“There’s a fair amount of uncertainty because we’re in the middle of a speaker’s race,” said state Rep. Diego Bernal (D-San Antonio). “But in some ways, at least in the House, the benefit of there being a speaker’s race is that people are trying to build coalitions.”
While the Texas Senate is overseen by the lieutenant governor, who is elected statewide, the House speaker is chosen by members of the House.
The powerful position controls the House’s legislativeagenda and assigns committee roles. Though Republicans control a majority of the chamber’s 150 seats, the Democrats, who hold 62 seats headed into this session, are typically able to leverage their votes in the speaker’s race for some concessions on their own priorities.
“There’s a lot of conversation and discussion and reaching across the aisle to either persuade people or dissuade people, or to find out what their priorities are,” he said. “I think in the end, regardless of who wins, that can be a good thing for the House.”
Bexar County’s delegation will send seven Democrats and three Republicans to Austin for the 89th legislative session, which is expected to tackle issues like school vouchers, housing affordability and strengthening the state’s electric grid.
Here’s a look at the players in Bexar County’s House delegation and what they hope to get out of the coming session.
Diego Bernal (D-San Antonio) is headed into his sixth session, seniority that’s earned him an office inside the capitol for the first time this year.
He refiled bills on property tax protections for legacy homeowners and safer migrant worker housing — the latter of which gained some traction last session. He’s also promoting a bill filed in response to the Uvalde school shooting that would alert local law enforcement when a person purchases multiple guns in a short period of time.
Elizabeth Campos (D-San Antonio) says she’s optimistic headed into her third session, after six of her bills were signed into law last year. This year she’s again pushing legislation to make it easier to investigate dangerous dog cases, called the Ramon Najera Act , which she crafted after the death of an 81-year-old veteran who was attacked by dogs.
She also has a bill in the works to create a statewide registry of dogs that have been designated dangerous, plus a bill she’s calling “Mona’s law” (named after her own dog who passed away) that would allow pets to be buried with their owners.
Campos said she’s working on another bill, related to celebratory gun fire, after a bullet came through her bedroom and kitchen on New Year’s Eve.
Philip Cortez (D-San Antonio) is a former San Antonio City Council member, and the last member of the Bexar County delegation to chair a committee, on Urban Affairs, in the 87th session.
This year he’s filed bills on municipal annexation, emergency services districts, autism treatment and specialty license plates for Central Catholic High School.
Mark Dorazio (R-San Antonio) is a longtime GOP activist and former county party chair who won a seat in the House in 2022. He’s long supported efforts to push the Republican Party to the right, and has become an outspoken supporter of Cook’s bid for speaker .
“Respecting the minority party does not mean handing them power that does not reflect the overwhelming will of Texas voters,” he wrote of the plan to end Democratic chairmanships.
Dorazio considers himself a “school choice” proponent, and is excited to see the House return to work on a school voucher plan that’s expected to take top priority at the beginning of the session. He also wants to continue working on sustainable property tax relief, and his plan to make gold and silver legal tender in Texas.
Josey Garcia (D-San Antonio) is entering her second session, after being elected “freshman of the year” by her Democratic colleagues in the 88th session. This year the U.S. Air Force veteran has filed bills to create a veterans’ land bank program and to allow JROTC members to provide military funeral honors for veterans.
Garcia, who is the mother of adult twins with autism, has also filed bills related to educating students with special needs.
Barbara Gervin-Hawkins (D-San Antonio) , who is entering her fifth session, will take over as chair of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus this year.
She helped found a charter school in San Antonio, and has been willing to go further than many of her Democratic colleagues in discussing what a potential school vouchers program might look like. Last session that earned her a seat on the legislature’s select committee tasked with creating such a program .
Marc LaHood (R-San Antonio) , an attorney, is the delegation’s newest member . He unseated a more moderate incumbent in the Republican primary, and campaigned vowing to support school choice, border security and property tax relief.
LaHood is aligned with conservatives in the speaker’s race. Among colleagues in the delegation, however, he’s viewed as a potentially dynamic new member with connections to the state leaders who helped his campaign.
Ray Lopez (D-San Antonio) is headed into his fourth session with a long list of ideas related to education, housing, veteran support and health care. He’s filed bills to strengthen housing protections for veterans, expand statewide access to Pre-K and allow quarterly property tax payments.
Though Democrats are in the minority, Lopez has said he plans to support a Democratic candidate, state Rep. Ana-María Rodríguez Ramos (D-Richardson) , in the speaker’s race.
“This race is an opportunity to prioritize fairness, collaboration and progress,” he said. “To be clear on the speaker’s race — I’m with her.”
John Lujan (R-San Antonio) is returning for a second term after a hard-fought reelection race .
Feedback from constituents throughout that campaign seemed to cause Lujan to soften some of his past positions, like tying public school funding to school vouchers. He also said he wanted to see the state clarify its abortion law so that women don’t have to flee the state for life-saving care.
In the past, Lujan was an ally to the Democrats in his delegation, helping them get their ideas in front of GOP leaders. Those relationships took a bruising , however, when they called him an extremist during his reelection race.
Trey Martinez Fischer (D-San Antionio) is the most experienced member of the delegation, with 11 sessions already under his belt. He chaired the House Democratic Caucus last session, but withdrew from the race to keep that role when it appeared the votes weren’t behind him.
Martinez Fischer said he’s already been through four speaker’s races and never seen one where Republicans are as divided as they are this year.
“There’s a lot of sweet talk going on right now. This is the most close and cozy we’ve ever been,” he said. “But typically, when a speaker is elected and it gets time to governing, Republicans will act like Republicans.”