Campaign finance reports were due yesterday for the January 20 runoff for the city council District 2 seat between Josh Acevedo and Verónica Carbajal and the races in the March Primaries. The early voting period for the runoff election ended yesterday. Election Day is Saturday. El Paso News developed an election platform that allows users to track the progress of elections. Our early voting tool shows that the Acevedo/Carbajal race has attracted a significant number of new voters.
Yesterday, 304 voters cast a ballot in the District 2 race. It was the last day of early voting. As of yesterday, 1,495 ballots have been cast in the Acevedo and Carbajal race. Five of the ballots were made by recently registered voters. El Paso News analyzed 1,490 of the voters who voted during the early voting period. What we discovered from our analysis is that 60% of the voters in early voting cast a ballot in the December 9 race which ended in the runoff between Acevedo and Carbajal.
This suggests that one of the candidates or both are mobilizing first-time/infrequent voters specifically to vote in this runoff election. It is unclear which candidate has mobilized voters, but whoever it is, it is likely that they will have a lead of over 500 votes going into Election Day. El Paso elections are generally settled during the early voting period.
Going into the runoff Carbajal reported raising $8,610.64 and spending $9,996.11. Carbajal owes $1,013.36 in campaign expenses she incurred and has not paid according to her campaign finance report. Carbajal’s largest contributor in this reporting period was Kitty Spalding with $1,000. Carlos Menchaca, a former New York City council member also contributed $500 towards Carbajal’s campaign. Menchaca, who is from El Paso, is a fellow at the Open Society Foundation. The non-profit foundation was founded in 1993 by George Soros. Carbajal’s largest political expense was printing costs.
Josh Acevedo reported raising $16,301.24 and spending $16,280.08. Acevedo’s largest contributor was the Texas Association of Realtors Political Action Committee for $5,000. Acevedo’s largest expense was for printing costs.
The El Paso Progress PAC, who opposed Carbajal’s campaign with mailers, reported raising $2,500 from Jobe Concrete and spending $5,142.53, mostly on printing costs.
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The March 5 Primary Races
County Attorney
Sergio Saldivar reported receiving $8,255 in campaign contributions and spending $9,900.25. Saldivar also reported a $20,000 loan to his campaign. Saldivar’s largest contribution was a $2,000 contribution from Creslan Williams. Saldivar’s largest expense was for printing costs.
Christina Sanchez reported raising $5,895 and spending $9,891. Sanchez’ largest contributor was Steve Ortega for $2,500. Sanchez’ largest expenses were for block walkers.
County Commissioners Precinct 1
Jackie Butler reported raising $26,950 and spending $12,306.58. Butler’s largest campaign was $3,000 from Carlos Bombach. Butler accepted a second $3,000 from James Bombach who lives in Katy, Texas according to the campaign report. Butler’s largest expense was printing costs.
Pete Faraone reported raising $22,250. Faraone reported spending $4,549.03. The El Paso Sheriff’s Officers Association with $5,000 and the El Paso Municipal Police Officers Association with $15,000 were Faraone’s largest contributors. Faraone’s largest expense was to Eddie Holguin for $1,762.08 for “yard signs and door hangers.”
Claudia Rodriguez, who is running as a Republican, reported spending $1,250 for her campaign and reported not accepting campaign contributions in her latest report. She spent the money on her candidate filing fee.
Ryan Woodcraft, who is running as an Independent reported raising $2,545 and spending $1,906.08. Woodcraft’s largest campaign contribution was from Bonnie Martin for $1,000. Woodcraft’s largest expense, according to his campaign report was $1,250 for his candidate filing fee.
County Commissioner Precinct 3
Iliana Holguin reported raising $14,910 and spending $14,897.80. Holguin’s largest contributions were $1,000 each from Richard Castro, the El Paso Sheriff’s Association, Deborah Kastrin and The Forma Group. Holguin’s largest expenses were for advertising and printing costs.
Virginia Rodriguez reported not receiving any campaign contributions nor spending any funds on her campaign. She reports having an outstanding of $7,500 towards her campaign. She made the loan to her campaign.
County Tax Assessor Collector
In the County Tax Assessor race, Ruben Gonzalez reported not raising any campaign funds. Gonzalez reported spending $1,383 with $1,250 going towards his filing fee. David Marino also reported raising no campaign funds and reported spending $16.25 to print 100 copies of his “petition in lieu of filing fee” form to be on the ballot.
Arthur Lujan Seelig reported $1,774.94 in campaign contributions and spending $3,561.73. Seelig’s largest expense was for printing costs.
El Paso Sheriff
Bobby Flores reported raising $64,100.85 and spending $67,716.85. Flores largest contributor was $5,000 from the El Paso County Sheriff’s Officers Association. Flores’ largest expense was for consulting work.
Michael Gonzalez reported raising $6,803 and spending $1,817.97. His largest contributor was Donell James for $3,000. Jesus Avila, Jr. also contributed $3,000 in in-kind contributions to the campaign. The in-kind contribution was also his largest expense.
Raul Mendiola reported raising $1,240 and spending $2,864. Mendiola’s largest contributions were $350 each from Andres Aguirre and Raul Ramos. His largest expense was for printing costs.
Minerva Torres Shelton, running on the Republican ticket reported raising $6,365.46 and spending $5,035.31. Shelton’s largest contributor was Robert Schulz for $4,000. Shelton also reported making a $3,000 loan to her campaign. Her largest expenses was in printing costs.
Oscar Ugarte reported raising $30,357 and spending $23,492.86 in campaign funds in his report. Ugarte’s largest contribution was an in-kind from Gustavo Ugarte for $8,340 for banners and signs. This was also his largest expenditure in his latest report. Ugarte also reported a loan of $15,000 he made to his campaign.
Ryan Urrutia reported raising $52,180 in campaign contributions and spending $14,819.82. Urrutia’s largest contribution was $5,000 from the El Paso Sheriff’s Officers Association. Urrutia also reported several contributions of $2,500 each. Urrutia’s largest expense was in advertising costs.
Dear reader, I hope you appreciate this article. Before reading more, I ask that you consider my work and make a small donation to help keep this publication open for everyone. El Paso lacks news diversity. I offer 20+ years of historical knowledge about El Paso’s politics and public policy. Media diversity matters. Make a small donation today to help keep my work going for another 20+ years. Thank you.
Texas Ethics Commission Campaign Tool Not Working
The Texas Ethics Commission campaign finance reporting tool was not working properly this morning, so we were not able to report on the campaign finance reports for the District Attorney and the Texas House District 77 reports and a possible $500 fine faced by Norma Chavez. We will follow up later today with those reports as soon as the Commission resolves its technical glitches.
Disclosure
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