The next city council election is scheduled for November. Oscar Leeser is termed out leaving the mayor’s seat open. In addition to the mayor, districts two, three, four and seven will hold elections in November. Those elected will take office in January 2025.
The Mayor’s Office
Three individuals have announced that they are running for mayor. They are Marco Contreras, Cassandra Hernandez and Renard Johnson. At least one other individual, Brian Kennedy, is rumored to want to run for the mayor’s office, but Kennedy has not announced his intention to run.
Contreras was the first to officially enter the mayor’s race when he filed his treasurer’s designation on August 3, 2023. Johnson filed his treasurer’s designation on January 18. The last to file of the announced candidates is Hernandez, who filed on January 31.
District Two
Josh Acevedo recently defeated Verónica Carbajal in a runoff election in January to take the district two seat. Alexandra Annello had stepped down to run for the House of Representatives District 77 seat. Annello came in third behind Norma Chávez and Vince Perez in the Primary Elections held last month. As of this morning, no one, including Acevedo, has filed to run in November for his seat.
District Three
Cassandra Hernandez, who announced she is running for mayor on January 31, is termed out. In July, the El Paso Ethics Review Commission issued a Letter of Reprimand for Hernandez’ misuse of her city-issued fuel card.
Kenneth Bell is the only candidate to announce for the district three seat as of this morning. Bell filed his treasurer designation on March 13.
District Four
Joe Molinar, who is running for reelection, was issued a Letter of Admonition in March 2023 for harassing a city employee. In addition to Molinar, Dorothy Byrd, and Wesley Lawrence have officially announced they are running for the district four seat. Byrd was the first to announce by filing her treasurer designation on May 18, 2023. Lawrence filed his treasurer’s designation on June 26, 2023, a few days after the incumbent, Molinar filed to run for reelection. Molinar filed his treasurer designation on June 14, 2023.
District Seven
District seven’s representative is Henry Rivera, who is termed out, was recently reprimanded by the city council for allowing his wife to supervise a city employee and allowing her to access city resources. Running for the open seat is Lily Limón. Limón filed on Monday, April 15.
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Candidate Websites:
Kenneth Bell’s website.
Dorothy Byrd’s website.
Marco Conteras’ website.
Cassandra Hernandez’ website.
Renard Johnson’s website.
Wesley Lawrence’s website.