{"id":123432,"date":"2026-01-14T22:49:26","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T22:49:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/123432\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T22:49:26","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T22:49:26","slug":"texas-organizing-project-wades-into-crowded-bexar-da-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/123432\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Organizing Project wades into crowded Bexar DA race"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Texas Organizing Project (TOP) is wading into Bexar County\u2019s crowded Democratic District Attorney primary race, endorsing James Bethke<\/a>, who serves as director of Bexar County\u2019s Managed Assigned Counsel Office.<\/p>\n

The statewide progressive group is a formidable political ally with deep pockets, helping boost District Attorney Joe Gonzales<\/a> over then-incumbent Democrat Nico LaHood in 2018.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also come under fire in recent years for its bail reform work, including posting bond<\/a> for a man who went on to kill six people<\/a> in Bexar County in 2023. <\/p>\n

Gonzales\u2019 connections to progressive justice reform groups dogged his time as DA and frequently made the office a target of Texas\u2019 GOP leaders<\/a>. A national group aligned with Democratic megadonor George Soros gave $1 million to his first campaign, and his office was later criticized allowing the justice reform group Wren Collective<\/a> tremendous access to their work.<\/p>\n

TOP\u2019s endorsement is among the first high-profile signals of support in what has become a crowded contest to lead the prosecutor\u2019s office in Texas\u2019 fourth-largest county.<\/p>\n

Gonzales isn\u2019t seeking a third term this year, and the two biggest-name candidates who looked at running to replace him, state Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer (D-San Antonio) and district court Judge Ron Rangel, decided not to run.<\/p>\n

Bethke launched his campaign this week and is pitching himself as a candidate focused on public safety reforms and rebuilding trust in the justice system. <\/p>\n

TOP\u2019s endorsement could go a long way in a field of little-known candidates attempting to build support beyond traditional courthouse and political networks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m honored to have the support of the Texas Organizing Project,\u201d Bethke said in a statement Tuesday. \u201cTheir commitment to empowering everyday Texans and strengthening trust between communities and government reflects the kind of justice system I believe Bexar County deserves \u2014 one that listens, serves, and treats every person with dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The crowded field of candidates seeking the Democratic nomination<\/a> includes: former Fourth Court of Appeals Justice Luz Elena Chapa<\/a> (D), prosecutors Oscar Salinas<\/a> and Angelica \u201cMeli\u201d Carri\u00f3n Powers<\/a>, who serves as chief of the Family Violence Division in the DA\u2019s office, criminal defense attorneys Veronica Legarreta<\/a>, Shannon Locke<\/a> and Meredith Chacon<\/a>, who ran in Republicans\u2019 DA primary in 2022, Jane Davis<\/a>, who serves as chief of the DA office\u2019s Juvenile Section, and James Bethke<\/a>, executive director of the Managed Assigned Counsel Office.<\/p>\n

All eight candidates will face off in a San Antonio Report debate<\/a> on Feb. 3. <\/p>\n

The first look at candidates\u2019 fundraising for the race will come Thursday, where semi-annual campaign finance reports are due. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Texas Organizing Project (TOP) is wading into Bexar County\u2019s crowded Democratic District Attorney primary race, endorsing James…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":123433,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[25661,8519,53505,32343,82,84,83,53506],"class_list":{"0":"post-123432","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-2026-bexar-county-district-attorney-race","9":"tag-2026-election","10":"tag-jim-bethke","11":"tag-march-3-primary","12":"tag-san-antonio","13":"tag-san-antonio-headlines","14":"tag-san-antonio-news","15":"tag-texas-organizing-project"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123432\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}