Most of El Paso County is included in the 16th Congressional District in the U.S House, represented by Democrat Veronica Escobar. A small eastern portion of the county is in the 23rd Congressional District, represented since 2021 by Republican Tony Gonzales. El Paso County is historically Democratic and the 2008 presidential election was no exception. Democrat Barack Obama won 66% of the vote with 121,589 votes even though he lost the entire state of Texas by about 946,000 votes. Republican John McCain won 33% of the vote in El Paso County with 61,598 votes. Other candidates won 1% of the vote. In 2004, Democrat John F. Kerry won El Paso County but by a smaller margin than Barack Obama. John Kerry won 56% of the vote and 95,142 votes. Republican George W. Bush won 43% of the vote with 73,261 votes. Other candidates won less than 1% of the vote.

The El Paso County Sheriff's Office is headquartered in an unincorporated area in El Paso County.  At one point it was headquartered within the City of El Paso. The Leo Samaniego Law Enforcement Complex is adjacent to the sheriff's office headquarters.

Like all Texas counties, El Paso County is governed by a Commissioners Court, which consists of a County Judge, who is elected county-wide, and four County Commissioners, who represent individual precincts. While the County Judge possesses some traditional powers of a judge, the County Judge functions primarily as the chief executive of the county. The County Judge presides over Commissioners Court meetings, casts one vote on Commissioners Court (as do County Commissioners), and lacks veto authority.