{"id":467408,"date":"2026-10-16T02:28:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T02:28:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/467408\/"},"modified":"2026-10-16T02:28:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T02:28:11","slug":"nirenberg-von-dohlen-face-off-in-lone-bexar-county-judge-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/467408\/","title":{"rendered":"Nirenberg, Von Dohlen face off in lone Bexar County Judge debate"},"content":{"rendered":"

A pair of old foes faced off in the lone debate of the Bexar County Judge race on Thursday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy motivation for getting in this race was to stop Ron Nirenberg<\/a> from becoming Bexar County Judge,\u201d Republican Patrick Von Dohlen<\/a> told roughly 100 attendees at the Texas Public Radio\u2019s Irma & Emilio Nicolas Media Center. <\/p>\n

The two men were on opposite sides of many issues during Nirenberg\u2019s eight years as the mayor of San Antonio, including legal fights over whether to allow Chick-fil-A in the San Antonio International Airport<\/a>, funding for the city\u2019s first Advanced Rapid Transit bus lines<\/a> and a controversial reproductive health fund<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In a blue county, Nirenberg is now heavily favored to become the next county judge.<\/p>\n

He defeated incumbent Peter Sakai by a nearly 25-point margin<\/a> in the Democratic primary, and has laid out a vision for taking county government beyond its traditional roles of running the court system, the jail and emergency response services.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost people think that Bexar County, all they do is provide your tax bill and a jury summons. But I want you to expect more,\u201d Nirenberg told the audience Thursday. <\/p>\n

\u201cCounty government should support the working families that it\u2019s meant to represent. That\u2019s why I want to make healthcare more accessible, I want to keep our communities safe, and I want to make it easier, not harder, for our neighbors, working families, to get ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Von Dohlen, a longtime conservative activist, was the only candidate to seek the Republican nomination<\/a> after his efforts to recruit others turned up short.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw the writing on the walls of what was going to happen [in the Democratic primary],\u201d Von Dohlen said Thursday. \u201cWe\u2019ve had over eight years of disturbing [leadership] by the former mayor of San Antonio.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bexar County\u2019s budget grew by roughly $1 billion during the pandemic years, from about $1.8 billion in the 2020 fiscal year<\/a> to nearly $3 billion<\/a> by fiscal year 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Federal relief dollars were flowing, property values were on the rise and the county opened an entire public health department during that span.<\/p>\n

Now four years later, the federal pandemic relief is expiring, property tax revenue is down and the county\u2019s $2.6 billion budget for fiscal year 2027<\/a> pulled more than $68 million from reserves to avoid a tax increase.<\/p>\n

Nirenberg said the decision to cut public health spending<\/a> was \u201cone step in the right direction,\u201d but that bringing the county\u2019s current spending in check would require significant consolidation of services with other government and public agencies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no reason that this community needs two public health departments: one in the city of San Antonio, one in Bexar County, and we\u2019ve got to close that gap,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Nirenberg wouldn\u2019t say whether current leaders\u2019 decisions had left the county barreling toward an inevitable tax increase in future years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I will do as county judge is work across government, including other jurisdictions in our community, other cities, to reduce duplication of services, eliminate redundancies. We\u2019ve got to make sure that we do that first and foremost,\u201d Nirenberg said.<\/p>\n

Von Dohlen, a financial advisor, said he didn\u2019t necessarily agree with the public health cuts, but that he could sympathize with county leaders kicking the can on big spending cuts because they lack big-picture planning.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s crucial that we get in there and we audit every dollar, we measure it, and we deploy it officially for core services first and foremost,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd public health is certainly one of those core services.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watch the full debate:<\/p>\n

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