El Paso, Texas: Samaniego Wins Third Term as County Judge as Teran and Griego Join Commissioners Court

EL PASO, Texas (Orbit Post) El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego won a third term on Tuesday, taking 69 percent of the vote against Republican Minerva Torres Shelton at 31 percent, the El Paso Times reported. The 77-year-old Democrat was the only El Paso County incumbent to keep his seat this election cycle, and he has held the job since 2019.

Two new faces join him on the Commissioners Court. Democrats Miguel "Mike" Teran and Annette Griego won the Precinct 2 and Precinct 4 seats, after both beat sitting commissioners in the March Democratic primary.

A court that voters had already shaken

Commissioners David Stout and Sergio Coronado lost their seats in the March primary, before the general election began. The El Paso Times reported that voters at the polls on Tuesday voiced frustration with county government, pointing to spending, commissioner pay and a sheriff's office budget deficit of more than $7 million.

Torres Shelton, 58, a retired FBI supervisory special agent, made the budget the center of her campaign. Leaving her watch party, she said the sheriff "went $6 million over the budget" and added: "The people elected Judge Samaniego, so that's who they have as their leader. I did my best."

The numbers the new court inherits

The Commissioners Court recently approved a 2027 county budget of $540,717,580, up $45.231 million from the previous fiscal year. In the same budget work, the court voted 3 to 2 to raise pay for non-uniform county employees by 4 percent, while leaving out a pay raise for the commissioners themselves.

The county judge presides over the Commissioners Court, which adopts the county budget, sets the tax rate and makes county policy. The job carries a four-year term and a salary of $152,725.

Samaniego said after declaring victory that he had been talking with the sheriff. "We're going to be working together," he said. "We didn't raise taxes for the last two years. We have not raised taxes." On the two newcomers, he said they are capable but will have to learn the process, and that he felt comfortable the court could "hit the road running."

The two new commissioners

Teran beat Republican Matt Sistrunk with 77 percent to 23 percent for the Precinct 2 seat Stout held. Teran owns Roman Construction Project Management and is the son of former county Commissioner Miguel Arnulfo Teran. He beat Stout in the March primary with 53 percent to 47 percent.

Griego beat Republican Leo Arcos with 66 percent to 34 percent for Precinct 4, which covers West and Northeast El Paso, Vinton, Westway, Canutillo and Anthony. Griego, a nurse practitioner and business owner who was born in Juarez and raised in El Paso, founded her own medical services company in 2008 and opened an East Side family and pediatric clinic in 2016. She beat Coronado in the March primary with 57.5 percent to 42.5 percent.

The Prospector, the University of Texas at El Paso student paper, reported the same three wins in its election night live updates, calling Samaniego's third term at 10:15 p.m. on Tuesday.