On January 28th, 2024, the Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio (SDSA) held a candidate forum and endorsement meeting for the upcoming Democratic Party Primary Election. SDSA is a political action committee that educates the public and elected officials on issues of concern to the LGBTQIA+ community and advocates on behalf of the LGBTQIA community.
All candidates for federal, state, and county elections were invited to participate in the forum. To be eligible to speak at the forum all candidates were required to complete and submit an online questionnaire by Friday, January 19th, 2024. SDSA also issued Friendly Incumbent Endorsements for incumbents who have a supportive voting record on appropriate issues, as determined by the Endorsements Committee subject to approval by the Board of Directors. The friendly incumbent endorsement is intended to reward incumbents for their support and shall be completed early so that the candidate has a greater opportunity to use the SDSA endorsement to discourage challengers.
During the forum segment of the meeting, participating candidates and proxies were introduced and explained their priorities and vision for San Antonio. Each candidate was afforded the opportunity to answer questions from attending members of SDSA. After all candidates spoke, the candidates and guests were asked to exit the forum. The remaining membership then discussed, debated and voted for endorsement on candidates for all offices.
Stonewall Democrats has endorsed the following candidates for the upcoming Democratic Primary:
FEDERAL CANDIDATES
United States President
Joseph R. Biden
United States Senator
Roland Gutierrez
U.S. Representative, District 20
Joaquin Castro
U.S. Representative, District 21
Kristin Hook
U.S. Representative, District 23
Lee Bausinger
U.S. Representative, District 35
Greg Casar
STATE CANDIDATES
Railroad Commissioner
Bill Burch
Justice, Supreme Court, Place 2
Randy Sarosdy
Member, State Board of Education, District 3
Marisa Perez-Diaz
State Representative, District 116
Trey Martinez-Fischer
State Representative, District 117
Philip Cortez
State Representative, District 119
Charles Fuentes
State Representative, District 120
Barbara Gervin-Hawkins
State Representative, District 121
Laurel Jordan Swift
State Representative, District 122
Kevin Geary
State Representative, District 123
Diego Bernal
State Representative, District 124
Josey Garcia
Justice, 4th Court of Appeals District, Place 2
Beth Watkins
Justice, 4th Court of Appeals District, Place 3
Cynthia Marie Chapa
Justice, 4th Court of Appeals District, Place 4
Luz Elena Chapa
Justice, 4th Court of Appeals District, Place 5
Liza A. Rodriguez
District Judge, 175th Judicial District
Catherine Torres-Stahl
District Judge, 379th Judicial District
Ron Rangel
District Judge, 386th Judicial District
Jacqueline “Jackie” Valdes
District Judge, 407th Judicial District
Tina Torres
District Judge, 438th Judicial District
Rosie Alvarado
COUNTY CANDIDATES
Judge, County Probate Court No. 3
Barbie Scharf-Zeldes
Sheriff
Javier Salazar
County Tax Assessor-Collector
Albert Uresti
County Commissioner, Precinct No. 1
Lawson Alaniz-Picasso
County Commissioner, Precinct No. 3
Susan Korbel
County Constable, Precinct No. 1
Ruben C. Tejeda
County Constable, Precinct No. 4
Neal Burford
BCDP Chair
Monica Ramirez Alcántara
FAVORABLE RATINGS
IN the event no candidate receives a 50% + 1 majority of votes in a run-off during our endorsement process, such candidates may be given a rating of “Favorable.” Please note that this is not an endorsement, but that the candidate is viewed “favorably” by the SDSA membership.
State Representative, District 118
Carlos Quezada
Kristian Carranza
State Representative, District 125
Eric Michael Garza
Ray Lopez
District Judge, 73rd Judicial District
Ana Laura Ramirez
Dannick Villaseñor-Hernandez
The Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio Board of Directors extends our appreciation to all the candidates who participated in our 2024 Endorsement Forum. We’re thankful for every candidate who took the tie to submit a questionnaire to our organization and to take part in this important process. We wish you best of luck on your campaigns!