Ex-State Rep Who Local Dems Censured
May Seek Payback in House Swing Race
Capitol Inside
September 30, 2025
The Bexar County Democratic Party sought to punish a former chairman in the spring of 2021 with a vote to censure Leo Pacheco
for supporting a landmark open-carry gun bill as a member of the Texas House during the regular session that year. Pacheco didn't wait around long enough to see if the reprimand would amount to more beyond a slap on the wrist. He stepped down from the House four months later after accepting a teaching post at San Antonio College.
Pacheco could be ready to return the favor with a bid to reclaim the House District 118 as a Republican in 2026 after registering a campaign treasurer with the Texas Ethics Commission on Monday.
The conservative publication The Texan reported today that Pacheco confirmed his intentions to run for the seat as a candidate for the GOP. But Pacheco wouldn't be the first Republican who used to be a Democrat in the HD 118 race with Alamo City attorney and boxing promoter Desi Martinez in the field since the first week in September.
Martinez is a 51-year-old personal injury lawyer who ran in a special election for the House seat after Pacheco relinquished it four years ago. Martinez finished third in the special contest that current Republican State Rep. John Lujan won in 2021 in a district that had seesawed between the major parties throughout the previous decade. Lujan beat Democrat Frank Ramirez in overtime by less than 3 percentage points.
Lujan is giving up the legislative seat so he can run for the U.S. House in a district that GOP leaders and lawmakers in Austin redrew for the Republicans during a slugfest on redistricting during the summer. The Republicans produced the new congressional lines for the sake of flipping five seats from blue to red at the polls next year.
But the House seat that Lujan is leaving behind may not be a cinch to remain Republican at the polls in 2026 despite an aura of invincibility within the majority party based on the success its had with Hispanic voters in border areas and other South Texas districts like the one where Pacheco appears poised to re-emerge. HD 118 could in fact be the Democrats' top target for potential gains in the Legislature's lower chamber in the general election in 2026.
Kristian Carranza is returning to the ring as the Democratic nominee who Lujan defeated by a mere 3 points in November when the incumbent scored less than 52 percent of the vote. Carranza was one of the minority party's strongest contenders on paper on the House battlefield in 2024. It's possible that Pacheco and Martinez or other potential Democratic candidates could see the GOP primary as their best opportunity to claim the seat with Carranza in the chase.
Trump beat Kamala Harris by less than 5 points in HD 118 in 2024 with 51.7 percent of the vote there. But Democrat Colin Allred defeated U.S. Senator Ted Cruz by 3 points in HD 118 last fall in the race right below the White House competition. Democrat Beto O'Rourke beat Governor Greg Abbott by almost 2 points in Lujan's House district in 2022 with 50 percent of the vote.
Pacheco rode a blue wave into the House in 2018 when Democrats picked up a dozen seats in the midterm election during Trump's first stint as the president. The Democrats flipped two state Senate districts and two congressional seats in Texas that year as well.
Pacheco, if he runs, would hope to join a list of Republican lawmakers who served in the west wing of the state Capitol as Democrats before defecting to the GOP. State Rep. Todd Hunter of Corpus Christi is the only current example in 23 years of GOP rule in the House on a list with former members who switched from the Democrats to the Republicans including Allan Ritter, Aaron Pena and Chuck Hopson.
Martinez, who received 17.6 percent of the special election vote in HD 118 in 2021, told the San Antonio Current that the Democratic Party left him - not the other way around.
“I am more conservative by nature, so I haven’t changed who I am,” Martinez said. “But I’m looking at who the (Democrats) elected officials are now, and I’m like, that is completely the opposite of who I am. So (joining the Republican Party) just made more sense.”
Pacheco had been the Bexar County Democratic Party chairman before he captured the House in 2018 after ousting the incumbent Tomas Uresti in the Democratic primary election. Pacheco was one of seven House Republicans who voted to enact the open-carry measure in 2021. But Pacheco was the only one who faced disciplinary action from a local party organization.
more to come ...
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