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Project Marvel, the proposed multibillion-dollar downtown San Antonio redevelopment initiative, could be one of the defining issues in the race for the Democratic nomination for Bexar County judge.
County Judge Peter Sakai is seeking re-election and is facing a challenge from former San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg for the nomination. The winner will face Republican conservative activist Patrick Von Dohlen in the November general election.
Speaking on TPR’s "The Source" on Thursday the two Democrats staked out opposing positions on Project Marvel, an issue which has divided the city over tax dollars paying in part for a new Spurs arena, upgrading the Alamodome and expanding the Convention Center. Opponents say the project is overly ambitious while ignoring other city needs.
Sakai said he is opposed to Project Marvel, which may seem odd since he was a champion to pass a countywide vote last November for Proposition B that authorized the raising of a “venue tax” to fund the new Spurs arena — the anchor for Project Marvel.
“My commitment, then and now, was to support Propositions A and B. Prop A being the county facilities, more importantly, the revitalization of the East Side. B was solely for the Spurs Arena, period,” Sakai said.
“Project Marvel was the City of San Antonio project. The county was not involved with it. I had no input in that,” he said.
Sakai publicly advocated for a “Yes” vote on Proposition B. He urged voters to pass the two measures, and he also put his name directly behind the effort by authoring a commentary in the San Antonio Express-News arguing in favor of Prop B and framing them as an investment in the county’s future.
“Proposition B, moves the Spurs downtown and enables the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo to expand to year-round programming,” he wrote in the Oct 18, 2025, opinion piece.
Proposition B passed with 52.14% of the vote after a full-court press campaign by the Spurs organization.
“The voters have now spoken, but I wanted a revitalization of East Side and downtown through economic development, through referendum, to make sure that the Frost Bank Center, Coliseum Grounds, would not become the next Astrodome,” Sakai said.
Nirenberg contrasts his position with Sakai by saying he’s been “consistent” on Project Marvel and working to bring opportunities to the city’s East Side.
Project Marvel was developed mainly in secret during Nirenberg’s time as San Antonio mayor. That secrecy may have contributed to the deficit of trust that many community activists have for the plan.
Nirenberg insists that Project Marvel could be “could be truly transformative for this community, but only if it's done the right way,” he said.
“Now that Propositions A and B are approved and the work is underway with downtown, we've got to make sure that is done on time and on budget and that it does what it says it would do, which is it doesn't compromise the other priorities, the most important priorities, which are ensuring housing availability, ensuring that we get the infrastructure and transportation done correctly so it doesn't gum up downtown,” he said.
This is the first time that Nirenberg has run for office in a partisan race because political parties traditionally have not been active in city hall politics. And he has not been a large presence in local Democratic politics. Now he’s running to be the top Democrat in the county.
But Nirenberg said he’s always been aligned with the party of FDR, JFK and LBJ.
“My values have always been with progress and making sure that as we grow and seek prosperity, that people are treated with dignity and that prosperity is available to everyone. And unfortunately, those values are only found in the Democratic Party.”
Sakai said he’s been a lifelong Democrat. “And that’s because of my background, my history," he said.
"My grandparents immigrated from Japan nearly a hundred years ago, and when they came to this country, they faced some very same things we're seeing today. They were told to go back to where they came from. They were denied the right to buy land. There was racism and discrimination,” he said.
Sakai’s father was incarcerated in a World War II internment camp because he was a Japanese American. He said that injustice has fueled his passion to defend the U.S. Constitution.
“I've been a lifelong Democrat, because that particular party has always been focused to take care of the working families, to stand in solidarity for union work, to make sure that we respect due process. And I have spoken out loudly and clearly in defense of the Constitution, he said.
Sakai said he sees too many similarities between what happened to his father and what is happening now under President Trump and the establishment of a U.S. immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center on San Antonio’s East Side.
Nirenberg said he is also outraged by what is happening under Trump.
“Let's not have an executive who is single-handedly terrorizing communities with ICE, with an arm of the government that has been militarized and invading our local communities. You've seen it in Minneapolis, shooting American citizens in the streets, accountable only to Donald Trump,” he said.
Nirenberg said as Bexar County’s top elected Democrat he will use the position of County Judge to lead the community in the protests.
“I will be using my voice absolutely and making sure that we are using every legal authority we have to make that, to ensure that that doesn't happen in our community,” he said, adding that part of the problem is that too many people have lost their faith in the power of government to solve their problems.
He said, if elected he will work to win back that faith and invigorate voters to turn Texas blue.
