EL PASO, Texas — El Paso Mayor Dee Margo finished a distant second in a crowded mayoral race and will face a December runoff with predecessor Oscar Leeser.
None of the six candidates for mayor of the border city obtained more than 50% of the vote to win outright Tuesday.
Leeser took 42% compared to Margo’s 24%, according to El Paso County’s unofficial results posted Wednesday.
Mayoral races in El Paso are non-partisan but Margo, a businessman and former state legislator, identifies as a Republican. Leeser, president of a Hyundai dealership, is a Democrat.
Leeser was mayor from 2013 through 2017 and did not seek reelection that year. Margo succeeded him.
El Paso is a coronavirus hotspot that has been in the national spotlight in recent years because of overcrowded migrants at the border and a mass shooting at a Walmart.
On Wednesday, El Paso, which is currently under curfew and new coronavirus regulations, recorded 3,100 new COVID-19 cases.