Check out our Election Results page for the results of all the races in Bexar County and the state.
Making his second run at the state Senate, Democratic State Rep. Roland Gutierrez held a narrow lead over incumbent Republican Pete Flores on Tuesday night, while another closely watched race, for House District 121, had Republican incumbent Steve Allison once again fending off challenger Celina Montoya.Â
With a majority of polling locations reporting, Gutierrez was leading Flores 50 percent to 47 percent in the sprawling District 19, which includes all or part of 17 counties, including the West and Southwest parts of Bexar County, part of Atascosa, all of Medina, and much of Southwest Texas.
Gutierrez, who made an unsuccessful 2018 primary bid in a special election for the Senate seat, announced his second run in late November last year. An immigration attorney who has represented House District 119 since 2008, Gutierrez is a past San Antonio City Council member and was known for spearheading legislation to accommodate redevelopment of Hemisfair during his time as a state representative.
“It’s time to get to go back to some progressive politics, progressive ideas,” Gutierrez said. “This district is very diverse, so I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
Flores stunned political observers in 2018 when he defeated former Congressman Pete Gallegos in the special election to fill Carlos Uresti’s seat. A former game warden, Flores became the first Hispanic Republican elected to the Senate and first Republican elected in District 19 in 139 years. Uresti resigned his seat after being found guilty on federal charges of wire fraud and money laundering. Flores ran unopposed in the Republican primary.
Reclaiming the Senate seat was a priority for Democrats, who also waged a fierce and expensive battle to flip House District 121, part of their bid to gain control of the House of Representatives. They were looking to pick up nine GOP-held House seats while also defending the 12 seats they gained in 2018.
With all vote centers reporting, Allison led Montoya by roughly 7 points in their rematch race. Prior to Allison’s 8-point victory over Montoya in 2018, former Texas House Speaker Joe Straus had held the House District 121 seat from 2005 to 2018.
Speaking Tuesday night, Allison said he felt “very good” about his lead and looked forward to using the tools he learned in his first term in the upcoming 2021 legislative session.
“We will have to deal with the COVID recovery efforts, and need to make sure to get the economy moving again,” he said. “It’s about getting people working again safely, children in school again safely; these efforts need to be a priority.”
Allison, a business attorney, made his case for reelection by touting his accomplishments in support of education. The former Alamo Heights ISD school board member was also a member of the House Public Education Committee, which produced the sweeping House Bill 3 in 2019 that boosted school funding and raised teacher pay.
Allison said he wanted to continue focusing on education and on a bipartisan approach to addressing the state budget.
“It’s vital we do this in a bipartisan way and focus on healing some of the divisiveness this election season has caused in our country,” Allison said.
Montoya is a former Texas Public Radio reporter and the founder of Literacy San Antonio, an educational nonprofit dedicated to increasing childhood literacy. She also serves as a vice president of Alamo Fireworks, her family’s business.
District 121 covers parts of North Central and Northeast San Antonio, as well as the cities of Alamo Heights, Terrell Hills, and Olmos Park.
Here are results from other Bexar County statehouse races:
Senate District 21
Incumbent Sen. Judith Zaffirini (D-Laredo) was on her way to cementing her ninth term with 56 percent of the vote over Republican opponent Frank Pomeroy.
Zaffrini has served as vice chair of the Natural Resources and Economic Development Committee, and as chair of the Higher Education Committee and the Committee on Government Organization in past legislative sessions.
Navy veteran Frank Pomeroy is the senior pastor at First Baptist Church Sutherland Springs. On Nov. 5, 2017, the church was attacked by a gunman who fatally shot 26 people and wounded 20 others during a mass shooting. Pomeroy, who was elsewhere the day of the attack, lost his 14-year-old daughter in the massacre.
House District 116
Incumbent State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, a Democrat, coasted to an easy victory with 69 percent of the vote over Republican Robert Litoff, a first-time candidate. He was first elected to the House in 2000 from the Northwest San Antonio district, running unsuccessfully for the state Senate in 2016, but returned to the House in 2018.
House District 117
Democratic State Sen. Philip Cortez led Republican Carlos Antonio Raymond, an Army veteran, with 55 percent of the vote to Raymond’s 41 percent. Cortez has served three previous terms for the West Bexar County district.
Libertarian candidate Tony Quinones received 4 percent of the vote in early tallies.
House District 118
Democratic Rep. Leo Pacheco garnered 57 percent of the vote to lead Republican candidate Adam Salyer as he sought his second term representing southern Bexar County.
Pacheco has worked as an adjunct professor at San Antonio College and University of Texas at San Antonio teaching public administration, management, and labor relations. During his first term he served on the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee and Higher Education Committee.
Salyer trailed by 17 percentage points, and Eric Jason Velasquez, the Libertarian candidate, had 3 percent of the vote.
House District 119
Democrat Elizabeth “Liz” Campos won the District 119 House seat left open by Gutierrez. The district covers eastern Bexar County and San Antonio’s South Side.
Campos held a 26-point lead over Republican George Garza. Libertarian candidate Arthur Thomas IV and Green Party candidate Antonio Padron received 2 and 1 percent of the vote respectively.
District 119, a historically Democratic district, encompasses parts of Universal City, Schertz, Live Oak, Converse, and a large portion of East and Southeast San Antonio.
House District 120
Democratic State Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins pulled ahead early Tuesday, taking 66 percent of the vote against Republican competitor Ronald Payne in pursuit of her third term.
Before Gervin-Hawkins was elected to the Texas House, she served as a Zoning Commissioner for the City of San Antonio representing District 2. She was first elected in 2016, and serves on the Criminal Jurisprudence, Culture, Recreation and Tourism, and Rules and Resolutions committees, as well as the Criminal Jurisprudence Asset Forfeiture subcommittee.
Payne drew 31 percent of the vote while Libertarian Shawn Huckabay had 3 percent.
House District 122
With 60 percent of the vote, Republican State Rep. Lyle Larson defeated Democratic opponent Claire Barnett in a rematch of their 2018 race.
Larson, a former San Antonio City councilman and Bexar County commissioner, was first elected to the House in 2010. He serves as the Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, as a member of the House Committee on Redistricting, and the International Relations and Economic Development Committee.
In 2018, Larson beat Barnett, an educator, by taking 62 percent of the vote.
Other state Legislature races
State Sen. José Menéndez, a Democrat, eased to a third term representing Senate District 26 with 80 percent of the vote over Green Party challenger Julián Villarreal. Menéndez was first elected to the Senate in a 2015 special election.
In House District 125, Democratic State Rep. Ray Lopez also faced a third-party candidate, getting 80 percent of the vote early to lock in his second term. His opponent, Libertarian Tony Valdivia, garnered 20 percent of the vote.
Two Texas House districts in Bexar County had Democratic incumbents running unopposed. In House District 123, Diego Bernal was reelected to a third full term and Ina Minjarez to a third full term.
For more Bexar County and Texas runoff election results, click here.
