Voters in east El Paso and the Lower Valley will choose a new representative in a special runoff election for City Council District 6 on Saturday, January 25.

Claudia Rodriguez and Debbie Torres face off in the runoff after they had advanced from the December 14 election where four were competing for the seat.

Both are campaigning to keep taxes low and to increase structural repairs.

El Paso City Council voted to hold a special election on November 5 to replace a District 3 councilwoman after a Facebook post on her public page announced her candidacy for mayor.

The post by city Rep. Cassandra Hernandez, which was later deleted, triggered a resign-to-run law.

The law states that an elected official must resign from office upon announcing a run for another seat.

Rep. Hernandez said she did not upload the post but one of her supporters did.

Hernandez asked city leaders to use their discretion to vote no and asked to be able to vote.

However, her request to vote was denied and the special election for her position was approved with a 4-3 vote.

Hernandez cannot run for her seat in the special election because she is under a holdover clause, meaning she is keeping the seat until her successor fills it.

The Texas Legislature is currently considering a bill to allow its counties to enforce local ethics rules.

Senate Bill 710, the Local Government Reform Act, seeks to allow each county to adopt an ethics code enforceable by a local ethics commission.

There is a similar law already in existence allowing local ethics enforcement in counties with a population over 800,000 and an international border.

El Paso County is the only county currently meeting this description.

Also moving through the Legislature is House Bill 1495, aiming to give ethics enforcement powers to El Paso and Montgomery Counties.

If passed, both bills would go into effect on September 1, 2019.

This May El Paso, Texas voters will decide whether to move city elections to November or let them remain in the spring.

The City Council voted on February 14, 2013, to allow the voters to amend the city’s charter and choose the timing of future municipal elections. The council did not make any recommendation as to its preference.

If approved, the first November election would be held in 2018, according to the El Paso Times.