Haggerty Has Cancer, May Step Down From Commissioners Court

After 17 years as an El Paso County commissioner, Dan Haggerty is considering stepping down after receiving some bad news from his doctor this week.

Early this morning Haggerty called ABC-7’s Darren Hunt and told him doctors found a tumor in his bladder and cancer in his kidney, which now must be removed.

“They went in yesterday,” Haggerty said. “The kidney is shot. The kidney has to come out.”

Haggerty has been a county commissioner since the mid-1990s. He’s the preeminent budget hawk on Commissioner’s Court and in addition to representing Northeast and West El Paso by always speaking his mind, he is perhaps best-appreciated for the most memorable sound bites in town.

But there’s nothing funny about the news that the 63-year-old got this week from his doctor.

“The pathology report is not back on the bladder,” Haggerty said. “But there’s a good possibility it’s got to go too.”

Haggerty, who had his prostate removed in 1999, is scheduled to have his kidney removed next week.

“This one could be pretty severe so I’m weighing my options,” he said. “I called the county judge this morning and told her that there may be some likelihood I’m going to have to step down.”

After serving El Paso for nearly two decades and with three years left in his fifth term, it’s a difficult decision for the former Marine and Vietnam veteran, who thinks agent orange may be to blame for the illness.

“I wanted to leave on my terms,” said Haggerty, who broke down in tears during the interview.

After gathering himself, Haggerty had this to say to the people he represents.

“I feel very obligated and committed to the people I represent, and if I can’t do that the way I want to represent them, then I need to walk away,” he said.

But even through the most difficult news anyone can imagine, Haggerty couldn’t help but joke about his illness and what may lie ahead.

“For all you people out there that prayed I’d drop dead, see, you got your way,” Haggerty said with a laugh.

Haggerty added that he will make a definitive decision on whether he’ll step down at the beginning of next year.