El Paso elects former mayor, defeating GOP incumbent in runoff
El Paso residents have elected a new mayor, handing a defeat to incumbent Mayor Dee Margo in favor of his predecessor, Oscar Leeser, in a runoff race defined by the city’s coronavirus crisis.
Leeser, who was mayor of the West Texas city on the Mexican border from 2013 through 2017, won with an overwhelming 82% of the vote, according to El Paso County's unofficial tally.
He finished first among six mayoral candidates in November - but with less than 50%, forcing Saturday's runoff.
Leeser, 62, pledged Saturday night to bring together the city that has been battered in recent years by overcrowded migrants at the border, a mass shooting at a Walmart and the economic and health crisis brought on by the coronavirus.
Mayoral races in El Paso are nonpartisan, but Margo, a businessman and former state legislator, identifies as a Republican. Leeser, president of a Hyundai dealership, is a Democrat.
At: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/el-paso-elects-mayor-defeating-incumbent-runoff-74701904
El Paso Mayor-elect Oscar Leeser, thanks supporters after winning Saturday's runoff election against incumbent GOP Mayor Dee Margo by a lopsided 82%.
“We're going to unite our voice and we're going to have a plan to make sure our community feels we no longer have a crisis,” Leeser, standing by his wife, said. “I look forward to really starting tomorrow morning.”
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