The newest member of San Antonio’s state House delegation, state Rep. Marc LaHood, (R-San Antonio) has barely been on the job three months, but he’s already drawn his first high-profile challenger.
Former San Antonio Councilman Reed Williams filed a treasurer’s report on March 7 to begin raising money for a campaign in House District 121, which won’t be on the ballot until 2026.
Though Williams has run for office before as a Republican, he said he’s since realized how little he has in common with today’s GOP, and is instead running under the banner of the Democratic Party.
“I believe that the Democratic Party right now is a lot bigger tent,” he told the San Antonio Report.
Williams’ move comes as a growing number of local Republicans have grown so frustrated with their party’s rightward march that they’re willing to team up with Democrats to try to stop it.
LaHood won the seat last year after defeating then-state Rep. Steve Allison (R-Alamo Heights) in the Republican primary — part of an expensive effort among conservative groups seeking to root out Republicans who oppose school vouchers. Across the state, 11 candidates endorsed by Gov. Greg Abbott ousted GOP incumbents.
After his primary loss, Allison, along with former GOP state Sen. Jeff Wentworth, took the unusual step of endorsing the Democrat running against LaHood, who lost 52.6% to 47.4%.
“It’s kind of disturbing,” Williams said of that race. “Because [Allison] took one vote different, they spent [$1 million] just moving him out of the way and putting somebody else in there.”
Williams said he plans to help fund his own campaign with personal resources.
At the state Capitol, major policy discussions in the House have been slow to start this session.
After a contentious speaker’s race, House members only received their committee assignments in mid-February, and LaHood hasn’t had the chance to vote on major legislation, his campaign said.
“Marc LaHood challenged a popular incumbent in a three-way primary, prevailed without a runoff, and then was elected to the Texas House after the Democrats gave it their best shot in November,” LaHood’s campaign consultant Elliott Griffin said. “He’s now doing the work that he campaigned on and we’re prepared for any future challenge, wherever they may come from.”
A race shapes up
Williams faces an uphill challenge convincing Democrats to put their faith in him for a race that remains one of the party’s best pickup opportunities on the House map — even though it’s still drawn to favor Republicans.
“The sooner you can start, the sooner you can learn, sooner you can correct mistakes,” Williams said of his decision to start running now. “It takes a long time to meet people. If I just dropped into the Democratic primary during the period to sign up, they think I’m some alien from outer space.”
The former energy executive represented District 8 on the City Council — a nonpartisan office — from 2009 to 2013, and sought the Republican nomination for a state Senate seat in 2016.
He took just 7% of the vote in that six-way race — an experience he said highlighted his disconnect with the GOP.
More recently Williams briefly considered running as an independent candidate for a seat on the Bexar County Commissioners Court in 2022, but dropped the idea when he realized how difficult it was to run outside of the two-party system.
“I’ve been wandering around in the wilderness looking for a place to fit politically,” he said.
Williams said he wants the state to focus on workforce issues he believes are holding the region back, and that he aligns more closely with Democrats on issues like strengthening public education, expanding access to child care, transportation and public safety.
“I think the parties — and I’ll use plural here — have kind of gotten away from what I believe is the economic engine of our country, which is the working family,” he said.
Read about candidates in the 2025 San Antonio city election in our 2025 Voter Guide.
