Mystery donor gives $5,000 to Socorro ISD school campaign

Automatically translated from Spanish. Read the original in Spanish

An anonymous donor under the name Student First gave $5,000 to the political action committee Support Socorro ISD Schools on October 8. This contribution is intended to support the Socorro Independent School District’s tax proposal appearing on the November 3 ballot. However, the contact information provided by this donor in financial reports is suspicious.

The committee has spent more than $47,500 to promote the tax ratification election, known as VATRE, which would generate up to $49.2 million annually if voters approve Proposition A. The committee’s chairman, Joe Espinoza, stated that he believed Student First was an organization that supports public school districts. However, there is no entity registered under that name with the Texas Ethics Commission.

Espinoza clarified that he does not know the origin of the Student First funds and that he has never spoken with anyone from that group, as the check arrived by mail. For his part, the district’s chief communications officer, Daniel Escobar, noted that the committee operates independently and that he also does not know the donor. The address registered by Student First corresponds to a shared workspace located at 311 Montana Ave, near the city center, where staff confirmed they have no members under that name.

When attempting to contact the phone number provided by the donor, the person who answered indicated they did not know Student First. Espinoza explained via text message that several committee members have participated in fundraising and that the information reported was what they received from the donor. This committee was formed last year to push for a similar proposal that was rejected in the 2025 general election.

The group is made up of members of the district’s Finance and Operations Advisory Committee, who in 2025 helped design the financial strategy that recommended this vote. During October, the committee raised $33,450 and spent nearly $47,500, including two payments totaling over $41,000 to Airport Printing for advertising. Other contributions include $10,000 from the Building El Paso PAC, $5,000 from Woody Hunt, $5,000 from Banes General Contractors, $1,000 from the Joseph Moody campaign, $500 from the Veronica Escobar campaign, and $5,000 from the Socorro American Federation of Teachers.

In parallel, the Keep Ysleta Strong committee has spent $18,500 to support the Ysleta Independent School District’s proposal, which seeks to raise $5.5 million annually. This group has received $22,500 in donations, notably $5,000 from the El Paso Association of Contractors, $5,000 from Jobe Materials, $5,000 from Hunt, and $3,000 from Banes General Contractors.