© 2024 Texas Public Radio
Real. Reliable. Texas Public Radio.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Bexar County 2020 Election Results: Props Pass, Salazar Wins Sheriff's Race

Aquí para español

There are three sales tax propositions on the November ballot. All are for a 1/8th of a cent sales tax that is part of the 1 cent that can be used for special initiatives. Two of these propositions are for the same sales tax allocation but would collect at different times. Half of that one cent is used for the MTA (VIA), and another quarter is for the Advanced Transportation District projects.

San Antonio voters overwhelmingly supported a sales tax proposition that will train 40,000 workers.

San Antonio Ready to Work will use a 1/8th of a cent sales tax until the end of 2025 to provide job training.

San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said it will get San Antonians into high demand and high wage jobs.

“But also that breaks cycles of generational poverty that has held back San Antonio families and the San Antonio communities for years," he said. "So this is our effort to jump start the San Antonio economy to get back folks back to work safely.”

Voters approved a proposition from VIA Metropolitan Transit that uses the same sales tax but starting in 2026.

VIA planned to use the money to expand transportation options.

The tax will generate about $40 million per year.

San Antonio voters also approved continued funding for Pre-K4 SA.

Most voters voted to renew the sales tax that supports the city-run preschool.

Nirenberg said the strong show of support for the program was in part due to its track record of success.

"[T]he primary goal is to ensure that it continues that success for thousands of San Antonio’s youngest learners over the next eight years of the program," he said.

The largest bond in the history of the San Antonio Independent School District passed by a large margin.

Most SAISD residents voted in favor of the $1.3 billion bond.

The funding will support districtwide technology upgrades and renovations for 36 campuses.

SAISD officials said the bond will not require a tax rate increase.

Alamo Colleges District board of trustees

The Alamo Colleges District board of trustees will likely welcome three new members.

The incumbents for District 2 and District 9 appeared late Tuesday night to have lost their elections. Most voters selected by Leslie Sachanowicz and Gloria Ray to replace them.

In District 4 on the South Side Lorraine Pulido was leading South San ISD trustee Connie Prado and two other challengers.

Incumbent Democratic Sheriff Javier Salazar defeated former Bexar County Clerk and Republican Gerry Rickoff on Tuesday night.

Salazar, 49, became the first sheriff to be re-elected since 2004.

Salazar has 28 years of law enforcement experience. He has served as sheriff since 2017 after defeating Republican incumbent Susan Parmeleau — the first woman to ever serve as Bexar County Sheriff — in the November 2016 election.

Salazar spent 23 years in the San Antonio Police Department, rising from patrol and serving in narcotics, internal affairs and integrity units, along with a posting in the police chief's office.

Rickhoff is a former teacher in the Southwest Independent School District. He served as Bexar County Clerk from 1995 to 2019. He left office after he was defeated in the November 2018 election by Democrat Lucy Adame-Clark, the first woman and Latina to serve as county clerk.

Salazar did not address the media on election night. As the first results rolled in, sheriff's deputies shot and killed a man on the west side of San Antonio. The name of the 55-year-old man has not been released.

Salazar officially declared victory Wednesday morning.

The Bexar County Commissioners Court will have two women on it for the first time in its history.

Democrat Rebeca Clay-Flores won the seat for Precinct 1 on the South Side, and Republican Trish DeBerry claimed victory for Precinct 3 on the North Side.

DeBerry said she wanted to focus on small business support, especially those who were damaged by COVID-19.

“I think we have to continue to think outside the box and what we are going to do for small businesses," she said, "to help them be able to continue to recover because as a small business person myself I understand that.”

The five member commissioners court was currently all men. The new commissioners will take office on Jan. 5.

Click here to view national and statewide results of the 2020 Election.

TPR was founded by and is supported by our community. If you value our commitment to the highest standards of responsible journalism and are able to do so, please consider making your gift of support today.

TPR News