Josh Acevedo claims victory in District 2 low turnout race for El Paso City Council seat

El Paso Independent School District trustee Josh Acevedo will take a seat on the El Paso City Council after his victory in a low-turnout election in the Central and Northeast core of the city.

Though only 5.7% showed up to cast ballots, voters in West-Central District 2 elected Acevedo to serve out the remainder of city Rep. Alexsandra Annello's term, which expires at the end of the year.

Elections 2024: Democrat El Paso district attorney candidates call for sweeping changes in DA's office

Despite the constant lament from residents that their neighborhoods have languished amid inaction at City Hall, an abysmally low voter turnout defined every step of the special election — only 4.6% showed up to cast ballots in December and only about 600 more turned out for the runoff.

And taxpayers will likely be on the hook for more than $500,000 to pay for the two elections.

Still, Acevedo ended Election Night more than 300 votes ahead of opponent Veronica Carbajal and will take his seat at the dais alongside the rest of the City Council.

"I am thrilled and I am so thankful to the voters of District 2 for placing their trust in me," Acevedo said as the final numbers rolled in on Election Night. "I'm so excited to get to work on our issues and make sure District 2 has a strong voice on City Council."

For Carbajal, an activist at her core, the Election Night defeat did little to stifle her resolve to enact change in the city, most notably in the form of campaign finance reform.

"This little race for a one-year term in City Council was so important that those who continue to colonize El Paso ... who expect our property taxes to pay for their riches, it was so important to them that they decided to pour crazy amounts of money into it," she said during a tear-filled speech before supporters during an Election Night watch party at Old Sheepdog Brewery. "They raised a lot of money, but we're going to raise even more hell."

Josh Acevedo ready to get to work

The road to the District 2 seat began after Annello announced her resignation from City Council last October to pursue a seat in the Texas House of representatives, leading to a December special election between four candidates.

Carbajal and Acevedo ended the night with only tenths of a point separating them, leading to the January runoff.

Despite the razor-thin margins, Acevedo enters City Council with a laundry list of priorities.

"I have a very long list of many different concerns that many of my constituents have told me at the door," Acevedo said. "So, I look forward to starting the work on that list."

District 2 covers a swath in the middle of El Paso on the east side of the Franklin Mountains, bordered by Hondo Pass Drive in the north and running south to the Ascarate Park area and the U.S.-Mexico border.

District 2 concerns are myriad, Acevedo said, from miles of unpaved alleys, stray animals and code enforcement issues that have gone unresolved — a big part of resolving those issues, he said, lies in the hunt for a new city manager.

Elections 2024: Pete Faraone faces primary contest against Jackie Arroyo Butler for El Paso County Commissioner

"I want to make sure the search firm that has been hired for the city manager is not going to be an impediment to getting a final candidate for that position," he said. "I also want to understand how we can reimagine the budget. As we start looking at the budget in the next few months, I want to know why all these departments are understaffed and we can do to try to find a solution for that."

Additionally, Acevedo wants to make sure the next city manager is treated like any other city employee, which means a contract void of many of the lavish benefits afforded the previous city manager.

"A salary, retirement and healthcare," he said. "I think that's all that belongs in a contract."

While he's already eying what he can accomplish before the end of the year, Acevedo is also planning a bid for reelection to a full term in November, something he said that residents will need if they hope to see significant change.

"I will be running for reelection in November," he said, "and I'm hoping to get that reassurance from voters for a full four-year term."

Veronica Carbajal vows to 'keep fighting'

Carbajal trailed Acevedo the whole night, but the mood was far from somber at her Election Night watch party in the heart of Central El Paso.

She praised the more than 60 volunteers that made up her ground game during the campaign and vowed to keep pushing for accountability at City Hall.

"We have listened to complaints that date back 10, 12, 15 years ago," she said of her time campaigning. "We have stood on corners where people have been runover, have died, because no one cared to put in a speed bump. We have listened to so many folks who wonder when somebody's going to do something about the abandoned school next door."

Carbajal asserted that the influx of big money into such a small race, which saw Acevedo collect nearly $8,000 from the Texas Association of Realtors PAC, the El Paso Electric Company Employee PAC and the El Paso Association of Contractors, means the fight for campaign finance reform is more important than ever.

"This time around, we're not just calling out those who donated to my opposition, we're calling out the politicians who stood against us," Carbajal said. "Those who claimed to be progressive, those who claim to be grassroots ... and yet stood against us."

For his part, Acevedo rebuffed that criticism and asserted that donors have never had an impact on his decision-making process and "that's not going to change."

"I think my campaign speaks for itself," he said. "I have run a very community-oriented campaign and I have a public service record as an employee of many government entities throughout my career and the last four years on the school board."

Even though she fell short in the District 2 contest, Carbajal vowed to keep pushing for progressive change in El Paso.

"I am so proud of what we've done," she added. "Tomorrow's a new day and we're going to keep fighting."

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Josh Acevedo topples Veronica Carbajal in El Paso City Council contest