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Kenneth Bell (Texas)
Kenneth Bell ran for election to the El Paso City Council to represent District 3 in Texas. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Bell completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Kenneth Bell was born in Washington, D.C. He began serving in the U.S. Army in 2012. He earned a high school diploma from High Point High School, a bachelor's degree from Bowie State University in 2010, and a bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at El Paso in 2019. His career experience includes working as a political organizer.[1]
Elections
2024
See also: City elections in El Paso, Texas (2024)
General runoff election
General runoff election for El Paso City Council District 3
Deanna Maldonado-Rocha defeated Jose L. Rodriguez in the general runoff election for El Paso City Council District 3 on December 14, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Deanna Maldonado-Rocha (Nonpartisan) | 63.8 | 3,033 | |
| Jose L. Rodriguez (Nonpartisan) | 36.2 | 1,722 | ||
| Total votes: 4,755 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
General election
General election for El Paso City Council District 3
Jose L. Rodriguez and Deanna Maldonado-Rocha advanced to a runoff. They defeated Kenneth Bell, Fabiola Arellano, and Jesse Romero in the general election for El Paso City Council District 3 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Jose L. Rodriguez (Nonpartisan) | 27.0 | 5,862 | |
| ✔ | Deanna Maldonado-Rocha (Nonpartisan) | 22.2 | 4,820 | |
 | Kenneth Bell (Nonpartisan) | 20.3 | 4,406 | |
 | Fabiola Arellano (Nonpartisan) | 18.7 | 4,064 | |
| Jesse Romero (Nonpartisan) | 11.8 | 2,566 | ||
| Total votes: 21,718 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Bell in this election.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Kenneth Bell completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Bell's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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In my run for city council, I am committed to improving transparency and fairness in how our city operates, especially when it comes to promotions and employment opportunities within the City. I’m also a strong advocate for preserving our city’s history, particularly places like Duranguito, El Paso’s first neighborhood, which I believe should be protected from demolition and celebrated as a valuable cultural asset.
I'm running because I believe that El Paso can be a place where everyone has the opportunity to thrive—where we honor our past, protect our present, and build a fairer, more inclusive future.- I believe in creating jobs that pay living wages, so our high school and college graduates can build meaningful careers in El Paso without having to leave for opportunities elsewhere. We need to keep our talent in El Paso by ensuring they have access to good-paying jobs that provide stability and a path forward. My plan is to offer metric-based incentives to companies that choose to invest in our city. By tying these incentives to clear benchmarks—such as job creation, fair wages, and benefits—we can ensure that these companies contribute to the well-being of our community and help drive long-term economic growth.
- I will fight for property tax relief for homeowners, especially for our seniors living on fixed incomes in District 3. It’s unreasonable and unfair for them to carry the burden of rising property taxes, and I believe the city must do more to protect those who’ve already given so much to our community. That’s why I’m committed to opposing the issuance of Certificates of Obligation (COs) for non-emergencies. The misuse of COs by past City Councils has added over $2 billion in debt. We cannot allow that to continue. I will work to pursue federal and state grants and maintain our no new tax revenue rate so we can provide meaningful tax relief to our residents without compromising our city’s financial future.
- I am committed to improving all city services and operations to better serve our community. In District 3, our streets are filled with patches from temporary fixes like filling potholes. This is unacceptable. We need a long-term solution, and that means repaving those streets, fixing our streetlights, and upgrading sidewalks to make our neighborhoods safer and more accessible for everyone. Improving our infrastructure isn’t enough. We need to support the people who keep our city running—our city employees. They deserve to be paid fairly, treated with respect, and given opportunities to grow professionally. By investing in their career progression and development, we can build a stronger workforce that is motivated to serve the public.
Animal Services plays a vital role in our community, yet they are understaffed, overworked, and morale in the department is low. We need to increase spaying and neutering efforts to manage the stray population, and I will fight to ensure Animal Services has the tools and resources they need to continue their important work.
Run For Something
Justicia Fronteriza PAC
El Paso Black Democrats
Tejano Democrats of El Paso
El Paso County Commissioner Iliana Holguin
During my military service, I personally oversaw and accounted for $1.5 million in federal tax dollars. The federal government has strict oversight and layers of scrutiny to ensure taxpayer money is used efficiently—standards I believe are often lacking at the municipal level and in private equity. I’ve passed audits because I was responsible and meticulous in accounting for every dollar I was entrusted with.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 6, 2024
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