Texas is known as a Republican state, but some large cities in Texas are known to be more liberal than conservative in the political majority of the population. This leaves many people wondering about the political views or stances within El Paso, Texas.
Despite the Republican nature of Texas, El Paso is not a highly conservative city. Liberal beliefs are supported by the city’s elected government officials, voting statistics in recent elections, financial contributions made within the city to individual part campaigns, and pro-abortion views.
This information allows the current and future residents, and all others visiting or passing through El Paso to know more about the political climate of the area. It can be especially helpful for anyone researching the area or looking to move there, as it may provide them with an opportunity to connect with locals over common beliefs or avoid awkward conversations that will likely lead to a dispute. Several topics can be used to indicate liberalism or conservatism within El Paso, and some of these are listed below.
Gun Laws in El Paso
It is well known that Republican party representatives, members, and supporters are typically in favor of relatively relaxed gun laws. They work to protect the right to bear arms that is provided to Americans by the 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution. Meanwhile, Democrats tend to support stricter gun laws.
After a shooting in a Walmart that occurred in 2019, many citizens of El Paso felt very uneasy about the gun laws in place and felt that more people should start carrying guns. However, a new law was passed in the state of Texas, allowing most Texans above the age of 21 to carry a handgun in public places without obtaining a permit or completing a training program of any kind. Of course, this law doesn’t allow some individuals to carry a gun such as those who have been convicted of a felony or have committed other various crimes. This new gun law
was passed in the fall of 2021.
While most people within the state supported this new law, the people of El Paso had mixed feelings. Some of the city’s residents spoke of purchasing a gun due to the tragic shooting event, but felt very uneasy about the loosening of the law, and expressed opinions that this was rather reckless and could be placing the public in greater danger.
Many law enforcement officers in El Paso agreed that the lack of training requirements was doing just that. They expressed concerns about keeping all of these untrained, but armed, individuals safe while keeping the rest of the public safe as well.
Dr. Jose Burgos works at a hospital in El Paso and stated the following in regard to the newly loosened law.
“If we have laws that are more permissive of gun ownership, people need to be educated. You still have to follow the law that will punish you if you misuse your firearm.”
Dr. Jose Burgos; El Paso, Texas
These law enforcement officers and the citizens that have been mentioned are not the only El Paso residents who feel this way. Many of the city’s residents support stricter gun laws, which is somewhat surprising considering that most of the state of Texas is supportive of looser gun laws.
Recent Voting Statistics in El Paso
In the 2020 presidential election, a strong 66.7% of participating El Paso voters voted for the Democratic party candidate. Only 31.6% of the city’s voters supported the opposing Republican party candidate, and the remaining 1.8% of El Paso voted Independent.
This shows that there is a strong Democratic party majority within the city of El Paso, and this liberal majority has been present for some time now. El Paso county has voted Democratic in every presidential election since the year 2000. The Republican party received less than half the amount of votes that the Democratic party received, which supports the belief that most residents have liberal rather than conservative ideals.
Abortion Views in El Paso
Abortion views in El Paso, Texas show that the city is mostly liberal. The legal right to receive and perform abortions in the United States of America has been protected under the US Constitution since the original Roe v Wade Supreme Court case was ruled on in 1973.
The US Supreme Court announcement on June 24th, 2022 endangered these abortion rights for the first time in 50 years. The announcement reported that the original Roe v Wade ruling was overturned, allowing each state the ability to protect, ban, limit, or increase women’s access to abortion procedures within state boundaries.
Upon hearing this announcement, riots and protests were organized and held in cities all across the United States, including El Paso, Texas. A large group of EL Paso residents formed a protest downtown at San Jacinto Plaza with signs and posters promoting legal abortion procedures. Similar protests were held back in May when the first sign that the ruling would be overturned was leaked to the public.
Pro-abortion protests and rallies in the city show that residents advocate for liberal views when it comes to abortion issues, as liberals tend to support access to abortion while conservatives tend to be opposed to it.
Because most of the state leans Republican, all abortions are banned in El Paso, Texas as long as a heartbeat can be detected. This means that if you want or need an abortion and live in El Paso, you will need to travel to a different state to have the procedure done. However, keep in mind that if you go to another state to have an abortion, you can potentially be sued when you get back to Texas.
Elected Government Officials in El Paso
Residents of a city or state cast their votes to support the election of government leaders that share their political views. Liberal cities like El Paso will elect Democratic leaders that will place liberal beliefs into action in the city while in office.
The current mayor of El Paso, Texas is Mayor Oscar Leeser. As a member of the Democratic party, Mayor Leeser represents his liberal people and city well. True to his own liberal beliefs and values, Mayor Leeser supports liberal values while making decisions and changes concerning El Paso. He was elected because the majority of the population voted for him and wanted to have a Democratic mayor rather than a Republican one. A Democratic mayor shows that El Paso, Texas is a liberal city.
Financial Contributions Made to Political Campaigns
The number of financial contributions, the sum of monetary value, and the average amount of money given per contribution are all important statistics to consider when looking at the political majority or views within a city or community. Being a liberal city, El Paso, Texas provides far more donations to the Democratic party and liberal campaigns than to their opposing Republican party and conservative efforts.
In the last 4 years, from 2018 to 2021, an incredible 32,351 contributions were made to political party campaigns run by the Democratic party or other liberal initiatives. These financial contributions gave the Democratic and liberal campaigns a sum of $5,457,236 over this time period, as each donation was an average of $169.
The Republican party and conservative campaigns did not receive nearly as many supporters in their efforts in El Paso County. There were only a total of 8,900 financial contributions made to the Republican party and conservative campaigns within the city combined. They did gain a sum of $8,167,944, averaging $918 per donation. This means that while the Democratic party received more donations because of the number of liberal supporters that live in El Paso, those that donated to the Republican party donated more money than Democtrat supporters.
As these numbers show, Republican and conservative campaigns received a higher sum of financial donations in El Paso over the last 4 years than Democratic party campaigns. This does not, however, mean that the city is suddenly more conservative than liberal, as the number of donations that were given to each political party within 4 years doesn’t necessarily affect the political beliefs of most of the city’s residents.
LGBTQ+ Rights in El Paso
Although many people in El Paso seem to support the legalization of LGBTQ+ rights in the city and a pride parade has been held every year in the city since 2007, there are also many naysayers that do not support people in the LGBTQ+ community.
In fact, in 2009, a group of men were kicked out of a restaurant and called derogatory names as they left the restaurant because two of the men were seen kissing, and some of the other restaurant guests were not happy about it. The police were called by multiple people, but they did nothing to protect the men that were being kicked out.
Keep in mind that many things have changed for the LGBTQ+ community since 2009, and support for the community has increased in the city of El Paso, Texas. This is partially because most of the residents are liberal, and Democrats tend to support LGBTQ+ rights more than Republicans.
