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The two runoff candidates for the Democratic nomination for Texas House District 125 presented two very different views on public service and how they can help the residents of their Bexar County area.
Speaking on TPR’s "The Source" on Monday Adrian Reyna leaned into his experience as a teacher in the San Antonio Independent School District while Michelle Barrientes Vela pointed to her tenure in law enforcement as evidence of her commitment to public service.
Reyna said he is grounded in traditional Democratic values which include public education and working class issues. “
“It’s pretty clear right now which party is speaking to the people that I serve in schools and I also work alongside. So, I want to make sure that we have somebody up in Austin who's fighting for the policies that are going to reflect and strengthen the communities that we come from,” Reyna said.
Barrientes Vela said her time as an elected Bexar County constable has prepared her to be a state representative for HD 125.
“I believe my experience is very important, my law enforcement background, as well as being an elected official as a constable,” she said.
However, Barrientes Vela’s time as the Precinct 2 Constable was unintentionally cut short. In September 2019 she announced her candidacy for Bexar County Sheriff. That announcement triggered the Texas Constitution’s resign-to-run rule because she still had more than 13 months left in her constable term in office. Barrientes Vela sued Bexar County to prevent her being replaced as a constable, but that suit was unsuccessful.
Barrientes Vela said her many controversies in office were the result of county politics. “I was targeted and eventually there was a crime created and made up by some elected officials here in this county,” she said.
On Jan. 23, 2020, Barrientes Vela was arrested and charged with aggravated perjury, two counts of tampering with evidence, and three counts of official oppression. A Bexar County jury convicted her on two felony counts of tampering with records related to Rodriguez Park security-payment logs. She was sentenced to five years’ probation. However, on Oct. 3, 2024: The Eighth Court of Appeals overturned the convictions and rendered a judgment of acquittal.
Barrientes Vela characterized the overturning of her conviction as a “full exoneration.” And she said she learned important lessons from her experience.
“We do know that a lot of innocent people right now are in that system. And what happens is a lot of innocent people begin to make plea deals, because there's a lot of factors that go into that.”
Barrientes Vela said if elected State Representative for HD 125 she would focus on issues of affordability.
“Right now, we have seniors that are trying to decide whether to pay for medication, food on the table, or gas. And so as state representatives, we have to go back and meet with committees. We have to sit down and have the discussions of how we can find this kind of funding to help our community to put back into our community's resources,” she said.
Reyna said while campaigning for office he has frequently heard from voters about their frustrations about the rising prices of basic needs.
“I just went to the grocery store HEB this weekend, and we were flabbergasted with the price tag— and we're just buying some basics some essentials. And so we have to lower grocery bills, and then we have to make sure we're providing some of those concrete changes that really shift people's trajectory and their livelihoods,”
Reyna said one way to help families is to have stronger state regulation of data centers that are coming to Texas.
“They're going to make sure that the energy being pulled by those data centers, that those data centers are footing the bill. These are billion-dollar corporations that absolutely have the means to pay for these,” he said.
Early voting for the primary runoff is Monday May 18 thru Friday May 22. Runoff Election Day is Tuesday May 26.
The winner of the Democratic runoff will face Republican nominee Ricardo “Rick” Martinez, a lighting company owner, in the November 3 general election.
