SAN ANTONIO – Bexar County Pct. 3 Commissioner Trish DeBerry announced Monday she will be running for county judge.
DeBerry made her candidacy official minutes before Monday’s 6 p.m. deadline. She will run as a Republican and joins one other GOP candidate and four Democrats.
Under state law, DeBerry’s candidacy for county judge means she’ll be required to forfeit her current seat on the Bexar County Commissioner’s Court, where she represents the North Side precinct.
DeBerry will be replaced by an appointee of County Judge Nelson Wolff’s choice, who will serve until a special election in November 2022.
Wolff issued the following statement following the announcement:
“Commissioner DeBerry will be in hold over status. I have 60 days to make an appointment for an interim. There are some issues before the Court that require her presence to complete. I will then appoint after consulting with court members.”
Regardless of who wins the general election in November, Bexar County will have new representation in that office for the first time since 2001, after Wolff announced he would not seek re-election.
Other candidates
The primary is slated for March 1, 2022. Here are the other candidates who have filed:
- Small business owner Nathan Buchanan, Republican
- State Rep. Ina Minjarez, Democrat
- Mayoral chief of staff Ivalis Meza Gonzalez, Democrat
- Former mayoral candidate Gerard Ponce, Democrat
- Former district court judge Peter Sakai, Democrat
Election outlook
DeBerry, a former mayoral candidate and marketing group CEO, beat out Democrat Christine Hortick to win her first county commissioner term in 2020. The position is DeBerry’s first elected office.
In her 11 months in office, DeBerry has scrutinized the operations at the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, often clashing with Sheriff Javier Salazar on his department’s purchasing requests and policies.
Her chances of securing the Republican primary are strong, with small business owner Nathan Buchanan as the only other candidate.
However, she faces a much tougher battle in the general election.
The county has not elected a Republican as Bexar County Judge since 1998, when Cyndi Taylor Krier clinched her second term in office. Krier resigned in 2001 after she was named to the UT System Board of Regents. Wolff was appointed in her place and remained in the office since then after winning five consecutive terms.