Ordaz-Perez wins Texas House Dist. 76 seat

EL PASO, Texas -- Claudia Ordaz-Perez defeated Elisa Tamayo on Tuesday night to replace incumbent Texas state Rep. Cesar Blanco.

Ordaz-Perez held a clear lead with most of the votes counted.

Blanco is running for the Texas Senate seat held by Jose Rodriguez, who is stepping down.

Both Tamayo and Ordaz-Perez are Democrats. There were no Republican candidates in this race, which means Ordaz-Perez becomes the next Texas House District 76 representative.

Tamayo had never run for office, but worked for Blanco and Rodriguez.

Tamayo also had the support of the entire El Paso delegation, which included state representatives Mary Gonzalez, Lina Ortega and Joe Moody.

In fact, many of the donations to Tamayo’s campaign came from those delegation members.

Ordaz-Perez recently resigned as an El Paso city council representative after 5 years to run for the House seat.

Ordaz-Perez supporters include some El Paso movers and shakers, like Paul Foster and Woody Hunt, as well as mayor Dee Margo.

Ordaz-Perez recently faced alleged ethics violations regarding the use of public funds for mailers. Those ethics complaints were dismissed by the city attorney.

For the latest election results, click here.