Another candidate is announcing for the upcoming 2024 elections. 388th District Family Court incumbent Marlene Gonzalez will be officially announcing on July 20 that she is seeking reelection to the bench. In an email announcement earlier this week, Gonzalez said that she will hold a fundraiser/kickoff event at the 501 Bistro. The event is scheduled for 5:30.
The incumbent won her seat in a highly contested race in the July 2020 runoff elections. Gonzalez’ opponent, Laura Strathmann, was recorded on video stealing Gonzalez’ political sign leading up to the runoff election.
Subsequently to the release of the video, Strathmann released a video from the property owner stating that he asked Strathmann to remove the political sign. However, the property owner later acknowledged in a video that Strathmann had asked him to lie about asking her to remove the sign.
The stolen political sign was not the only incident between Gonzalez and Strathmann. Marlene Gonzalez filed a lawsuit on June 23, 2020 asking for permission to depose Strathmann and Jaime Abeytia. A fake email address and website had been created accusing Gonzalez of “dirty politics.” Gonzalez, under oath, denied creating the fake webpage. Gonzalez wanted to depose Abeytia to probe him about any involvement or knowledge he had about the fake page.
Abeytia’s blog was subsequently taken down by Google.
El Paso News July 2022
Gonzalez joins a growing list of political candidates that are announcing far-ahead of the March 2024 primaries. Normally, candidates for the March primaries announce later in the year. This year candidates running in the Democratic Party ticket are announcing early. There are three reasons for the early announcements. The first is the Texas Democratic Party Presidential State Convention that is also scheduled for June 2024. According to a party official, who agreed to speak to us if we don’t name them because they are not allowed to speak to the media, the second reason for the early announcements has to do with party officials controlling invitees to the convention, especially since President Biden is expected to be in attendance.
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The third reason is the limited political funds available for political candidates. Some candidates are fearing that the political funds will dry up by the next scheduled political campaign funding reports due next month. In addition to political funds possibly drying up, some believe that campaigns showing significant funding during the next reporting period will discourage opponents in the announced races.
Stay tuned for more announcements after the July 4th holiday. Another candidate for the district attorney race is rumored to be considering announcing next week. Stay with El Paso News for the latest in the 2024 political news.
Running For Office In 2024?
El Paso News is committed to informing our readers about the upcoming elections. If you are a candidate who will be seeking office in 2024 reach out to us at news@elpasonews.org with your details.
Disclosure:
As was the case during the 2022 elections, El Paso News will disclose the candidates the author’s branding and technology company provides services to. Candidates Iliana Holguin and Bobby Flores have contracted services from the author’s company. These services are provided separately from the publication and have no influence on our reporting.
