Bexar County DA Joe Gonzales says he won’t seek reelection

Bexar Country District Attorney Joe Gonzales won’t seek another term in 2026, the Express-News reports.

Gonzales, a Democrat who campaigned in creating a more transparent and accountable DA’s office, made the announcement during a Thursday afternoon press conference.

Gonzales served in the role since 2019, after trouncing incumbent Nico LaHood in a high-profile Democratic primary. The San Antonio native was elected that year amid a wave of reform-minded prosecutors securing spots in big U.S. cities.

Although Gonzales handily won reelection in 2022 against LaHood’s brother Marc, who ran as a Republican, he’s endured criticism for his office’s intense case backlog. Late last fall, the DA’s asked for additional county funds to accelerate prosecution of the most pressing cases among roughly 6,000 backlogged felonies.

In 2023, amid a series of shootings that injured San Antonio police officers, SAPD Chief William McManus publicly called out Gonzales, blaming his office for failing to impose higher bail on violent offenders. The DA fired back publicly, arguing that magistrate judges, not his office, have the ultimate power to set bail.

Later that same year, a KSAT investigation reported that a large exodus of employees quitting the Bexar County DA’s office did so due to a “hostile and toxic” work environment.

Gonzales and other Democratic DAs across Texas have also found themselves in the crosshairs of Republican elected officials who have accused them of being “rogue” operators who are soft on crime.

In April, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, approved a new rule giving his office unprecedented access to the records of district attorneys in the state’s largest urban areas, including San Antonio.

Last year, in anticipation of the pending rule’s fallout, Bexar County Commissioner’s Court approved the expenditure of $50,000 to hire a Washington D.C. legal firm to represent Gonzales should it actually go into effect.

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This article appears in May 29 – Jun 11, 2025.