Cost per vote doubles in El Paso mayoral election with fewer voters overall
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- The overall cost per vote cast in the 2024 City of El Paso mayoral election more than doubled versus the previous race for mayor in 2020. Total spending by mayoral campaigns or in-kind spending by donors this year also doubled, while the amount of voters casting their ballot for the mayoral race dropped compared to four years ago.
In 2024, 183,598 voters took part in the El Paso mayoral race, according to the unofficial final election results available from the El Paso County Elections Department as of Wednesday. The most recent campaign finance reports from the city clerk's office show that $1,415,618.82 in total has been spent since the start of this year through 8 days before election day. That includes spending by campaigns and the value of in-kind donations, representing money spent on a campaign's behalf by donors. That brings the total cost per vote for mayor in 2024 to $7.71 across all campaigns.
For the previous El Paso mayoral election in 2020, the final election total was 217,484 vote cast in that race, 33,886 more than in 2024. Campaign finance reports from 2020 covering that year through 8 days before the November election show a total of $761,356.20 spent by campaigns or by donors in support of them. That comes out to an average cost of $3.50 per mayoral vote four years ago.
For the mayoral campaigns making it to the runoff, costs per vote have increased even more election over election. El Paso businessman Renard Johnson and District 1 City Representative Brian Kennedy secured the top mayoral election vote totals this year, with Johnson getting 59,627 or 32.48% of votes and Kennedy receiving 44,459 or 24.22% of the unofficial final election total.
Johnson's campaign spent $598,798.16 in 2024 through 8 days before election day and received $277,839.74 in in-kind expenditures from donors, for a total of $876,637.90 spent by the campaign or on its behalf. That comes out to $14.70 spent per vote Johnson received in the general election.
Rep. Kennedy's campaign spent $380,239.48 in the same timeframe and garnered $3,860.10 in spending on its behalf by donors for a total of $384,099.58 spent, resulting in an average of $8.64 spent per vote Kennedy received.
For comparison, in 2020 the runoff showdown between now Mayor Oscar Leeser and the incumbent Mayor Dee Margo. Leeser received 92,700 votes and spent or had spent on his behalf $276,869.97, coming out to a cost of $2.99 per vote. Margo got 53,606 votes and spent $326,550.24 from or in favor of his campaign, yielding a cost of $6.09 per vote in the general election.
