This article has been updated.
Incumbent Democrat Sheriff Javier Salazar emerged victorious over Republican challenger Nathan Buchanan on Tuesday, receiving more than 57% of the vote with most vote centers reporting.
Salazar, a rare progressive Democratic to hold such an office in Texas, will serve a third term as the county’s top cop.
Salazar maintained his strong lead as the first Election Day results started to trickle in. Just before 10 p.m., he declared victory and signaled that he would run for a fourth term in 2028. He is the first sheriff in Bexar County to serve three terms since former Sheriff Ralph Lopez resigned in 2007.
“The race for No. 4 starts tomorrow,” Salazar told the dwindling crowd at the Cowboys Dancehall.
He attributed his campaign’s success to his office’s transparency.
“Any obstacles that we’ve come across, we meet them head on and then we deal with it openly and honestly with the community,” Salazar told the San Antonio Report.
His top three priorities for his third term are to reduce domestic violence-related homicide, organized crime and human and drug trafficking, he said.
Salazar has spent the past two years investigating a Republican presidential hopeful for his role in a migrant trafficking stunt, campaigning for his party’s presidential and U.S. Senate candidates and leveraging his unique position for a place in the national party’s spotlight.
The incumbent picked up valuable support from the Deputy Sheriff’s Union, who he helped score raises this year, and has spent less time and money this round compared to his 2020 reelection race.
Salazar spent about $20,700 between late September through late October, compared to more than $37,000 in the runup to the 2020 election, according to campaign finance reports.
Buchanan spent about $3,100 in October.
The GOP candidate hardly generated enough enthusiasm to put Salazar on his heels and the official local Republican party has largely stayed quiet about the race.
Buchanan owns a cleaning company and previously worked for several law enforcement agencies for less than four years, most of which was over a decade ago.
Yard signs of unknown origin
Salazar has detractors beyond Buchanan, but not near enough it seems to stop the progressive’s third term.
A yard sign on the far North Side of San Antonio reads: “Illegal Aliens for Sheriff Javier Salazar” implying that he supports illegal immigration. It also said the sign was “Paid for by San Antonians who have had enough,” but there is no record of a political action committee by that name in local and state databases.
“Those aren’t mine,” Buchanan told the San Antonio Report last month, and he does not know where they came from. But he does criticize Salazar for being too focused on media exposure and national politics.
Salazar made national headlines in August while speaking at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. He criticized presidential candidate Donald Trump‘s interference with a bipartisan border and immigration bill.
“I’m not sure what’s behind it,” Salazar said of the yard sign’s message. “But I think it’s very telling that whomever did that, didn’t openly do it and didn’t sign their name to it. … Take the shots all you want, right? That’s how I know I struck a nerve.”
Salazar has been actively campaigning with other state Democrats and calling on voters to support Trump’s opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. Last month, he spoke at a rally in San Antonio for U.S. Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas), who is running to unseat U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.
If Harris loses, Salazar doesn’t want to think: “‘Wow, I could have done more had I just had the courage to stand up.’ Well, I do have the courage to stand up,” he told the San Antonio Report before the event.
Constable race
In Precinct 2, incumbent Bexar County Constable Leticia Rodriguez Vazquez, a Democrat, garnered 62.7% of the early vote over Republican challenger Paul Alexander Canales.
Constables Ruben C. Tejeda (Pct. 1), Mark Vojvodich (Pct. 3) and Kathryn “Kat” Brown (Pct.4) were unopposed this year.
These law enforcement offices typically handle warrants and court dockets but also perform patrol duties and assist other departments’ emergency responses as needed.
