We have received word from multiple sources that Renard Johnson will be the Oligarchy candidate for Mayor of El Paso, representing the interests of our local business elite.
He appointed Elisa Samaniego as his Campaign Treasurer and filed the required CTA form with the City Clerk on January 18.
Elisa Samaniego is the daughter of County Judge Ricardo Samaniego and a partner in the Business Department of Kemp Smith Law. Curiously, her Kemp Smith phone number is listed as her “Campaign Treasurer Phone” on the CTA form.
Johnson is the founder and CEO of Management and Engineering Technologies International, Inc. (METI), a professional services company providing information technology and engineering support services to the federal sector and private industry throughout the United States and several other countries.
He is a Director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and a Director of the Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation. He serves as a governing member of the board of The Hospitals of Providence. He has served on the boards of many other civic and community organizations.
According to his 2013 interview with El Paso Inc, he was born in Chicago and his family moved to El Paso in 1967. He attended Andress High School and earned his BA in Business Administration from UTEP in 1995.
Johnson is unknown outside his elite business circle. He is expected to raise many hundreds of thousands of dollars so that he can build name recognition and spread his message.
Because he has never run for political office, we can only guess what that message will be.
We reached out to him and invited him to be interviewed by our Chief Instigator so that we can learn about his policy priorities and determine whether he will be another Dee Margo, who campaigned as a fiscal conservative and champion of the people before leading the effort to spend our City into a gigantic black hole for the benefit of his wealthy friends.
Unlike Margo, who won only 20% of the vote in his failed reelection bid, Johnson has a solid Democratic voting record.
He has already announced his first campaign fundraiser, and he has adopted UTEP colors for his campaign branding:
The General Election will be held November 5, 2024.