El Paso News analyzed the campaign finance reports for the political expenses filed by the candidates running for office from January 1, 2024 through January 15, 2025 to calculate the total amounts spent by the contenders who ran last year. In the case of the three incumbents, Cassandra Hernandez, Brian Kennedy and Isabel Salcido we calculated the amounts starting from when they were officially running for the mayoral seat. In the case of Josh Acevedo, the incumbent, we began his calculations on January 1, 2024.
This is what we found.
In total, the 32 candidates running for city council spent $2,302,829.39.
In the mayoral race, four of the eight candidates did not report spending any money. The remaining four candidates spent $1,617,313.47 with Renard Johnson spending the most. Johnson reported spending $841,137.90. Brian Kennedy followed Johnson with $542,027.43. The two women in the race, Cassandra Hernandez and Isabel Salcido reported spending $234,148.14. Hernandez reported spending $155,001.06 and Salcido reported $79,147.08 in campaign expenses.
In the six open city council seats, the 24 candidates reported spending $685,515.92. The most expensive seat was the District 1 contest, where the four candidates reported spending $227,514.34. The second most expensive seat was the District 7 seat, where the four candidates reported spending $142,708.89.
In the District 1 race, Alejandra Chávez reported spending $140,570.75. Chávez was followed by Monica Reyes with $71,149.60. The District 1 race was the most expensive of the open city council seats.
In the District 2 race, the incumbent, Josh Acevedo, spent $56,277.29, while his opponent, Isabel Ceballos spent $15,095.87.
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In the District 3 race, Deanna Maldonado-Rocha spent $58,457.80, while one challenger, Jose Rodriguez did not report spending any money. Rodriguez, who made into the runoff election, lost to Maldonado-Rocha. There were two other candidates in the contest. Fabiola Arellano reported spending $6,745.35 and Kenneth Bell reported spending $10,615.31.
The other contest with an incumbent running was District 4. Joe Molinar, the incumbent, reported $44,430.20 in campaign expenses. Molinar lost to Cynthia Boyer Trejo, who reported spending $46,563.60. Dorothy Byrd, one of the two other candidates in the race, reported $961.62 in campaign expenses. Wesley Lawarence, the other candidate, reported spending $4,710.82.
In the District 5 race, only three of the five candidates reported campaign expenditures. The winner, Ivan Niño reported $62,327.52 in expenditures. He was followed by Felix Muñoz, who reported spending $7,459.31. Amanda Cunningham, who made it into the runoff, reported spending $1,648.
The second most expensive city council seat race was the District 7 seat. Lily Limón reported spending $83,301.50 to win the contest. Chris Hernandez, who made it into the runoff, reported spending $37,431.39, Alan Serna reported spending $14,100.01 and Fabiola Campos Lopez reported spending $7,875.99.
In every race, the candidate that spent the most won their seat.
Look for our special report on Monday listing the top 20 campaign contributors in the last election.