The election results are in. Richard Wiles (16,088) beat Carlos Leon (10,323) for sheriff. Anna Perez (5,218) beat incumbent County Commission Luis Sarinana (2,280). Willie Gandara (3,489) beat Irma Sanchez (2,668) for the Teran position. Regina Arditti (17,186) beat Ed Hernandez (7,841) for 448th District Court, and Yahara Lisa Gutierrez (14,902) beat incumbent 65th District Court Judge Alfredo Chavez (9,977). For Precinct 7 constable, Angie Sommers (1,512) beat David Chavez (1,111).
The numbers make up something like 7 percent of the electorate. The unofficial results for the countywide elections show 7.3 percent voting, and in no district did the numbers exceed 7.7 percent.
Folks claim not to be surprised at the election results. Here is a mashup of comments from various insiders and observers:
-- In the Gandara-Sanchez race, Gandara had two supporters with a shared history, state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh and state Rep. Norma Chavez. What to make of that? "He (Gandara) is a good networker. He couldn't even win re-election in Socorro."
-- In the Sarinana-Perez race, Perez on Saturday "sent out a pretty effective flyer. She should have been hammering it early." The mailer included headlines related to the public corruption case, which Sarinana has said does not involve him. Jaime Perez's Sun City News featured Sarinana on its cover.
-- In the Chavez-Gutierrez race, "he was paying a whole bunch of people to campaign. I guess in the end the truth will prevail." Chavez also received endorsements from the Democratic establishment, including the Mexican-American Democrats and the Camino Real Tejano Democrats. Congressman Silvestre Reyes was a special guest at a recent Chavez fund-raiser, one of the factors that put the race in the Shapleigh-Norma Chavez-Reyes blender. One way to view the endorsements: "You can look at it like these icons have fallen, like Haggerty and Moreno, and you can look at when the progressive establishment got behind Suerken. I'm not sure endorsements hurt, but there is no proof that they help anybody."
-- In the Arditti-Hernandez race, "Regina spent a load of money."
Arturo Serna
April 9, 2008
I met Ms Arditti at the Democratic convention for the first time and I can tell you that her spending "a load of money" had little to do with her winning. My impression of her is that she is a very capable and down to earth person. That is why I voted for her and why I believe that she won. After voting, my father who goes to the Socorro Senior citizen center and who does know her, confirmed my impressions of her and also added that they can always count on her support whether she is running for political office or not. El Paso made the right choice with her and the rest of the candidates who won in the run off election.
BM
April 9, 2008
I found Ms. Arditti's grasp of the english language to be that of an east texas football coach whose had way too much to drink. I was aghast at how inarticulate she was on the radio.
LME
April 10, 2008
I don't think you have it correct on Willie Gandara, Jr. not winning reelection in Socorro. He did not run for Mayor so that he could run for State Representative. His brother Gary Gandara ran for Mayor and was barely beaten by Trini Lopez. His father is on the Socorro school board. I think you are confused.
He won because he is articulate and cares about his community. He and his family are Great at campaigning. They work hard!