October 23, 2019 • Local News
Mission Valley city Rep. Claudia Ordaz Perez announces candidacy for Texas House
Mission Valley city Rep. Claudia Ordaz Perez announces candidacy for Texas House
Mission Valley city Rep. Claudia Ordaz Perez says she is running for a seat in the Texas House of Representatives.
Ordaz Perez, who holds the mayor pro tempore title on the El Paso City Council, joins the District 76 race with Elisa Tamayo. The two Democratic candidates will compete for the nomination to run against a Republican challenger in the November 2020 race.
"I am not going anywhere," Ordaz Perez said. "I am really taking this experience that I am so grateful for and thankful to the residents and the support that's been behind me to fight for them just like we did with the medical waste facility. We need that leadership at the state."
Ordaz Perez, and her husband, El Paso County Commissioner Vince Perez, teamed up with District 76 state Rep. César Blanco, D-El Paso, to stop the approval of a medical waste treatment facility permit with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The commission ultimately decided against the permit after the El Paso representatives spoke out against the plans during hearings.
The seat is now up for grabs because Blanco is running for the Texas Senate to replace state Sen. José Rodríguez, D-El Paso, who plans to retire at the end of his current term.
Ordaz Perez, 33, made her announcement outside the Ysleta Mission on Wednesday afternoon. She was supported by her family, friends and city Rep. Henry Rivera, who applauded her announcement.
"I am so proud of her because of what she does for the people, the community and El Paso" said Martha Ordaz, the candidate's mother. "She's always been independent and we knew she'd do great things."
By announcing her state House candidacy, Ordaz Perez effectively resigned from her City Council seat due to Texas' resign-to-run provision, but she may stay on as a city representative until a special election is held to replace her.
The soonest a special election could be held for her District 6 seat would be if there is a runoff in the District 3 special election.
On Sept. 3, the El Paso City Council voted 4-3 for the District 3 special election to fill the seat held by Cassandra Hernandez. The majority of the council agreed that Hernandez lost her seat following an inadvertent Facebook post by a former campaign volunteer announcing that she was running for mayor.
Early voting started Monday and ends Friday, Nov. 1. Election Day is Nov. 5.
“Following the resignation of Representative Ordaz-Perez, I will be placing an item for next week’s City Council meeting. We will be following the same resign-to-run provision used to address the resignation in District 3,” said Mayor Dee Margo.
Ordaz Perez said she has been in communication with City Attorney Karla Nieman so they can focus on the next steps to fill the seat.
An El Paso native, Ordaz Perez graduated from Montwood High School and grew up on the East Side. She studied political science and women's studies at the University of Texas at El Paso.
She also studied economics and global policy at the University of Texas at Austin's Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs.
She also has worked as a spokeswoman in offices, including the Texas Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives and El Paso Water Utilities, according to her LinkedIn page.
She was elected to the City Council in a 2014 special election for District 6. She then kept the seat after defeating Michael Pickett in a general election in 2015.
Ordaz Perez defeated Eric Stoltz in a general election last year and has at least three years left in her term. Whoever is elected to replace her would serve the remainder of the term.
Her platform includes seeking changes in animal cruelty legislation, providing opportunities for the El Paso area to receive its fair share of state funds for infrastructure, and advocating for cities and counties impacted by legislation that has limited local governments' abilities to tax.
"It's really costly right now and so disturbing that there is this effort and this fight against cities like El Paso," she said.
She said she moved several times in her childhood as her family struggled to make ends meet. Her mother was a school clerk and her father was a television repairman, and her upbringing taught her the challenges many El Pasoans face in the community, she added.
One of her platform points is to create legislation statewide to better regulate predatory lending that seems to focus on poor communities throughout Texas, she said.
She also plans to work for opportunities for Texas parents to have more time with their newborns or adopted children. At the city, she led the implementation of a policy that allowed for shared sick leave, which can help parents be with their children.
Ordaz Perez said, as a gun owner, she believes residents should not have access to military-style weapons. Background checks and a ban on assault rifles are "common sense" legislation, she added.
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