mayor-3

El Paso Mayoral Election of 1963: Part 2

Charles B. Moore emerged as the  best candidate who could beat Judson Williams. Moore defeated Mayor Ralph Seitisinger for a second place spot in the runoff against Judson Williams who had a big lead and at one point. It almost looked like he would win without a runoff. Many were surprised about Seitsinger not making the runoff. Bert Williams was taking votes from Setisnger in the Lower Valley and South El Paso. Both areas had been big backers for Seitsinger when he was running for mayor in 1961, and both played a big part in his victory. Williams  and Setisnger split theses votes. Other candidates who ran included Jerry Callison and Ray Burdette, who owned a electronics store in the Northeast. Andy Venegas was running as a write-in; he was the only Hispanic running for mayor.

Roy Hoard was Founder and President of Best Insurance Co. and Rio Grande Lumber Co. He vowed to make no extravagant promises. Hoard promised to restore confidence in the city government and set consistent policies for  business and industry. He ran as a businessman like Moore. Hoard also wanted to work for a better image for El Paso. He wanted to restore unity and pride by running the city in a business type manner. His slate of candidates for alderman included Dick Shinault, Bob Long, Jack Guynes, and Paul Connington.

Julia Breck vowed to work to replace the strong mayor system with a city manager. She also opposed federal government intervention in housing. Breck also wanted to give more power to the department heads. Members of her ticket included: Dolph Quijano, Charles Anderson, Roy Gibson, and Dan Wells.

Charles Moore was founder and president of Moore Services Co, Moore Sanitation Co, Moore Bus lines, and was a manager of the El Paso Airport. He also served in the state legislature. A big part of  his platform was to restore confidence in city government through good business management practices. He promised to reduce taxes and work for a broader tax rate. His slate of candidates for alderman included;  John Mckeon, Justin Ormsby, major league basketball player Andy Cohen, and Fred McKinstry. Moore refused  to debate Williams during the runoff and called him a yes man for the Whitehouse Department store. Williams made sure voters did not forget about Moore not attending the debate. To make notice of his opponents absence, he made sure the newspaper cameras were on him while he using a duster to dust the empty chair that was set aside for Moore. Williams brought up possible conflicts of interests against Moore because did own and run a city franchise with the city. The race got closer and Williams went on to win a close election for mayor and Moore died a few months later. His son, also named Charles, ran as a Republican for state representative in 1964, losing to Raul Muniz.

 

 

Joseph Longo

EPCHS Volunteer

Since 1954 the El Paso County Historical Society has been a driving force in the historic scene of El Paso. EPCHS strives to foster research into the history of the El Paso area; acquire and make available to the public historic materials; publish and encourage historical writing pertaining to the area; and to develop public consciousness of our rich heritage.