Three political newcomers are competing in the Democratic primary for San Antonio’s House District 116. It’s the seat Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer is giving up so he can run for the Texas Senate. The candidates are a former legislative staff member; a non-profit executive director; and a civic activist who’s the owner of a graphic design company.
House District 116 includes large swaths of San Antonio’s West and Northwest Side neighborhoods. The Medical Center, UTSA’s 1604 Campus, parts of the Deco District and the historic neighborhoods surrounding Jefferson High School are key landmarks within the district.
Martin Golando is among the three Democrats vying for the seat. He’s a former chief-of-staff for Martinez Fischer who has represented the district for 16 years. Golando, an attorney, says it’s that experience at the legislature that makes him the most qualified candidate in the race.
“I learned how to kill a bill, learned how to amend a bill, how to pass a bill and learned how to make a deal,” Golando said. “What legislators do is they take ideas and they create opportunities. I have the relationships and the knowledge of the rules and the knowledge of the process to create opportunities.”
Golando says a top legislative priority of improving neonatal care stems from personal experience. When his son was born, the doctors believed he had a rare genetic disorder. That led to a week-long stay in the neonatal intensive care unit. It turned out to be a false alarm but insurance helped pay the enormous hospital bills. Golando wants other children to have that same access to coverage.
“I can’t imagine if you don’t have access to that kind of care or those kinds of resources and how scary that must be,” he added. “We can change that incrementally. We can do small things today that will increase access to care for thousands of women in San Antonio.”
A second candidate in the race is Diana Arevalo, the executive director for the nonprofit Network for Young Artists. Arevalo has worked with the Bexar County Democratic Party and several Washington-based Democratic committees. Arevalo is a life-long resident of District 116 and says she understands the issues residents face.
“Working in the background and the community, that’s what I’ve done. When we talk about sending a representative to Austin, we want someone that’s one of us, someone that’s been there that’s walked in our shoes and that’s going to fight for our issues.”
Arevalo’s priorities include better access to health care and increased public education funding.
“Our teachers are asked to do more with less and funding gets cut. That’s something I definitely want to advocate for,” she added. “Then I meet senior citizens who are definitely pill counting cause they can’t afford their prescriptions, that’s a huge issue addressing our health care needs. Making sure we have people get the health care resources that they need.”
The third Democrat running in District 116 is the former president of San Antonio’s LGBT Chamber of Commerce, Ruby Resendez. She’s the co-owner of a graphic design company in the district. She says she is the best candidate because of her background in business.
“I understand what it is to talk with CEOs and presidents of companies but also being a small business owner. I know what it’s like being an employee on the other end of that. I’m trying to struggle figuring out what is it like to make ends meet and how does that work, so I feel like I have the best understanding from both standpoints. I also bring lot of community service to the table.”
Education is also the most important issue for Resendez.
“I want to be the fighter for our public education and our educators, because we’re losing a lot of good educators. Public education is something I’m definitely going to be fighting for and that’s going to take a lot of outreach. I’ve been doing a lot of outreach to the community and vice versa making sure the community knows they can come to me and we can work on a policy that’s perfect for 116.”
No Republicans are running in House District 116. That means the Democrat who wins the primary vote, or a runoff race, with be the next representative.