Former San Antonio mayor and Trinity class of ‘99 graduate Ron Nirenberg, now Trinity Calgaard Distinguished Professor of Practice, defeated incumbent Peter Sakai in the Democratic primary election for Bexar County Judge on Tuesday, March 3.

KSAT 12, among other San Antonio news outlets, reported that Nirenberg declared victory over Sakai shortly after polls closed at 7 p.m, opening with a lead of 24 percentage points. However, these votes represent only early voting ballots, and at the time of publication, election day ballots have yet to be counted. The winner of the Democratic primary will go on to face the Republican candidate Patrick Von Dohlen in the November general election.

The San Antonio Report wrote that Sakai told his supporters to maintain hope at his election watch party at La Fonda on Main as the first election results came in. “Obviously we’re disappointed with the vote totals, but it ain’t over,” Sakai said to the San Antonio Report.

At his own watch party at Backyard on Broadway, Nirenberg celebrated his early claim to victory with his supporters. “We didn’t just win a primary, we committed to fixing a broken justice system,” Nirenberg said. “We resolved that everyone should have access to quality health care regardless of their ZIP code, and we agreed that no one should have to choose between a roof over their head and food on the table.”

The Bexar County Judge oversees all county government departments as the presiding officer of the Bexar County Commissioner’s Court, which approves annual budgets for all departments. Sakai, the previous county judge, held the office for three years.

Texas’ 2026 Democratic primaries are seeing record early voting, signaling the highest turnout in years. Some races, such as U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett versus State Rep. James Talarico for the Democratic nominee to challenge Republican U.S. Senator John Cornyn’s seat, has yet to be called and will likely not be called until Wednesday, March 4.