Matt Sistrunk, candidate for El Paso County Commissioner Precinct 2
Name: Matt Sistrunk
Party: Republican
Occupation: Self-employed cryptocurrency miner
Relevant Experience
My experience in finance, leadership, budgeting, and organizational management has prepared me to make the kinds of decisions required of a County Commissioner. Throughout my professional career, I have worked with financial planning, resource allocation, and long-term decision-making.
My education at West Point and military service also taught me disciplined leadership, accountability, strategic planning, and responsibility for the people and resources entrusted to me.
As County Commissioner, I would bring that same disciplined approach to county government: understand where taxpayer money is going, determine whether spending is producing results, identify inefficiencies, and make responsible financial decisions.
Personal
I am a longtime El Paso resident, Army veteran, and graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point. Originally from Akron, Ohio, I came to El Paso when I was stationed at Fort Bliss in 1984. After serving as an Air Defender in Germany, I returned to El Paso in 1988 and have called this community home ever since.
My background in military service, finance, and leadership has shaped my commitment to discipline, accountability, and responsible stewardship. After decades of living and working in El Paso, I decided to become more directly involved in serving the community I have called home for nearly four decades.
What is your position on data centers?
I am strongly opposed to large-scale data centers that place additional strain on El Paso’s water supply, electrical infrastructure, or taxpayers. Economic development should improve the quality of life of the people who live here, not create long-term costs or resource burdens that residents are left to absorb.
I do not support using taxpayer-funded incentives to attract these projects, nor do I support arrangements that shift infrastructure, utility, or environmental costs onto El Paso families. Any economic development project should demonstrate that the benefit to our community outweighs its long-term cost.
What would you do differently to reduce property taxes?
Before asking taxpayers for another dollar, I believe we need to examine where their money is already going.
I would push for financial and performance reviews of the County’s largest spending areas and any department that repeatedly exceeds its budget. We should identify waste, unnecessary duplication, inefficient contracts, and spending that is not producing measurable results.
County government should operate within its means, establish clear priorities, and hold every department accountable for how taxpayer dollars are spent. My approach is to control spending first rather than continually turning to taxpayers for additional revenue.
What’s your position on the Deck Plaza project?
I will not support a Deck Plaza proposal that requires raising taxes or places an unreasonable financial burden on our community.
I am willing to review any project based on its merits, funding sources, long-term financial obligations, and benefit to El Paso. However, I will not support placing an open-ended financial obligation on taxpayers for the project.
What are your plans to ensure transparency and make sure you are accessible to constituents?
Accessibility starts with answering people.
I intend to remain personally accessible to constituents, and my staff will be expected to make sure that every person who reaches out to our office receives a response. If we cannot provide an answer immediately, we will find the information and follow up.
I also believe residents should have clear information about County spending, budgets, projects, and major decisions. People deserve to know what their commissioner is doing, why decisions are being made, and how their tax dollars are being spent.
Government works best when the people it serves can ask questions, receive answers, and hold their elected officials accountable.
What makes you the best candidate?
What distinguishes my candidacy is the combination of financial experience, leadership, military service, and independence that I would bring to Commissioners Court.
I am a West Point graduate and Army veteran who has called El Paso home for decades. I believe government should live within its means, taxpayers deserve to know where their money is going, and elected officials should remain accessible and accountable to the people they serve.
This is a grassroots campaign built through direct conversations with El Paso residents. I am not running to represent big business or special interests. I am running to represent the residents of Precinct 2 and bring disciplined, responsible decision-making to County government.
