Judge Ron Rangel won’t run for Bexar County District Attorney after all, leaving a wide-open race to replace retiring District Attorney Joe Gonzales.
Rangel, a Democrat in the 379th Criminal District Court, was among the first to throw his name in the hat after Gonzales shocked political watchers by announcing plans not to run again 18-months out from the 2026 election.
Judges are subject to a resign-to-run rule, so Rangel launched an exploratory PAC to support a potential campaign and even held a fundraiser for it just last week.
Campaign consultant Laura Barberena said Wednesday, “we will be returning all of the money.”
Rangel instead plans to complete his term on the bench, which ends in 2028. Doing so would qualify him for the maximum retirement benefits, he told the Report back in June.
“Last year, I asked the voters to entrust me with presiding over the 379th Criminal District Court for another four years,” he said in a statement Wednesday. “I promised that I was committed to building on the tremendous progress we have made at the courthouse, and I remain committed to that promise.”
Past District Attorney races have been expensive, hotly contested affairs. But whoever takes over the role next will inherit many challenges.
Gonzales was first elected in 2018 after defeating incumbent Democrat Nico LaHood in a primary and benefitting from roughly $1 million from liberal billionaire George Soros’ Texas Justice & Public Safety political action committee. Four years later, he fended off a challenge from Republican Marc LaHood in another expensive race.
The DA’s office currently has 49 staff vacancies, including more than 30 prosecutors, and a backlog of thousands of cases.
Filing for the March 3 primary opens Nov. 8 and runs through Dec. 8.
Criminal defense attorney Veronica Legarreta filed a treasurer’s report to run in the Democratic primary last week.