The El Paso County Democratic Party executive committee publicly denounces State Reps. Marisa Marquez and Naomi Gonzalez for supporting a Republican nominee Dee Margo over Democratic nominee Joe Moody for the position of District 78, officials said.

The committee's chairman, Rick Melendez, said in a news release that the state representatives "took it upon themselves to risk their integrity, reputations and credibility to support a 'lock step' Republican nominee."

Melendez suspects that the Texans for Lawsuit Reform, a contributor of Marquez's and Gonzalez's campaign, asked for them to support Margo.

"While local, petty and personal reasons may be given to oppose Joe Moody, that is no excuse to jeopardize the forward motion of an entire state and to betray the principles of our party," Melendez said. "Perhaps there is another unspoken, unwritten motivation behind this treachery -- money."

Melendez said the party will also admonish any other Democratic officers, candidates or elected officials who publicly support Marquez and Gonzalez.

Rep. Marquez released the following statement regarding this issue:

It is unfortunate that the local Democratic party chose to issue a press release questioning Rep. Gonzalez' and my democratic credentials.

I am and will remain a proud Democrat.

My legislative priorities and voting record support this statement. I choose to focus on issues important to the community as a whole and not a vocal few.

While the local Democratic Party has chosen to focus on dismantling the unity our delegation has built, my office and I will continue our fight for school board transparency, women's health program funding, the creation of an independent Health Science Center at Texas Tech and moving UTEP towards Tier One status.

I took an oath to uphold the Constitution and to serve my community to the best of my ability and will continue to do so.