SAN ANTONIO – For the first time in more than 20 years, Bexar County will have a new county judge in January and voters will decide who that will be during the Nov. 8 election.
The county has not elected a Republican as Bexar County Judge since 1998, when Cyndi Taylor Krier clinched her second term in office. Krier resigned in 2001 after she was named to the UT System Board of Regents. Nelson Wolff was appointed in her place and remained in the office since then after winning five consecutive terms.
There is no lack of experience between the candidates hoping to step into the role.
Peter Sakai
On the Democratic ticket, Peter Sakai spent 26 years as a judge, overseeing the court system’s budget and presiding over cases involving drugs, domestic violence and family issues.
Sakai began his career in the District Attorney’s Office and then opened his own law practice.
In 1995, Sakai was appointed judge of the Bexar County Children’s Court, where he touts that adoptions of foster children in Bexar County increased 1000%.
He was elected to the 225th State District Court in 2014. He left that office last October after Wolff announced his retirement.
Trish DeBerry
Republican Trish DeBerry was a former television journalist who then founded a multimillion-dollar marketing company before turning to politics.
She managed Ed Garza’s mayoral campaign in 2001 and ran for the office in 2009, losing to Julián Castro.
DeBerry was elected to Bexar County Pct. 3 commissioner — her first political office — in 2020, but she stepped down just one year later when he announced her bid for the top county position.
In her 11 months in office, DeBerry has scrutinized the operations at the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, often clashing with Sheriff Javier Salazar on his department’s purchasing requests and policies.
As the election approaches, we want to know what questions you may have for the candidates that could help you make your decision at the polls.
Submit them below and we’ll take your questions to the candidates for answers.
We’ll post those answers in the weeks leading up to the election.