Former County Commissioner Vince Perez announces bid for Texas House District 77 seat

A light breeze swirled around former El Paso County Commissioner Vince Perez as he announced his candidacy for the Texas House District 77 seat from Tom Lea Park overlooking El Paso High School with the high-rises of Downtown looming in the distance.

Perez, a Democrat who announced his House campaign Thursday, Sept. 21, is the first to jump into the race for the seat, which will be vacated following an announcement from current state Rep. Lina Ortega earlier this year that she would not seek reelection to the post she's held since November 2016.

Though currently the only contender in the race, Perez will likely have to face at least a small field of opponents before next year's election. With Democratic candidates more common in El Paso, he may face primary challengers in March before the General Election in November 2024.

If elected, he will work alongside his former wife, state Rep. Claudia Ordaz, but Perez said he spoke with Ordaz about that possibility and has "no concerns" about working with her as part of El Paso's legislative delegation in Austin.

"El Paso needs a state representative who can effectively articulate and advocate for El Paso's needs in the state legislature," Perez said during his announcement last week. "We need a leader who can bring a fresh perspective and work collaboratively on the issues facing El Paso."

While most of Perez's main priorities are decidedly El Paso-centric — the reconstruction of the main stretch of I-10 through El Paso, the establishment of a law school in the city, continued investment in El Paso's colleges and universities — he likewise has an eye on the bigger issues facing all Texans.

"House District 77 needs someone with proven leadership, someone who can add value to our state delegation as they navigate through these tumultuous political times," he said. "We have complex 21st century problems to deal with and we can't look to 20th century candidates to solve them."

Perez touts 'significant reforms' made during time on El Paso County Commissioners Court

Perez, a lifelong resident of House District 77, was first elected to the El Paso County Commissioners Court in 2012 after defeating former state Rep. Chente Quintanilla in the Precinct 3 race. He also served two terms as chairman of the Metropolitan Planning Organization's Transportation Policy Board.

Perez's hopes for a third term were narrowly dashed by current Precinct 3 Commissioner Iliana Holguin during the 2020 Democratic primary.

During his eight years in office, Perez led the charge on what he called "significant reforms" in criminal justice, local infrastructure and government accountability.

"During my two terms in office, I fought every day to give the people a strong and effective voice," Perez said during his campaign announcement, "and we ushered in some of the most significant reforms in the county's history during that time."

After working as a congressional staffer, Perez launched his first campaign at 29 years old.

"I ran because I felt strongly that the people were not being represented by leaders who truly had the community's best interest at heart," he recalled. "At the time, three former county judges had been sentenced to prison for violating the public's trust. My predecessor on the Commissioners Court was also sentenced to prison for drug trafficking."

"It was a very dark time in our community's history," Perez added, "but a crop of new leaders stepped up to give the people the leadership they deserved and to change the status quo."

More: Questionnaire: Vince Perez, Democratic candidate for County Commissioner, Precinct No. 3

In his first year in office, commissioners approved the county's first comprehensive mobility plan, which resulted in over $400 million in transportation infrastructure projects. That same year, the Commissioners Court expanded healthcare access with "new state-of-the-art primary care clinics."

In 2014, after his team conducted "extensive research" on the county's criminal justice system and bail practices, commissioners established a 24-7 jail magistrate to "ensure judges are available to process detainees 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at all hours of the day and night to help eliminate backlogs in the system."

Perez was also on hand for the establishment of the county's first pre-trial office and led the way in publicizing court data related to case backlogs as a way to hold elected judicial officials accountable.

"These critical reforms have helped make our community safer," he said, "our government more efficient, and helped save millions in taxpayer funds."

Democratic Party values at the center of Perez's legislative philosophy

While Perez is keenly focused on El Paso priorities, he also has strongly Democratic perspectives when it comes to larger issues impacting Texas as a whole, such as immigration, school vouchers, gun safety and the removal of certain books from public school libraries.

Where border security is concerned, Perez blasted Gov. Greg Abbott's controversial Operation Lone Star, which he said costs around $400,000 per arrestee, with many migrants being arrested and jailed for misdemeanor offenses.

"Operation Lone Star under Gov. Abbott has been a wasteful use of taxpayer funds and has failed to enhance border security," Perez wrote in an email. "There must be greater accountability of these types (of) operations."

Perez is similarly opposed to school vouchers, which would allow public education dollars to be spent at private schools, and has called for an increase in teacher salaries and student investment, as well as a boost in the number of dual credit courses and instructors.

"I do not support school vouchers," he wrote. "They will take away funding from public schools and vouchers simply won't work here in El Paso because we don't have the kind of private school infrastructure that exists in other parts of Texas."

The question over which books are allowed in public school libraries drew a similar response.

"I believe it's a dangerous precedent to allow government censorship in school libraries," Perez said in his email. "It's a slippery slope that can inhibit academic freedom."

Although a gun owner himself, Perez expressed support for new gun law measures, saying he does not "believe that civilians need access (to) military-style rifles."

While those Democratic bona fides may play well with El Paso's voting base, which reelected Democratic Congresswoman Veronica Escobar with more than 63% of the vote during the 2022 General Election, Perez will have an uphill battle in a Republican-controlled legislature.

Still, the Bel Air High School grad and his staff of El Pasoans "through and through" are planning to work hard between now and next year's elections to garner the support he'll need to take the fight to Austin.

"We're going to run this campaign like we have before," Perez said as he closed his announcement news conference," we're going to take our message to every single voter in House District 77. We're going to knock on thousands of doors and I think our message is going to resonate and I think people are going to be receptive to what we have to say because we have a track record of success in this community."

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Vince Perez looks to 'add value' to El Paso's legislative delegation