For Immediate Release October 22, 2022
The El Paso County Democratic Party has traditionally refrained from weighing in on municipal races, which are non-partisan. We honor the nature of non-partisan races and focus our work on engagement with voters during partisan elections. However, in egregious cases, especially in cases when a candidate works against our community’s values, we have taken the extraordinary step of alerting the public.
As early voting approaches, we are compelled to warn the public about the current candidate for re-election (incumbent) Claudia Rodriguez, candidate for District 6.
Ms. Rodriguez has violated campaign finance in a shameless manner (https://elpasomatters.org/2022/10/17/el-paso-city-rep-claudia-rodriguez-election-campaign-filings-may-violate-finance-laws/). When asked by a reporter about her violations, Rodriguez’s responses indicate that she is either completely ignorant of her responsibilities as an office holder, or she believes the law does not apply to her.
Additionally, Democrats in District 6 should be aware that Ms. Rodriguez has a history of voting in Republican Primaries. She currently represents and is running for a district that consistently votes for and elects Democratic candidates.
Ms. Rodriguez has brought her party’s partisanship to her position, as has been evident in her votes while on City Council.
She has advocated against providing humanitarian support for migrants in our community and has become a Fox News regular. Her multiple appearances on the Republican cable news network have focused on her personal grievances with the mayor. In doing so, she has brought a very negative spotlight to our community on a network that pushes xenophobia, misinformation, and conspiracy theories. El Paso is a community that has historically had a positive history of embracing our location on the US-Mexico and treating migrants with dignity.
Ms. Rodriguez also voted against supporting a Women’s Commission for El Paso and voted against directing the El Paso Police department to make investigating abortions a low level priority for the department. This measure would have prevented the El Paso Police Department from using its resources to target women who might have had an abortion.
While the Democratic Party is not endorsing in this race, it is imperative that the public be aware of Ms. Rodriguez’s lack of transparency, campaign finance violations, and the fact that her values are contrary to those held by the majority in her district. We urge District 6 voters to vote for either of her two opponents and deny Ms. Rodriguez the privilege of being re-elected to city council.
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