Lahood confirms he’ll run for House
Former Bexar County District Attorney Nico Lahood is a candidate for state representative.
Lahood confirmed Monday what he had previously hinted at: He will enter the 2022 Republican primary for Texas House District 122, a North Bexar County seat held for the past 11 years by Lyle Larson.
Lahood said he will run regardless of whether Larson seeks re-election.
“I will be filing the appropriate paperwork at the right time,” Lahood said. “I didn’t want to make a hasty decision. I was very deliberate.”
This will be Lahood’s first campaign for an office other than district attorney, a position for which he ran three consecutive times, winning once and losing twice. It will also be his first campaign as a Republican after running as a Democrat.
He switched party affiliation after losing the 2018 Democratic primary for district attorney to San Antonio defense lawyer Joe Gonzales, who went on to win the general election and become district attorney.
During a 2018 radio interview, Lahood said the Democratic Party has been “hijacked by a leftist ideology, a neo-marxist ideology, that is really fascist in nature.”
During Lahood’s tenure as district attorney, he stirred controversy by publicly aligning himself with anti-vaccination activists. That issue surely will surface during his Texas House candidacy.
During a recent episode of his video podcast, “R-rated Christianity,” Lahood denounced school mask mandates, also instituted to slow the spread of the virus. Lahood referred to masks as “face diapers,” said no one in his immediate family has received the COVID-19 vaccine and emphasized he would not encourage anyone to get vaccinated.
Larson has yet to reveal his political plans but has given indications he will not seek re-election. Larson recently encouraged a longtime friend, former Councilman Jeff Webster, to run in District 122, but Webster decided not to enter the race.