos is decreasing: A Pew Research Center<\/a> study published in November shows 70% of Latinos disapprove of the job he\u2019s doing as president, with his overall approval rating at 27% among the same demographic. That\u2019s down from a 42% approval rating in February, according to the nonpartisan, nonprofit think-tank.\u00a0<\/p>\n ELECTION ARCHIVES: 4 years ago, Donald Trump lost Horizon City by 27 points. This year, he carried the growing town.<\/a><\/p>\n Apodaca said Trump \u201cand his values do not represent El Paso,\u201d citing dangerous rhetoric and mass deportation efforts by the administration that goes against the largely immigrant and Hispanic community of the region.<\/p>\n \u201cOur thing is that we need to remind El Pasoans what Democrats have done for this community \u2013 and that\u2019s our challenge and something we\u2019ll have to do this cycle and every cycle moving forward,\u201d Apodaca said.<\/p>\n In the March primaries, Democratic and Republican candidates vie for their chance to face off against the opposing party\u2019s winning candidates in November. The Libertarian and Green parties in Texas determine their nominees at conventions, and not primary elections.<\/p>\n The voter registration deadline for the primaries is Feb. 2, with early voting scheduled Feb. 17-27. A runoff, if needed, would be May 26. The winners of each race in their respective party move on to the Nov. 3 election.\u00a0<\/p>\n Here is who filed for office in the El Paso primary elections:<\/p>\n U.S. REPRESENTATIVE<\/p>\n District 16<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n Veronica Escobar (incumbent, third term), served on House Judiciary, Armed Services and Ethics and Appropriations committees; former county judge and county commissioner<\/p>\n Arturo Andujo, graduate physics student<\/p>\n Republican\u00a0<\/p>\n Derelis Montanez Berrios, retired Border Patrol agent, retired U.S. Army Reserves officer, ran unsuccessfully for congress as an independent in 2024 and 2022<\/p>\n Adam Bauman, U.S. Navy veteran, retired Border Patrol agent and business owner<\/p>\n Raul \u201cBullet\u201d Casta\u00f1eda, U.S. Navy veteran, teacher\u00a0<\/p>\n Hector Cabildo, unknown<\/p>\n Marisela Chavez, unknown<\/p>\n Ruben Rios, unknown<\/p>\n District 23<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n Gretel Marysdatter Enck, former administrator at Fort Davis National Historic Site<\/p>\n Santos Limon, civil engineer, unsuccessfully sought seat in 2024<\/p>\n Katy Padilla Stout, attorney, former public school teacher<\/p>\n Republican<\/p>\n Tony Gonzales (incumbent, third term), U.S. Navy veteran, served on House Appropriations and Homeland Security committees<\/p>\n George Keith Barton, Marine Corps veteran, construction equipment manager\u00a0<\/p>\n Susan Storey Rubio, rancher, conservationalist<\/p>\n Brandon Herrera, entrepreneur, social media personality\/YouTube influencer<\/p>\n STATE REPRESENTATIVE<\/p>\n District 74<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n Eddie Morales (incumbent, third term), attorney, businessman, investor, previously served in Elections, Energy Resources, Defense and Veterans Affairs committees<\/p>\n Republican<\/p>\n Robert Garza, attorney, former mayor of Del Rio, ran unsuccessfully against Morales in 2024<\/p>\n District 75<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n Mary Gonz\u00e1lez (incumbent, seventh term), vice chair House Appropriations Committee, member, House Natural Resources Committee, consultant, adjunct professor<\/p>\n Republican<\/p>\n Humberto Perez, U.S. Army veteran; plumber<\/p>\n David Flores, firefighter<\/p>\n District 77<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n Vincent Perez (incumbent, first term), Committee on Ways and Means, Committee on Higher Education; political consultant, former county commissioner<\/p>\n District 78<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n Joe Moody (incumbent, eighth term), speaker pro tempore of the House; House Administration, General Investigating, Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence, and Criminal Jurisprudence committees; attorney<\/p>\n District 79<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n Claudia Ordaz (incumbent, second term), vice chair of House Committee for International Relations and Economic Development, member, Transportation committee; former city representative<\/p>\n Republican<\/p>\n Jesus Romero, security officer<\/p>\n EL PASO COUNTY JUDGE<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n \u00a0Ricardo Samaniego (incumbent, second term)<\/p>\n Republican<\/p>\n Guadalupe Giner, purchasing agent, ran unsuccessfully against Samaniego as an independent in 2022<\/p>\n Minerva Torres Shelton, a retired FBI agent and police officer, ran unsuccessfully for county sheriff in 2024<\/p>\n EL PASO COUNTY COMMISSIONERS<\/p>\n Precinct 2<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n David Stout (incumbent, third term), former reporter\/producer, previously worked with former Sen. Jos\u00e9 Rodr\u00edguez<\/p>\n Republican<\/p>\n Thomas M. Matt Sistrunk, a political newcomer and financial consultant<\/p>\n Precinct 4<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n Sergio Coronado (incumbent, first term), attorney, former Canutillo ISD board member<\/p>\n Annette Griego, unknown<\/p>\n Republican<\/p>\n Leonard Arcos, military veteran<\/p>\n EL PASO COUNTY CLERK<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n Delia Briones (incumbent), first elected in 2006<\/p>\n EL PASO DISTRICT CLERK<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n Norma Favela Barceleau (incumbent), first elected in 2011<\/p>\n RELATED: Here are the \u2018I Voted\u2019 stickers El Pasoans will get at the polls in 2026 election<\/a><\/p>\n DISTRICT COURT JUDGES<\/p>\n 327th District Court<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n Monique Velarde Reyes (incumbent)<\/p>\n 243rd District Court<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n Selena Solis\u00a0 (incumbent)<\/p>\n 210th District Court<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n Alyssa G. Perez (incumbent)<\/p>\n 205th District Court<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n Francisco X. Dominguez (incumbent)<\/p>\n 171st District Court<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n Alex Cuellar<\/p>\n Amanda Enriquez<\/p>\n 168th District Court<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n Bernardo Cruz<\/p>\n Enrique A. Holguin<\/p>\n Robert J. Perez<\/p>\n Republican<\/p>\n 120th District Court\u00a0<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n Chris Anchondo<\/p>\n Leonard \u201cLenny\u201d Morales<\/p>\n Republican<\/p>\n COUNTY COURT AT LAW JUDGES<\/p>\n County Court at Law 1<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n Linda Perez<\/p>\n Ruth Reyes (incumbent)<\/p>\n County Court at Law 2<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n Christina Montes<\/p>\n Frances M. Maldonado<\/p>\n Sergio Saldivar<\/p>\n County Court at Law 3<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n Melissa A. Baeza (incumbent)<\/p>\n County Court at Law 4<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n Eunice Reyes<\/p>\n Jeff Rago<\/p>\n Marcos Lizarraga<\/p>\n County Court at Law 5<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n Jesus Rodriguez (incumbent)<\/p>\n County Court at Law 6<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n County Court at Law 7<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n Ruben Morales (incumbent)<\/p>\n COUNTY CRIMINAL COURT JUDGES<\/p>\n County Criminal Court 1<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n County Criminal Court 2<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n COUNTY PROBATE COURT JUDGES<\/p>\n County Probate Court No. 1<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n County Probate Court No. 2<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n Eduardo Aristeo Gamboa<\/p>\n Gabriella M. Reed<\/p>\n Sergio Enriquez<\/p>\n JUSTICES OF THE PEACE<\/p>\n Precinct 1<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n Denise Butterworth<\/p>\n Diego Vasquez<\/p>\n Jesus L. Salgado Ramos<\/p>\n Octavio Dominguez<\/p>\n Richard Velez<\/p>\n Shane Edmonson<\/p>\n Precinct 2<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n Ana Hey<\/p>\n Brian J. Haggerty (incumbent)<\/p>\n Christie Saiz<\/p>\n Julio Cesar Martin del Campo<\/p>\n Precinct 3<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n Precinct 4<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n Rebeca Bustamante (incumbent)<\/p>\n Precinct 5<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n Dora Oaxaca<\/p>\n Eileen Marlin Castro<\/p>\n Jesus Olivas<\/p>\n Lucilla \u201cLucy\u201d Najera (incumbent)<\/p>\n Monica Teran<\/p>\n Precinct 6, Place 1<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n Dora H. Aguirre<\/p>\n Ruben Lujan (incumbent)<\/p>\n Yoli Rodela<\/p>\n Precinct 6, Place 2<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n Enedina \u201cNina\u201d Serna (incumbent)<\/p>\n Nicolas \u201cNico\u201d Dominguez<\/p>\n Ricardo \u201cRick\u201d Jordan<\/p>\n Rosalie Dominguez<\/p>\n Precinct 7<\/p>\n Democrat<\/p>\n Humberto \u201cBeto\u201d Enriquez (incumbent)<\/p>\n Stephanie Frietze<\/p>\n PARTY CHAIRS<\/p>\n Democratic Party<\/p>\n Michael Apodaca (incumbent)<\/p>\n Republican Party<\/p>\n Michael Aboud (incumbent)<\/p>\n Omar Galache<\/p>\n Alfredo Lujan<\/p>\n At the national level, all 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and 33 of the 100 U.S. Senate seats are up for vote in the 2026 midterms. Texas has one of the Senate seats being decided in 2026.<\/p>\n The winning candidates would take office in January 2027.<\/p>\n Races for the city of El Paso \u2013 mayor, city representatives and municipal judges \u2013 are nonpartisan and therefore will not be on the primary ballot. The next city election<\/a> will be Nov. 3. City representative seats in Districts 1, 5, 6 and 8 will be up for vote; while the mayor\u2019s seat will be on the 2028 ballot.<\/p>\n To see if you\u2019re a registered voter, obtain a sample ballot and learn more about the elections, visit the El Paso County Elections Department\u2019s My Voter Dashboard<\/a> and follow El Paso Matters for an upcoming Voter Guide and race coverage<\/a>.<\/p>\n Related<\/p>\n LISTEN: EL PASO MATTERS PODCAST<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"El Paso Republicans \u2013 who have failed to find candidates for most partisan races in recent years \u2013…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":82271,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[138,140,139,39794],"class_list":["post-82270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-news","tag-election-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82270"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82270\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Apodaca-EP-Dems.jpg\")
Michael Apodaca<\/p>\n