Ike Alderete was a Mexican American ward boss often used by Anglo politicians to deliver the Mexican vote. Alderete served as District Clerk for 18 years. He claimed to have helped Pancho Villa with 50 cents a week in 1909 when Villa was in El Paso cleaning rooster cages for a local car dealer. In 1913 and 1914, Alderete owned casinos in Juárez but his gambling concession was stripped by Pancho Villa after he accused Alderete of underreporting his earnings. In 1915, Alderete was arrested on neutrality law violations for supporting the counterinsurgency of Victoriano Huerta.
