As we reported previously, in last year’s city council races, the candidates spent $2,302,829.39 on their campaigns. All the candidates that won their races spent the most money for the office. The question that remains, is where did the money come from?

There are three general sources of campaign funds. The first is where the candidate self-funds their campaign by spending personal funds to run or loaning their campaign money from their personal account. Because personal loans can be paid back as the campaign funds come in to the campaign, the loan amounts change as the campaigns reimburse themselves from campaign contributions.

Although several campaigns reported loaning their campaign personal funds, including Renard Johnson and Alejandra Chávez, only a few candidates had outstanding balances by the end of the year. As of December 31, Ivan Niño reported a loan balance of $5,000. Lily Limón reported a loan balance of $8,600 for the same period.

Of the candidates that lost, Brian Kennedy reported carrying a loan balance of $219,356.93, while Cassandra Hernandez reported a loan balance of $31,660. Isabel Salcido, who has not filed her campaign report due on January 15, reported having a loan balance of $100,000 through October 26, 2024.

Monica Reyes also reported $29,108.45 in outstanding loans for her campaign.

The second source of campaign funds is campaign contributions from individuals to the candidates.

El Paso News reviewed the campaign contributions to the candidates running for office in 2024. From the reports, we identified the top 20 individuals that contributed to the candidates.

The 20 Largest Individual Contributors

  1. Woody Hunt $62,148.63:
    Recipients: Renard Johnson, Alejandra Chávez, Josh Acevedo, Deanna Maldonado-Rocha, Cynthia Boyer Trejo, Ivan Niño, Chris Hernandez and Fabiola Campos Lopez
  2. Alvin Johnson $54,100:
    Recipient: Renard Johnson (He is the father of Renard Johnson)
  3. Miguel Fernandez $46,500:
    Recipients: Renard Johnson, Alejandra Chávez, Cynthia Boyer Trejo, Ivan Niño, Chris Hernandez and Fabiola Campos Lopez.
  4. Julio Chiu $37,500:
    Recipient: Renard Johnson
  5. Edward Houghton $27,500:
    Recipients: Renard Johnson, Alejandra Chávez, Josh Acevedo, Deanna Maldonado-Rocha, Cynthia Boyer Trejo, Ivan Niño and Fabiola Campos Lopez.
  6. Frederick Francis $27,000:
    Recipients: Renard Johnson, Alejandra Chávez, Josh Acevedo, Deanna Maldonado-Rocha, Ivan Niño, Chris Hernandez and Fabiola Campos Lopez
  7. Edward Escudero $26,550:
    Recipients: Renard Johnson, Alejandra Chávez, Josh Acevedo, Deanna Maldonado-Rocha and Fabiola Campos Lopez.
  8. Raymond Palacios $23,000:
    Recipients: Renard Johnson, Alejandra Chávez, Deanna Maldonado-Rocha, Cynthia Boyer Trejo and Ivan Niño.
  9. Douglas Schwartz $22,000:
    Recipients: Renard Johnson, Alejandra Chávez and Deanna Maldonado-Rocha.
  10. Adam Frank $20,100:
    Recipients: Renard Johnson, Alejandra Chávez, Josh Acevedo, Deanna Maldonado-Rocha, Cynthia Boyer Trejo, Ivan Niño and Chris Hernandez
  11. Steve Ortega $19,500:
    Recipients: Renard Johnson, Cassandra Hernandez, Alejandra Chávez, Josh Acevedo, Deanna Maldonado-Rocha, Cynthia Boyer Trejo and Alan Serna.
  12. Oscar Leeser $18,000:
    Recipients: Brian Kennedy, Joe Molinar and Lily Limón
  13. Ogechika Alozie $15,000:
    Recipient: Renard Johnson
  14. Stanley Jobe $14,500:
    Recipients: Renard Johnson, Brian Kennedy, Monica Reyes, Deanna Maldonado-Rocha, Joe Molinar, Ivan Niño and Lily Limón.
  15. Gerald Rubin $13,000:
    Recipients: Renard Johnson, Alejandra Chávez, Deanna Maldonado-Rocha, Ivan Niño and Chris Hernandez.
  16. Steve Fox $12,500:
    Recipients: Renard Johnson, Deanna Maldonado-Rocha, Cynthia Boyer Trejo, Ivan Niño, Chris Hernandez and Fabiola Campos Lopez.
  17. Josh Hunt $12,250:
    Recipients: Renard Johnson, Alejandra Chávez, Deanna Maldonado-Rocha, Cynthia Boyer Trejo and Chris Hernandez.
  18. Kirk Robinson $12,100:
    Recipients: Renard Johnson, Alejandra Chávez, Josh Acevedo, Deanna Maldonado-Rocha, Cynthia Boyer Trejo and Chris Hernandez
  19. Lane Gaddy $12,000:
    Recipients: Renard Johnson and Alejandra Chávez
  20. Paige Fox $11,500:
    Recipients: Renard Johnson, Alejandra Chávez, Deanna Maldonado-Rocha, Cynthia Boyer Trejo, Ivan Niño, Chris Hernandez and Lily Limón

The top 20 contributors contributed $486,698.63. This amount accounted for 21.13% of all the contributions made in 2024. (see note below)

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Three other names that did not make the top 20 contributors include Rick Francis (21) $7,500 to Renard Johnson. Also, Jim Cardwell (22) $7,000 to Renard Johnson, Alejandra Chávez, Deanna Maldonado-Rocha and Cynthia Boyer Trejo. Finally, William Sanders (23) $6,250 to Renard Johnson, Alejandra Chávez, Deanna Maldonado-Rocha and Chris Hernandez.

We also analyzed the contributions for each of the city council winners to see what percentage of their campaign contributions came from one contributor from the top 20 list. Three of the candidates’ contributions from one individual accounted for over 10% of their total contributions.

Josh Acevedo received two campaign contributions of $7,500 each from Francis Frederick and Woody Hunt. Each contribution was 13% of his total. Cynthia Boyer Trejo accepted $7,982.43 from Woody Hunt. That amount was 17% of Trejo’s total contributions. Ivan Niño also accepted $10,000 from Woody Hunt. This accounted for 16% of his total contributions.

The final source of campaign funds is the money from the Political Action Committees that offer funds along with their endorsements.

Local PAC Money

Generally, it is the local Political Action Committees (PAC) that make campaign contributions to candidates running for city council. However, in 2024, an Austin based PAC, the Protect and Serve Texas PAC spent over $100,000 helping Renard Johnson. Three El Pasoans made contributions to the PAC. Ted Houghton contributed $10,000 to the PAC on October 1, 2024. The following day, Steve Ortega contributed $5,000. The final contribution was from Miguel Fernandez for $25,000 on October 10, 2024.

The local major PACs contributed $82,000.

The Association of Contractors contributed $2,500. The El Paso Association of Firefighters contributed $16,500. The Greater El Paso Association of Realtors (TREPAC) contributed $54,000. The El Paso Police Officer’s Association contributed $7,500. The last PAC making a contribution was the El Paso County Sheriff’s Officers Association who contributed of $1,500.

In total, these special interest groups contributed $568,698.63 to the candidates running for city council in 2024. This figure accounts for 25% of the total contributions.

Note: The totals include household members where applicable, and include amounts contributed directly to Protect & Serve Texas PAC for the benefit of Renard Johnson.

Martin Paredes

Martín Paredes has been writing about border issues and politics for the last 25 years. He covers the stories no one else is covering. Like my work? Buy me a coffee using this link: https://buymeacoffee.com/martinparedes