Escobar endorses Kamala Harris; other El Paso leaders react to Biden leaving presidential race

by Robert Moore, El Paso Matters
July 21, 2024

El Paso Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, one of the national co-chairs of President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign, quickly endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris after Biden ended his re-election candidacy Sunday.

“It’s time to unite & rally behind @KamalaHarris. She, too, earned 14 million votes in the primary, & will lead the fight for our freedoms against Trump’s Project 2025 that seeks (to) end our democracy,” Escobar said in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter..

After several weeks of pressure from fellow Democrats following a disastrous debate performance against former President Donald Trump, Biden announced Sunday that he would no longer seek re-election and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the Democratic nomination.

Escobar and other El Paso Democratic leaders praised Biden’s presidency.

State Sen. César Blanco of El Paso, who also is a member of the Democratic National Committee and a “super delegate” at the Chicago convention, called Biden “a consequential president.”

“He was effective while he was in office, and he’s got a lifelong history of public service. In many ways, I'm sad to see him leave, but that’s a personal decision that he’s made, and he’s decided to not seek the nomination,” Blanco said in an interview with El Paso Matters.

He said he wasn’t yet ready to endorse a presidential candidate.

“I’m going to hold off from making any endorsements until I get feedback from my constituents and get a sense of what they’re thinking,” Blanco said.

El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser, who attended Biden’s White House announcement in June of stronger asylum crackdowns, called Biden “a friend to El Paso.”

“From COVID vaccines when we needed them most, to critical funding as we faced a difficult and challenging humanitarian crisis in order not to put the burden on the backs of El Paso taxpayers, President Biden’s administration has steadfastly stood with our city and I will always be grateful to him and his team for their support,” Leeser said in a statement.

Biden visited El Paso once during his presidency, making his first visit as president to the U.S.-Mexico border Jan. 8, 2023.

El Paso’s eight delegates to the Democratic National Convention next month, who said earlier this month they remained solidly behind Biden, endorsed Harris Sunday afternoon.

“We are ready to make history by standing firmly behind Vice President Kamala Harris as she becomes our first female president of the United States,” the delegation said. “With her unmatched experience as a prosecutor, Harris will decisively hold Donald Trump accountable for his 34-count conviction and his egregious disregard for both the law and for democracy. We are united, energized, and committed to supporting her vision of equality, progress, and justice for all Americans.”

The elected delegates are county Democratic Chair Michael Apodaca, County Commissioner David Stout, former city Rep. Alexsandra Annello, Yvonne “Bonnie” Daniels, Alicia De Jong Davis, Javier Aaron Paz, Dr. Jack Heydemann and Craig Sterrette.

Escobar and Blanco are super delegates to the convention because of their prominent roles in the party.

El Paso County Republican Party Chair Jorge Gonzalez couldn’t immediately be reached for comment for his views on Biden’s decision.

Irene Armendizariz-Jackson, the Republican nominee challenging Escobar for El Paso's 16th Congressional District seat, echoed Trump's sentiments about Biden's announcement.

Olivia Troye, an El Paso native who served as a homeland security aide to former Vice President Mike Pence in the Trump administration, joined Harris at an event in Michigan on Wednesday to discuss abortion rights. She said she was surprised Sunday when she heard Biden was ending his re-election bid.

“I think we're seeing someone who had to make a very hard decision, but also seeing someone who is putting the country and the greater good over anything else, which is true Joe Biden's character from what we've seen,” said Troye, who resigned her role in the Trump administration in July 2020 and endorsed Biden. “I think he's had a successful presidency. Obviously, as a Republican, I don't agree with everything that they've done, but I do think that he has done a good job as president.”

She said she hopes Democrats rally quickly around Harris, and said they need to focus on persuading middle of the road voters.

"I think they need to be focused on independent and moderate (voters). … I think they need to let people like myself, who have traditionally voted Republican but who are not supportive of Donald Trump, I think they need to do the outreach to say, you have a home," Troye said in an interview with El Paso Matters.

Former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke of El Paso, who briefly ran against Biden for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, posted a brief message on X following Biden’s announcement.

Former U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso, said he was disappointed by Biden’s decision to step aside, but not surprised because of the growing wave of elected officials who were calling on him to drop out of the election.

Reyes said Biden’s endorsement of Vice President Harris makes sense, but he is going to wait and see how things go.

“The most important thing is to make sure we put forth the very best candidate to keep Donald Trump from getting back in the White House,” Reyes said. “For the moment, I’m going to keep my powder dry.”

4 p.m. Saturday, July 21: This story has been updated with comments from El Paso's elected delegates to the Democratic National Convention.

5:45 p.m. Saturday, July 21: This story has been updated with comments from former Reps. Beto O'Rourke and Silvestre Reyes of El Paso.

El Paso Matters reporter Daniel Perez contributed to this story.

This article first appeared on El Paso Matters and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.