Beto Effect: Hotels, car rentals sold out as national media converges on El Paso
Rental cars and hotel rooms are sold out after Congressman Beto O’Rourke returns home to El Paso for election night.
Dozens of media outlets and O’Rourke supporters from all over America and the world are parked outside the Chihuahua’s stadium.
O’Rourke will be having his election night watch party at Southwest University stadium Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
ABC-7 caught up with Washington Post photographer, Michael Robinson Chavez, at a hotel. He said he flew in Monday from Beto’s rally in Houston.
“It took a little doing, every place seemed to be booked,” said Robinson Chavez.
ABC-7 called several hotels and they all had similar answers: they have no rooms available until Thursday or Friday.
ABC-7 also checked out multiple rental car websites in El Paso and there were no cars available.
Besides a place to stay and a car to drive, where will out-of-towners eat?
Evan Smith, CEO of the Texas Tribune, tweeted out this photo.
The front-of-the-house manager of L & J Cafe, Richard Valenzuela, told ABC-7, “These last couple of days we have seen a little bit of an increase in volume here at the restaurant– the wait’s a little bit longer than usual.”
Dan Masquelier is in town from Phoenix for work. He has been going to L & J’s for the last couple of days. He said he had a hard time finding a place to stay adding, “It was very difficult. Our first choices were 25 miles away in Las Cruces or Chihuahua.”
