Special Election: Early voting results show a big lead for Claudia Ordaz

Early Voting results for a special election to fill the city council seat vacated by city Rep. Eddie Holguin show Claudia Orzaz with close to three-fourths of the vote. ABC-7 spoke with the four candidates who want to finish serving Holguin’s term, and what changes they would like to see in El Paso.

“I would love to see them use these flood plains, a lot of the private ones, I would like to see them, you know, we don’t have any biking and hiking trails,” said Dick Bowen, a businessman and mortgage broker. “Meaning off the road hiking and biking trails. I would like to see them negotiate with the utilities and pipeline companies to create, across the city, hiking and biking trails. The land is there. It’s wide open. It’s clear. It would take minimum maintenance to keep it up once you have the pathway built.”

“I’m definitely an advocate for small business,” said Mike Armstrong, owner of the now closed Three Legged Monkey bar. “I think that any economy starts with people investing and the belief that their money and their investment can go ahead and be secured within the community and fostered and developed with community support – government support. And I feel that I can go ahead and be a liaison for that.”

“Thirty percent of El Pasoans live on the eastside and it’s kind of hard to commute all the way to downtown,” said Claudia Ordaz, a communications specialist. “It’d be an exciting thing to talk about, maybe an east side entertainment district. Other communities have that across the state, across the nation.”

“Safety is a very big important thing in our area,” said Alex Zuniga, teacher and account specialist. “There is a lot a need of lighting. There is no lights in our streets. Safety, education, it’s a must. Job security in our city.”

We’ll have complete coverage of the special election on ABC-7 and kvia.com.