5 candidates on ballot in San Antonio special election, early voting starts next week

Five candidates are in the running for a special election to fill the seat of a former San Antonio state representative.

Former Rep. Leo Pacheco resigned from the House District 118 seat last month to take a job at San Antonio College. Governor Greg Abbott announced the special election to fill the seat last week.

The deadline to file to be added to the ballot was yesterday. Three Democrats and two Republicans filed to run.

The Democrats are Katie Farias, a member of the Southside ISD Board; attorney Desi Martinez; and Frank Ramirez, a former San Antonio zoning official.

The Republicans who have thrown their hats into the rings are both familiar with this race: John Lujan, who held the HD-118 seat briefly after a special election in 2016 but was beat in the general election by Democrat Tomas Uresti; and Adam Salyer, who was the GOP nominee in last year’s election. Salyer lost in the March 2020 election to Pacheco with 40% of the vote.

The election is on September 28th. Early voting starts next week.