Race for El Paso County Judge likely headed to runoff

Former El Paso Mayor John Cook and entrepreneur Ricardo Samaniego are likely headed for a runoff in the race for El Paso County Judge.

Cook received nearly 46 percent of the vote while Samaniego received 31 percent. A third candidate, Laura Enriquez, received 23 percent of the vote. The winner of the Democratic primary will run unopposed in November since no Republican candidates entered the race.

Moving forward to a runoff may be financially challenging for Cook. His campaign finance report filed a week ago shows he’s spent more than $33,000 so far on the raise while raising just over $22,000. Samaniego’s report showed he still had more than $12,500 cash on hand.

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Both candidates say one of the most pressing issues affecting the County are the state of the county jail – which has been described as old, inefficient and expensive.

“We don’t know about crime going up or what’s going to happen and we’re trying to make decisions on a jail without understanding the entire picture and I want to understand what’s going to happen with public safety in rural areas,” Samaniego said.

Cook said renovating the county jail would be one of his priorities. “It’s going to be a big challenge: do you renovate one floor at a time or do you demolish the building and start over? Do you move everything out to the jail annex? We need to keep it centrally located so it’s easier to transport people back and forth for their court hearings,” Cook said.

Cook was first elected as a city representative for Northeast El Paso in 1999. He later served as mayor of El Paso from 2005 to 2013. In 2014, Cook ran for Texas Land Commissioner but lost against Republican George P. Bush.

Samaniego has a vast amount of experience in the public and private sectors, according to his website. Samaniego has served as interim Director for the El Paso County Housing Authority and interim Human Resources Director for the Rio Grande Workforce Solutions, where he was tasked with conducting an “extensive organizational assessment and implement changes.

When it comes to government debt, Cook said it takes skill and experience to know when it’s necessary to issue a bond. Samaniego said he would try to increase revenue in other forms before issuing bonds.