Recently there have been discussions about how Texas is primed to turn blue in the upcoming November 3rd elections, mostly led by Beto O’Rourke at the local level. O’Rourke has been ramping up his fundraising for his Powered by People PAC by writing about how important it is for the Democrats to show up at the polls to help turn Texas blue on his Substack newsletter. He has called the upcoming election the “urgency of the moment.”
Most recently O’Rourke wrote about how James Talarico’s win over Jasmine Crockett “might tip the balance of power in this country at it’s [sic] most critical moment of truth.”
Not to be left behind is Veronica Escobar who is frequently critical of Republicans. Most recently, Escobar boycotted the State of the Union writing that “Americans are worse off today.”
During the 2024 DNC speech, Escobar said that “Donald Trump and his Republican imitators see the border and immigration as a political opportunity to exploit instead of an issue to address.”
The problem with both their political rhetoric is that politics in America is largely driven by money. Money wins elections, locally and nationally. Understanding that money drives political agendas, the question becomes, should a politician excoriate a political party that is funded by the people that fund them?
The Chihuahuas Equation
For many El Pasoan’s a day at the ballpark is something they look forward to. The ballpark, where the Chihuahuas play, is the result of several controversial decisions made by the city council to first demolish the existing city hall and then fund the ballpark with taxpayer monies.
What is interesting about O’Rourke is that when he writes about the dangers of “oratorical onanism, racism and constant baiting,” he somehow forgets the part he played in El Paso’s version of self-indulgent and narcissist diminishing of El Paso’s Latinos through the controversial Glass Beach Study that led to the Chihuahuas ballpark.
The Glass Beach Study turned proud El Paso Mexican-Americans into caricatures of Penélope Cruz, a Spaniard, and Mathew McConaughey, a Texan more representative of the Texan invaders during the Texas War of Independence than the Mexican-American Tejanos that are part of El Paso today.
The main people behind the ballpark are Paul Foster and his wife Alejandra de la Vega and Woody Hunt and his son Josh Hunt.
In addition to being the main principals behind the company that owns the Chihuahuas baseball team is that they consistently make large campaign contributions to Republicans as well as contributions to both Escobar and O’Rourke.
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Republican Campaign Funding
Since 1987, according to the records of the Federal Elections Commission, Woody Hunt has made 1,556 campaign contributions totaling $12,135,529 to candidates running for federal offices. His most recent contribution was for $5,000 to the Republican Voter Engagement PAC on August 27, 2025. Except for campaign contributions to Beto O’Rourke and Veronica Escobar, his other campaign contributions were almost all to Republican candidates and committees, including John Cornyn and Ted Cruz. Woody Hunt made six campaign contributions to O’Rourke in 2013, 2015 and 2016 totaling $16,000. Likewise for Veronica Escobar. Between 2017 and last year. Woody Hunt made 13 campaign contributions to Escobar totaling $30,040.94.
Josh Hunt, Woody Hunt’s son, has made 50 campaign contributions to candidates running for federal office from 2007 through last year. His total contributions are $104,412. Josh Hunt has made contributions to Democrats like Martin Heinrich, Beto O’Rourke and Veronica Escobar. The younger Hunt made nine campaign contributions to Beto O’Rourke between 2011 and 2017 totaling $17,162 and another two campaign contributions to O’Rourke’s People Powered Action PAC in 2019 for $5,600. Escobar accepted eight campaign contributions from him between 2017 and last year totaling $22,600.
Since 2001, Paul Foster has made 887 campaign contributions to federal office candidates. In total, Foster has made $21,272,561.26 in campaign contributions. He made two contributions to O’Rourke in 2013 for $5,200. Between 2017 and 2024, Foster made six campaign contributions to Veronica Escobar totaling $17,600. Like Woody Hunt, most of Foster’s other campaign contributions were to Republicans, including several to the Republican Party.
Foster’s wife, Alejandra de la Vega, made 27 campaign contributions to federal candidates or committees between 2007 and 2016. Included in the $803,800 in campaign contributions were two to Beto O’Rourke in 2013 for $5,200.
The Chihuahuas principals have made $34,316,302.26 in campaign contributions to mostly Republicans in federal races. Included in the contributions were $49,162 to Beto O’Rourke and $70,240.94 to Veronica Escobar.
Less than 1% of the federal campaign contributions made by the leadership of the Chihuahuas went to non-Republicans, most of which were contributed to Escobar and O’Rourke.
In addition to federal races, Woody Hunt contributed to several city council candidates in 2024, including Alejandra Chávez and Renard Johnson. Josh Hunt also contributed to Johnson. Johnson also accepted contributions from Paul Foster. The 2024 city council election saw campaign contributions of more than a quarter of million dollars. One of Renard Johnson’s largest contributors was the Republican connected Protect and Serve Texas PAC that contributed over $150,000 towards his mayoral campaign. The PAC supports Republicans across Texas.
Who else do the people giving to Republicans across the country fund? That would be El Paso Matters that is led by Bob Moore who we recently pointed out is more of a political operative than a journalist.
There is a problem when many El Pasoans ignore the fact that many of the Republican agendas they criticize is funded by the people they idealize while supporting their businesses along with the politicians that take their money ignoring the unpleasant fact that the same source of the money funds the people they criticize.
At some point, someone needs ask the simple question – are we shooting ourselves in the foot by supporting the funding source of those we criticize? In El Paso, probably not.