Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar wins third term in office
Democratic Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar handily defeated Republican challenger Nate Buchanan to win a third term in office on Tuesday.
With 82 of 302 precincts reporting, Salazar had over 57% of the vote, compared to Buchanan's 42%.
He's the first sheriff to win a third term since Ralph Lopez, who resigned from office in 2007 after pleading no contest to corruption charges.
The longtime former San Antonio police officer defeated Buchanan, a Texas peace officer since 2008, who signed a pledge of support for the Texas Secession movement.
Salazar thanked his campaign supporters for all their hard work. He said there is still a lot to do to win the war against crime.
"Gun crime continues to be an issue for us. Domestic violence continues to be an issue for us. And so, until we get those numbers down to a more acceptable level, I'm certainly not able to say we're winning that."
In October. during a county commissioners meeting, he drew attention to the county's homicide rate, which has already exceeded that of all of last year. Half the deaths — nine of them — were related to domestic violence.
He has successfully lobbied county commissioners for funding to boost deputy patrols in booming areas of unincorporated Bexar County.
Salazar has also created a number of specialized units within his department, handling organized crime, public integrity, mental health issues at the adult detention center, a mounted patrol, a boat patrol, a drone team. and a special victim's unit.
Salazar has faced long-term issues with the county's adult detention center, much like the sheriffs before him, including inmate crowding and chronic understaffing among jail deputies that leads to tens of millions of dollars in overtime costs to county taxpayers.
Local inmates are now being housed in Burnet and Kerr counties with the jail here at capacity.
He has implemented hiring incentives and increased recruiting efforts for jail deputies in an effort to end the staffing woes.
