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Vince Perez defeats Norma Chavez in state House District 77 race [1]

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Date: 2024-05-28  

Former El Paso County Commissioner Vincent “Vince” Perez defeated former state legislator Norma Chávez in the Texas House of Representatives District 77 race during Tuesday’s primary runoff election.

Perez, 42, garnered 64% of the vote to comfortably win the runoff. Chávez, 63, took 36% of the vote.

Without any opposition in the Nov. 5 general election, Perez will take the seat in January.

At his election results watch party at Old Sheepdog Brewery, Perez said he felt most enthusiastic about tackling education issues when he takes office.

“More kids prepared for college and more kids graduating from college – we absolutely need to improve that if El Paso is going to meet its full potential,” said Perez, who was accompanied by his dog Whiskey, who was a major feature of his campaign advertising.

Perez and Chávez were sent into a runoff in the March 5 primary, where they faced former city council member Alexsandra Annello and El Paso businessman Homer Reza for the Democratic nomination to the seat.

Texas House District 77 covers the Lower Valley and stretches to Central El Paso and portions of the Westside and Upper Valley. Without a Republican or independent opponent in November, the runoff winner will take the seat and assume office in 2025.

House representatives serve two-year terms. Democratic state Rep. Lina Ortega held the seat since 2017 and did not seek reelection.

Perez and Chávez traded jabs at each other’s records during their campaigns.

Chávez pointed out Perez’s votes to give El Paso County elected officials, including himself, a pay raise.

Perez pointed to Chávez’s string of controversies during her time as state legislator, which included taking $3,500 from lobbyists to pay for her extravagant graduation party in Austin.

Both candidates agreed on various topics, including their opposition to Abbott’s efforts to subsidize private school attendance with vouchers. Both listed ways to support public schools, from reducing standardized testing to state comptroller review of public school spending.

Prior to the primary race, Perez and Chávez got an advertising boost from the Legacy 44 PAC, a billionaire-funded political action committee that supports charter schools. Charter schools, which are overseen by the Texas Education Agency, are privately operated schools that receive public funding.

Perez has also worked as a consultant for Council on Regional Economic Expansion and Educational Development, a local nonprofit organization that helped bring IDEA Public Schools, a charter school, to El Paso.

Chávez also received a $1,000 donation from the Charter Schools Now PAC.

Perez acknowledged charter schools are a touchy topic among traditional public school advocates, but said he would not have received the support of various El Paso school board trustees if he was trying to undermine their districts.

“We see what’s happened with IDEA and how they were put under conservatorship,” Perez said. “We need to look at a moratorium possibly on charter schools.”

Disclosure: The Council on Regional Economic Expansion and Educational Development is a financial supporter of El Paso Matters. Financial supporters play no role in El Paso Matters’ journalism. The news organization’s policy on editorial independence can be found here.

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[1] Url: https://elpasomatters.org/2024/05/28/el-paso-elections-2024-results-primary-runoff-texas-state-rep-district-77/

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