Hyundai of El Paso President Oscar Leeser nearly won the El Paso mayoral race outright on Saturday, garnering almost half of the votes cast; with city Rep. Steve Ortega a far-behind second-place finisher, managing less than a quarter. Without breaking the necessary 50 percent threshold, a runoff election has been scheduled for June 15.
During interviews with reporters, Ortega acknowledged that his strong support for demolishing city hall to make way for a baseball stadium may have cost him votes. However, Ortega said that he stood behind the effort.
Leeser said he has a strong group of volunteers ready to get to work on the runoff election. Leeser also has his most well known supporter ready, his mother Rhoberta, a star of both his car commercials and his campaign ads. "My Oscar, he's such a good boy" is the classic line used to sell his cars. "My Oscar, he'll be such a good mayor" has been the refrain heard for the last month on countless commercial television ads.