Former San Antonio Mayor entered the race for Bexar County judge, a decision Sakai says he was surprised by.
SAN ANTONIO — The race for Bexar County judge is heating up ahead of the March Democratic Primary: Incumbent Judge Peter Sakai seeks a second term but faces a challenge from former San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg.
Sakai, elected in November 2022 after previously serving as a district judge, said in an interview this week that his first three years in office have been defined by his leadership.
“The last three years is all about leadership,” Sakai said. “I have provided strong, steady effective leadership.”
Sakai said he views his role as a form of servant leadership, focused on addressing the county’s most immediate needs.
“It is not about me. It’s not about my career. It is not about putting things on my résumé,” he said. “It is finding solutions for our people who are confronted today with a lot of problems and a lot of issues.”
Sakai’s top priorities as he ramps up his re-election campaign include health care access, housing and food insecurity.
“Those are the priorities right now,” he said. “We have people that are hungry. “It really isn’t about what is the next four years, (it’s about) what are we going to do right now. And what will we continue to do, until we see the federal government, the state government, and hopefully the local government figure out how we can protect our working families?”
Sakai said his administration has emphasized “back-to-basics government,” including work on public safety and public health. He also highlighted his handling of county finances.
“In the last three years, I have balanced the budget with no property tax increases, no deficit,” he said.
Nirenberg enters the race
Nirenberg announced his candidacy for county judge several days ago, setting up a high-profile contest between two prominent local Democrats.
Sakai said he was surprised by Nirenberg’s decision.
“He said he wasn’t going to run against me. So, that was a surprise,” Sakai said. “And now, he has chosen to have a Democrat-on-Democrat fight. That’s his choice. I presume he was looking for a job.”
Sakai also responded to Nirenberg’s claims about a lack of collaboration in the county.
“But if you look at his record, there’s not a high collaboration even within his own City Council when he was mayor, especially in his last term. Collaboration is in the eyes of the beholder,” Sakai said. “The county has collaborated. The county has come up with solutions. The county wants to make things better for our community, especially for the working families.”
Looking ahead to the primary
Sakai remains confident in voters and his record of public service.
“Voters will get to decide who they have confidence in,” he said. “I strongly believe my 30 years of public service, a servant leader, a leader that puts people first, counts for something. I am confident that we will prevail in March of next year.”
Early voting for the primary is scheduled to begin in mid-February. Primary Election Day is Tuesday, March 3.