Some El Paso House Democrats Lose Local Support

El Paso delegation divided as support withheld from Moody, Morales, and Gonzalez.

Aug 29, 2025

During the first special session, most House Democrats broke quorum to prevent the implementation of the gerrymandering maps. However, several House Democrats, mainly from the border region, did not align with the Caucus. Representatives Eddie Morales (HD74) and Joe Moody (HD78) never broke quorum to begin with. Representative Mary Gonzalez (HD75) stayed home for four days and then returned to the Capitol on the fifth day.

In response, several grassroots groups in El Paso have withdrawn their support from all three House Democrats. These groups include:

Stonewall Democrats of El Paso
Eastside Democrats of El Paso
El Paso Tejano Democrats

This letter went out yesterday from the Stonewall Democrats of El Paso:

This public rebuke marks one of the sharpest breaks between El Paso’s progressive grassroots organizations and their own Democratic delegation in years. The statement is especially significant because El Paso has historically been considered a Democratic stronghold, with local clubs and coalitions serving as the backbone of campaign infrastructure. Losing endorsements from these organizations means losing volunteers, neighborhood canvassing, and crucial word-of-mouth credibility in future elections.

While the letter focuses specifically on redistricting and quorum-breaking, the tension runs deeper.

In response to this specific incident of capitulating to the Republicans’ authoritarian takeover, the El Paso County Democratic Party has formed an “Accountability Committee.” This committee could decide anything from a reprimand to a censure of any of these members.

Of course, all County Parties have to operate within the Democratic handbook rules, which means they can’t support primary challenges, even though there will be a lot of people who will be asking about them over the next few months. However, grassroots clubs and coalitions are not bound by the same restrictions, and their endorsements or lack thereof can make or break a campaign.

With the Stonewall Democrats, Eastside Democrats, and El Paso Tejano Democrats all on record withholding support, potential challengers may find a newly energized base ready to back them. For incumbents like Moody, Morales, and Gonzalez, this is a warning sign that the once-reliable home-field advantage is slipping away.

For El Paso progressives, the refusal to break quorum wasn’t just a tactical disagreement. It was seen as capitulation in a fight where democracy itself was at stake.

“The Border Isn’t Actually Moving Red” Theory.

We previously spoke about this theory when we speculated why border Democrats might have been capitulating with fascists, not only by giving them a quorum to enact these racist maps, but in many of their terrible votes.

In another project I’m working on, which I’ll publish this weekend, I’ve been working on a map showing who won the counties in the 2020 Democratic primaries (since we didn’t have a 2024 primary 😭).

And we all know that in Texas, Biden won with 34.64%, but Bernie came in a close second at 29.91%. Now, check out this map.

Bernie won almost every single border county, including El Paso County, once again giving validation to my “The Border Isn’t Actually Moving Red” Theory.

These border counties, including El Paso, are hungry for a real progressive movement and real progressive leaders. And what they have in office at every single level, with these three, and Henry Cuellar, and Judith Zaffirini, are Democrats who are Conservative and alienating the Democratic base along the border region.

Right now, Morales, Moody, and Gonzalez do not have primary challengers.

But let’s be clear. El Paso must send true progressives to the Texas House. Leaders who will not bend, who will not bow, and who will not sell out our communities to Republicans. The filing deadline is December 11, which means there is still time for bold challengers to step up.

If you live in House District 74, 75, or 78, or if you know someone ready to fight, send them this article. Encourage them to run. Because democracy is not only under attack in Washington, DC, it’s under attack right here in Texas. And the only way to defend it is to elect progressive fighters at every level of government who will stand up and swing back.

El Paso deserves Democrats who don’t fold when the fight gets tough. We deserve Democrats who remember who they serve, working-class families, not Republican power brokers. The time for timid politics is over. It’s time for courage. It’s time for new leadership.