District 4 runoff candidates working to get voters to return to the polls June 10th

Early voting began Tuesday for El Paso City Council runoff elections and will continue through next Tuesday.

With four Council seats plus the Mayor’s office still up for grabs, a lot is riding on the June 10 runoff election.

ABC-7 caught up with both Sam Morgan and Shane Haggerty at a YWCA off Hondo Pass in Northeast El Paso Tuesday, both of them trying their best to catch early voters in the parking lot before they went inside to cast their ballot.

Back in the May 6 general election, Morgan received 1,969 votes, but fell short of the 50 percent needed to avoid a runoff. Haggerty received 36 percent of the vote, finishing 258 votes behind Morgan.

Haggerty said in an effort to make up that difference he is first trying to make sure those who voted for him the first time around vote again. He said the main issues in the Northeast are streets, which he called horrible, and Cohen Stadium.

Haggerty said his concern is that Cohen is deteriorating and must be upgraded to attract new events, something more than just Music Under The Stars.

Morgan said his runoff strategy is the same as the general election, knocking on doors. He pointed to the streets and sidewalks as his top issue, with Cohen Stadium a close second.

Morgan said he will do a survey to find out what the issues are with Cohen and what could be done.

“The narrative is the same over and over and over, the residents of Northeast feel like they’re that red-headed stepchild,” Morgan said. “That’s what they call themselves. They don’t feel connected to the community in any significant or meaningful way. They feel they are relegated to the sidelines, their voice doesn’t matter.”

“I want to be the champion for Northeast. I want to be the one that gets up there and markets Northeast differently than it ever has before,” Haggerty said, “We have so many great things out here, so many positives. We have fantastic neighborhoods, we have the beautiful Castner Range and we have our open spaces that we just don’t market.”