City rep Eddie Holguin runs for El Paso county Judge’s seat

“The reason thatI feelI need to run right now is because the county lacks leadership, it lacks representation towards it’s citizens, andI want to give the taxpayers a voice,” said District 6 city representativeEddie Holguinafter makinghiscandidacy for the El Paso County judge’s seat official early Sunday.

Holguin will be campaigning against current county Judge Veronica Escobar, who’s running for re-election.

And with Holguin representing District 6 for nearlynine years,ABC-7 askedEscobar how she felt about having a well-known opponent in the race.

“It doesn’t worry me at all.I think competitivenessis good for the community; they’re good for democracy, they’re good for the voters,” said Escobar.

Holguin said there needs to be more representation for the constituents.

“What we’ve gotten over the years are these elected officials that impose their own personal views on the citizens whether or not the citizens agree with them,” said Holguin.

Escobar disagress and tellsABC-7 she herself has maintained good contact with the people of El Paso County.

“I have literally participated in hundreds of community meetings whereI have gone to the community, through my entire term in office, to explain the budget, to explain the county, to talk about controversial votes, to talk about important votes,” said Escobar.

ABC-7asked Escobar what sets her apart from Holguin.

“Results. In my short three years as county judge,I have worked with great peopleof the county, to people of the community, to bring massive reform to the county,” said Escobar.

Holguin tells ABC-7 his priority will be representing the taxpayers.

“I think the citizens have a right to vote on when their taxes are going up. They are not being given the opportunity to voice their opinions or their concerns or to say that they are being taxed out of their homes,” said Holguin.

Holguin tellsABC-7 that according to the state constitution, once he declared to run for county judge, he is automatically resigned from his current position.

But the constitution has a holdover provision which will keep Holguin in his City Council seat until special elections are held in May and a replacement is elected.

Aliana Apodaca, who also is running for the county judge seat, sent ABC-7 the following statement:

“El Pasoans have demonstrated they are tired of politics and politicians as usual. The voters I’ve been talking to don’t want another career politician. They want an outsider who brings fresh ideas and out-of-the-box solutions to El Paso’s problems. As a businesswoman, I bring that. My campaign is stronger than ever. Our first ad, which is also playing on KVIA, has received great response and we will continue full steam ahead no matter who jumps into the race.”