SAN ANTONIO – The early vote numbers Tuesday night produced a wide enough spread to allow Bexar County District Attorney-elect Joe Gonzales to spend the bulk of the night at his election watch headquarters hugging and shaking hands with supporters.
"It was incredible," Gonzales said. "It was surreal."
Gonzales was already at work before the final votes in the race against Republican Tylden Shaeffer were counted.
"I've already assembled a team of chief prosecutors, and I want to start implementing what I've been talking about on the campaign trail, which is implementing justice reform, Gonzales said Tuesday night.
Gonzales said his focus will be tough on crime with what he called "a smart approach."
"It's easy for a prosecutor to say that they're going to be tough as nails, or tough on crime," he said. "But it's hard to be reasonable and fair when you're looking at first-time offenders."
Gonzales said one of his first areas of focus once he takes office in January will be to take a closer look at the current pretrial diversion program.
When asked if he expects a smooth transition when he takes over, Gonzales said, "That depends on current DA, Nicholas 'Nico' LaHood."
Gonzales defeated LaHood in the March Democratic primary election.
View more election results here.