Sam Armijo

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Sam Armijo

Nonpartisan

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 5, 2024

Education

High school

Cathedral High School

Bachelor's

Texas Western College, 1959

Graduate

University of Arizona, 1962

Ph.D

Stanford University, 1969

Military

Service / branch

U.S. Army

Years of service

1959 - 1967

Personal

Birthplace

El Paso, Texas

Religion

Catholic

Profession

General manager

Contact

Campaign Facebook

Sam Armijo ran in a special election to the El Paso City Council to represent District 1 in Texas. He lost in the special general election on November 5, 2024.

Armijo completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Sam Armijo was born in El Paso, Texas. He served in the U.S. Army from 1959 to 1967. He earned a high school diploma from Cathedral High School, a bachelor's degree from Texas Western College in 1959, a graduate degree from the University of Arizona in 1962, and a Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1969. His career experience includes working as a general manager. He has been associated with the American Nuclear Society and the Heritage Commission of the University of Texas at El Paso.

Elections

2024

See also: City elections in El Paso, Texas (2024)

General runoff election

Special general runoff election for El Paso City Council District 1

Alejandra Chávez defeated Monica Reyes in the special general runoff election for El Paso City Council District 1 on December 14, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Alejandra Chávez (Nonpartisan)	63.3	4,765
	Submit photo	Monica Reyes (Nonpartisan)	36.7	2,766

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 7,531
= 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.
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General election

Special general election for El Paso City Council District 1

Alejandra Chávez and Monica Reyes advanced to a runoff. They defeated Tom Handy and Sam Armijo in the special general election for El Paso City Council District 1 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Alejandra Chávez (Nonpartisan)	37.4	10,605
✔	Submit photo	Monica Reyes (Nonpartisan)	27.2	7,729
	Submit photo	Tom Handy (Nonpartisan)	20.7	5,878
		Sam Armijo (Nonpartisan)	14.7	4,158

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 28,370
= 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 Armijo in this election.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Sam Armijo completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Armijo's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a native of El Paso. I graduated from Texas Western College with a B.S. degree in Metallurgical Engineering. I joined the U.S. Army , served at Ft. Hood, TX and at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Md and was discharged with the rank of 1st Lt. I then attended the University of Arizona, earned a Master of Science degree in Metallurgy, and was hired by General Electric Company’s Nuclear Power business.

While working at GE, I attended Stanford University, earned a Ph.D. in Materials Science, and was promoted to positions with greater engineering and management responsibility. I advanced to general management positions in GE’s Space Power Business serving NASA, DOE and DOD, and later to GE’s Global Nuclear Fuel Business serving customers in the U.S, Mexico, Asia and Europe.

After retirement, I joined the University of Nevada, Reno. I was appointed to the Nuclear Regulatory Commissions’ Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) advancing to the Chairmanship of the Committee. I travelled to the Fukushima reactor site shortly after the 2011 tsunami and advised the NRC on regulatory issues arising from the accident.

During my Chairmanship, and at the request of the U.S. Navy, the ACRS reviewed and approved the new nuclear reactor design for the U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier then under construction.

I have a solid education, broad executive experience, and proven leadership ability in engineering, business, and government.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• I believe my extensive engineering, business, and government experience and my ability to work well with others would be an asset to the El Paso, City Council. I believe that most problems facing city goverments are best solved by open and honest discussion based on facts and common sense.
• Ensuring public safety is a prime responsibility of City government. If elected I will work to increase support for Police and First Responders. I will work to: put more police on the street, reduce needless traffic deaths and injuries resulting from drunk and reckless driving, speeding, and running red lights. I will support police initiatives to fight narcotics trafficking and violent crime in El Paso.
• Property taxes in El Paso are out of control. If elected I will work to focus spending on essential services that are needed by all the people of El Paso, not just a special few. I will work to reduce City debt, increase revenue, and will oppose expensive discretionary projects and spending.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am passionate about protectiing the freedom of American citizens from excessive government power. This unchecked power permits deliberate, wasteful spending at all levels of government. It creates inflation, decreases purchasing power of hard-earned wages, increases property taxes, and lowers the standard of living of American citizens.

What qualities does this office possess that makes it a unique and important part of the state government and legal system?

This office is typical of many city governments. Elected city officials make policy and the city manager and staff implement these policies. The arrangement can work well if Mayors and District Representatives have the competence and experience to effectively monitor the plans and actions of the city manager and staff.
To be effective, elected officials should have personal experience in management of large enterprises, know how to budget, prioritize and control spending. They should know how understand proposed multimillon dollar contracts with suppliers and developers and be willing reject proposals that do not favor the City of El Paso and its citizens.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

The most important characteristics for an elected official are integrity, competence, broad experience and proven leadership. These characteristics combined with an open door policy to listen to citizens issues are essential to resolve problems,

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

The core responsibilities of elected city officials are to protect the safety, property, and freedom of El Paso citizens.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I was a student at Cathedral High School when I got my first part-time job. I worked as a delivery boy for the Madonna Shop which sold Catholic books, religious articles, and supplies to churches in El Paso and surrounding towns in Texas and New Mexico.

I drove the company car ( a 1940 Plymouth) to make deliveries, packed, boxed and mailed books, statues, and other items to out of town customers, arranged the window display above the store, assisted in annual inventories and did just about anything I was asked to do. One of the advantages of my job was the opportunity to visit friends’ homes after my deliveries were done. A beautiful girl I later married lived in one of these homes, so I visited often.

I learned a lot from from all my early jobs, including the existence of income taxes. I was surprised when I found that my take home pay was much lower than I expected. My father explained that the shortfall was caused by deductions for income taxes and social security. I argued that this was unfair since I got nothing in return. He told me that there was no way to avoid these deductions unless I wanted to go to jail. That ended my protest.

Are there any little-known powers or responsibilities held by this office that you believe more people should be aware of?

I am not aware of little-known powers and responsibilities in El Paso city government. If they exist I would work to make them fully visible to all citizens.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for holders of this office to have previous experience in government or politics?

Experience in government and politics may be helpful, but is not essential in City governments. Election of people with good educations and broad private sector experience, and who know how to control spending, maintain essential city services is more beneficial to taxpayers.

What kind of skills or expertise do you believe would be the most helpful for the holders of this office to possess?

The most important characteristics for a Representative in the El Paso City Council are integrity, competence, broad experience and proven leadership. These characteristics combined with an open door policy to listen to citizens' issues are essential to resolve problems,

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

Government at all levels has become entirely too secretive, dispite the the many laws that have been passed to assure finanancial transparency and accountability. These laws however are often selectively enforced on low to mid level government employees and not on elected officials and senior government employees who do their bidding. There is no substitute for integrity in government.

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

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Candidate

El Paso City Council District 1

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