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El Paso, Texas
| El Paso, Texas | |
 | |
| General information | |
Mayor of El Paso
Renard Johnson | |
| Last mayoral election: | 2024 |
| Next mayoral election: | 2028 |
| Last city council election: | 2024 |
| Next city council election: | 2026 |
| City council seats: | 9[1] |
| City website | |
| Composition data | |
| Population: | 678,815 |
| Race: | White 36.8% African American 3.7% Asian 1.5% Native American 1.1% Pacific Islander 0.2% Multiple 36% |
| Ethnicity: | Hispanic or Latino origin 81.2% |
| Median household income: | $58,734 |
| High school graduation rate: | 81.9% |
| College graduation rate: | 27.5% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 census and 2023 ACS data. Percentages are rounded to the nearest 0.1%. | |
| Related El Paso offices | |
| Texas Congressional Delegation Texas State Legislature Texas state executive offices | |
El Paso is a city in El Paso County, Texas. The city's population was 678,815 as of 2020, according to the United States Census Bureau.
Click on the links below to learn more about the city's...
- Mayor
- City council
- Other elected officials
- Elections
- Census information
- Budget
- Contact information
- Ballot measures
- County government
City government
- See also: Council-manager government
The city of El Paso utilizes a council-manager system. In this form of municipal government, an elected city council, which includes the mayor and serves as the city's primary legislative body, appoints a chief executive called a city manager to oversee day-to-day municipal operations and implement the city council's policy and legislative initiatives.[2]
Mayor
The mayor is a member of the city council. He or she presides over city council meetings and official city ceremonies.[3] The current Mayor of El Paso is Renard Johnson (nonpartisan). Johnson assumed office in 2025.
City manager
The city manager is El Paso's chief executive. Appointed by the city council, the city manager's responsibilities include overseeing the city's day-to-day operations, planning and implementing the city's operating budget, carrying out council policies, and hiring most city government employees.[2][4]
City council
The El Paso City Council is the city's primary legislative body. It is responsible for approving and adopting the city budget, levying taxes, and making or amending city laws, policies, and ordinances.[2]
The city council is made up of nine members, including the mayor. While the mayor is elected at large, the other eight members are elected by the city's eight districts.[2][5]
The widget below automatically displays information about city council meetings. The topic list contains a sampling of keywords that Voterheads, a local government monitoring service, found in each meeting agenda. Click the meeting link to see more info and the full agenda:
Other elected officials
Ballotpedia does not cover any additional city officials in El Paso, Texas.
Mayoral partisanship
Ballotpedia has contacted the mayor of El Paso to request information about his partisan affiliation. As of September 2025, 66 mayors in the largest 100 cities by population are affiliated with the Democratic Party, 23 are affiliated with the Republican Party, one is affiliated with the Libertarian Party, three are independents, five identify as nonpartisan or unaffiliated, and two mayors' affiliations are unknown. Click here for a list of the 100 largest cities' mayors and their partisan affiliations.
Mayoral elections are officially nonpartisan in most of the nation's largest cities. However, many officeholders are affiliated with political parties. Ballotpedia uses one or more of the following sources to identify each officeholder's partisan affiliation: (1) direct communication from the officeholder, (2) current or previous candidacy for partisan office, or (3) identification of partisan affiliation by multiple media outlets.
Elections
2024
The city of El Paso, Texas, held general elections for mayor, city council, municipal court judge, and municipal court of appeals judge and a special election for city council on November 5, 2024. Seven races went to a general runoff election on December 14, 2024. The filing deadline for this regular election was August 19, 2024. The filing deadline for this special election was September 4, 2024.
2023
- See also: City elections in El Paso, Texas (2023)
The city of El Paso, Texas, held a special general election for District 2 of the city council on December 9, 2023. A special general runoff election was scheduled for January 20, 2024. The filing deadline for this election was October 30, 2023.[6]
2022
- See also: City elections in El Paso, Texas (2022)
The city of El Paso, Texas, held general elections for city council and municipal court judge on November 8, 2022. A runoff election was scheduled for December 17, 2022. The filing deadline for this election was August 22, 2022.
2020
The city of El Paso, Texas, held general elections for mayor, city representatives for district 2, 3, 4, and 7, and multiple judgeships on November 3, 2020. The filing deadline for this election was August 17, 2020.
2019
- See also: City elections in El Paso, Texas (2019)
The city of El Paso, Texas, held a special election for the District 3 city council seat on November 5, 2019. The filing deadline for this election was September 26, 2019.[7]
2018
The city of El Paso, Texas, held general elections for city council on November 6, 2018. A runoff election was held on December 15, 2018. The deadline for candidates to file to run in this election was August 20, 2018.
2017
The city of El Paso, Texas, held a general election for mayor and city council on May 6, 2017. Runoff elections for mayor and city council and a special election for city council were held on June 10, 2017. The filing deadline for the May election was February 17 and the filing deadline for the June special election was May 1, 2017.
Mayor Oscar Leeser did not run for re-election in 2017. His seat and the city council seats in District 2, 3, 4, and 7 were up for regular election. The June special election, which advanced to a runoff on July 15, filled the vacancy created by the resignation of District 8 Councilwoman Cortney Niland.[8]
2015
- See also: El Paso, Texas municipal elections, 2015
The city of El Paso, Texas, held elections for city council on May 9, 2015. A runoff election took place on June 13, 2015. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was February 27, 2015.
Four of the eight city council seats were up for election: Districts 1, 5, 6, and 8. A total of 12 candidates filed to run for these seats. Incumbents ran for re-election in Districts 5, 6, and 8. In District 1, incumbent Ann Morgan Lilly did not run for re-election.
Census information
The table below shows demographic information about the city.
| Demographic Data for El Paso | |
|---|---|
| El Paso | |
| Population | 678,815 |
| Land area (sq mi) | 258 |
| Race and ethnicity** | |
| White | 39.3% |
| Black/African American | 3.6% |
| Asian | 1.5% |
| Native American | 0.9% |
| Pacific Islander | 0.2% |
| Other (single race) | 16% |
| Multiple | 38.6% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 81.3% |
| Education | |
| High school graduation rate | 81.9% |
| College graduation rate | 27.5% |
| Income | |
| Median household income | $58,734 |
| Persons below poverty level | 18.4% |
| Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2018-2023). | |
| **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | |
Budget
The city's budget process operates by fiscal years running from September 1 through August 31 of the next year. The city's departments will annually submit budget requests to the city manager. The city manager will then use these requests to develop and submit a budget to the city council for review. Public hearings are then held on the budget during July and August. The city council must adopt the budget by August 31. The El Paso City Charter requires that the budget be balanced.[9]
Fiscally standardized cities data
The fiscally standardized cities (FiSC) data below was compiled by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy to make municipal budgets comparable across cities in the United States.[10]
| “ |
FiSCs are constructed by adding revenues and expenditures of each central city municipal government to a portion of the revenues and expenditures of overlying governments, including counties, independent school districts, and special districts. The allocations to FiSCs are estimates of the revenues collected from and services provided to central city residents and businesses by these overlying independent governments. Thus FiSCs provides a full picture of revenues raised from city residents and businesses and spending on their behalf, whether done by the city government or a separate overlying government.[11] |
” |
| —Lincoln Institute of Land Policy[12] | ||
The tables below show estimated finances within city limits. As such, the revenue and expenses listed may differ from the actual city budget.
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Historical total revenue and expenditure
To see the historical total revenue or expenditures as a rounded amount in this city, hover over the bars.[10]
El Paso, Texas, salaries and pensions over $95,000
Below is a map of the nationwide salaries and pensions in this city over $95,000. To search a different ZIP code, enter it in the search bar within the map.
Contact information
Mayor's office
300 N. Campbell
El Paso, TX 79901
Phone: 915-212-0021
Click here for city council contact information.
Ballot measures
- See also: El Paso County, Texas ballot measures
El Paso is located in El Paso County. A list of ballot measures in El Paso County is available here.
Noteworthy events
2020: Events and activity following the death of George Floyd
During the weekend of May 29-31, 2020, demonstrations and protests took place in cities nationwide, including El Paso, following the death of George Floyd. Events in El Paso, Texas, began on Sunday, May 31, 2020, at the El Paso Police Department headquarters.[13] No curfews were issued. The national guard was not deployed.
2015: Study on city's nondiscrimination laws
In July 2015, the Movement Advancement Project described El Paso, Texas, as a city or county that did not prohibit discrimination in employment on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity via ordinances that apply to public and private employers. At that time, a total of 71 of America's largest 100 cities prohibited private employers from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation, while 69 of those cities also prohibited discrimination based on gender identity. This did not include those jurisdictions that prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity for government employees.[14]
Nondiscrimination laws can cover a variety of areas, including public employment, private employment, housing, and public accommodations. Such laws may be enacted at the state, county, or city level.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ The mayor is included in this number as one of the city council members.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 City of El Paso, "City Form of Government," accessed September 5, 2014
- ↑ City of El Paso, "Powers & Duties of the Mayor," accessed October 20, 2021
- ↑ City of El Paso, "City Manager & Leadership," accessed October 20, 2021
- ↑ City of El Paso, "Section 2.1 - City Elections," accessed October 20, 2021
- ↑ El Paso Matters, "City calls for special election in December to replace Alexsandra Annello," October 10, 2023
- ↑ El Paso Times, "El Paso City Council narrowly passes special election to replace Cassandra Hernandez," September 3, 2019
- ↑ El Paso Times, "Mayor Oscar Leeser Will Not Seek Re-Election," July 28, 2016
- ↑ City of El Paso, "FY 2023 Adopted Budget Book," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, "Fiscally Standardized Cities database," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, "Fiscally Standardized Cities," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ El Paso Times, "Khalid asks for safety before El Paso protest following death of George Floyd," May 31, 2020
- ↑ Movement Advancement Project, "Local Employment Non-Discrimination Ordinances," accessed July 7, 2015
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