The wide-open Bexar County District Attorney race now includes a defense attorney best known for his TikTok videos unpacking popular issues in the criminal justice sphere.
Shannon W. Locke has been teasing the possibility for weeks now to his roughly 25,000 followers, some of whom have been urging him to take the leap and join the crowded Democratic primary field.
“My notifications are going absolutely nuts on text messaging, Instagram, Twitter, Bluesky, on TikTok — people are all asking me if it’s true that I’m running for DA,” Locke said in a Nov. 5 TikTok video, blond hair bobbing with enthusiasm as he spoke directly to the camera. “They’re being really supportive, and frankly, I find that very humbling.”
On Thursday, Locke made it official, saying in a statement that his 20 years of experience in criminal law has shown him “where our system works and where it fails.”
“I’m running to make our community safer, to insist on real accountability, and to rebuild trust in the DA’s office case by case, neighborhood by neighborhood,” he said.
When District Attorney Joe Gonzales announced in June that he planned to retire at the end of his term, District Court Judge Ron Rangel appeared to be Democrats’ most likely candidate to succeed him in 2026.
But Rangel surprised political watchers by taking his name out of contention last month, opening the door to a spirited Democratic primary this March. The winner will go up against a Republican on the November ballot.
Also potentially seeking the Democratic nomination is state Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer (D-San Antonio) and former Fourth Court of Appeals Justice Luz Elena Chapa, who haven’t yet filed. They join prosecutors Oscar Salinas and Angelica Carrión Powers and criminal defense attorney Veronica Legarreta, all Democrats who’ve already launched their campaigns.
The filing deadline for the March 3 primary is Dec. 8.
Republicans are also deeply frustrated with the DA’s office, but haven’t seen as many candidates interested in this year’s race. Assistant District Attorney Ashley Foster launched a campaign earlier this month.
Meanwhile Jason Wolff, a nephew of former Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, wants to run as an independent.
Past DA races in Bexar County have been expensive affairs, thanks in part to the a national progressive group that poured roughly $1 million into Gonzales’ first campaign in 2018 and helped him get reelected in 2022.
It’s unclear whether the same outside money exists for such races this cycle, but many Democratic candidates are still talking about progressive justice policies, even as they contrast themselves with Gonzales.