House District 118 will soon have new representation at the Texas Capitol, after State Rep. Leo Pacheco, who had been in office since 2019, resigned in August to take a teaching job at San Antonio College.
GOP candidate John Lujan and Democrat Frank Ramirez are vying to claim the empty seat for HD 118, which covers portions of south and east Bexar County.
A candidate must receive over 50% of the the vote to avoid a runoff. Five individuals competed in the special election. Republican John Lujan earned 41.5% and Democrat Frank Ramirez received 20%.
The runoff date, set by Gov. Greg Abbott, coincides with joint state constitutional, general and bond elections.
Lujan previously represented HD 118 after winning a special election in January 2016 and was defeated later that year in a regular election. He also served 25 years as a firefighter with the San Antonio Fire Department. The Republican's campaign priorities are public safety, jobs, property tax relief, border security, health care, funding for public schools, and improving the state's foster-care system.
Ramirez served as zoning and planning director for the City of San Antonio's District 7, and as a legislative director and then chief of staff for HD 118. Ramirez — who was endorsed by the district's recently departed representative — says his top issuesare public education, healthcare access, infrastructure investments including electric grid resiliency, and property tax reform.
Early voting for the HD 118 runoff is Oct. 18-29. Election Day is Nov. 2. Click herefor more information.
Guests:
- Frank Ramirez, Democratic candidate for Texas House District 118
- John Lujan, Republican candidate for Texas House District 118
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*This interview originally aired on Monday, October 19.