Bobby Flores and Oscar Ugarte in confrontation

Lina PortmanMay 29, 2024

0 2 minutes read

El Paso County, Tuesday evening, May 28, will be one step closer to the arrival of a new sheriff with the results of the Democratic primary runoff elections.

The winner between retired El Paso County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Robert “Bobby” Flores and Officer Oscar Ugarte in the Democratic runoff will face Republican candidate, retired Special Agent FBI Minerva Torres Shelton, in the November 5 general election.

Voting results:Live results as El Paso heads to the polls for 2024 primary runoff elections

November's winner will replace Sheriff Richard Wiles, who is retiring after serving as sheriff since 2009. Before being elected sheriff, Wiles was El Paso's police chief.

Early voting results put Ugarte in the lead with 58.4% with 9,017 votes, compared to Flores with 41.6% with 6,461 votes.

The question in the runoff was whether Flores could catch Ugarte, with the primary getting votes in the March 5 primary election.

In March, Ugarte was well ahead among the five candidates, receiving 43% of the vote (15,436 votes), with Flores coming in second with almost 24% (8,521 votes).

Ugarte spread the message that it was time for “a new generation of leaders” and generally ignored candidate forums in favor of visiting voters' homes.

Among the ignored events, Ugarte twice refused to attend Channel 7-KVIA's “ABC-7 Xtra” candidate telecasts, a longtime local TV staple of the election season in El Paso.

Ugarte was publicly encouraged to run for sheriff by U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar as well as state Reps. Joe Moody and Lina Ortega and also enjoyed the support of Beto O'Rourke, probably America's best-known Democrat. El Paso nationally.

Ugarte has served as the county police officer for Precinct 1, which covers part of central, northeast and west El Paso, since 2016. He previously worked with the Socorro Police Department for two years before working as a bailiff and as an assistant agent.

Policy:Big-name endorsements shape El Paso County sheriff's race in 2024 election

Flores leveraged his more than 30 years of experience in various roles within the El Paso County Sheriff's Office, where he rose through the ranks from detention officer to one of the most senior leadership positions raised as deputy chief in charge of the prison annex.

Lina Portman

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