Bexar County United?

North versus South sounds like a civil war story, but for the past decade it has been the two major segments of the Democratic Party of San Antonio. It has been a feud in every sense of the word.

The northside democrats were widely ignored by “consultant” and the political establishment and the southside democrats typically picked the countywide leaders or were blamed for a bad turnout.

It finally seems like change is in the air.

Last night I attended the Northeast Bexar County Democrats dinner, “Dining with Democrats” and the crowd of 125+ were joined by the party chair Carla Vela, Congressional candidate John Courage, Attorney General candidate David Van Os, State Rep Ruth Jones McClendon, Lt Gov candidate Maria Luisa Alvarado, Land Commissioner candidate VaLinda Hathcock, candidate for HD 122 Larry Stallings, and many more.

Of course there were tons of judicial candidates and sitting incumbents. County Commissioner Tommy Adkisson graced the 125 democrats with a stirring speech on the Democratic Revolution currently going on. Katelyn Werner and Jeremiah Rigsby were shown a moment of appreciation for their hard work in putting together a primary election in a time of conflict and the long time advocates and soul of the party (the women of the Bexar County Democratic Party) were given a round of applause.

It was a night of unity. Something that I have never experience in San Antonio. Larry Balser and Ian Straus put together an evening that is more than a symbol, it was the first sign in a decade that we are truly a united party.

It is true that some consultants want the party to focus on just the south. It is true that some want to rely on the blueist precincts to elect Chris Bell and Barabara Radnofsky and the numerous judicial candidates, but Carla Vela and the Northeast Bexar County Democrats put an event together that shows a larger network.

It is time the party finally becomes more than the 19 individual clubs and two parts of town. It is time that the candidates are not required to pay over priced and ineffective consultants to win. It is time for new leadership to “crash the gate” and unify the party, and last night was the first sign of that in the past decade.

Now it is a matter of the old guard consultants who only work in one part of a huge city to change their ways. It is time for a county wide strategy and a unifed party, and Carla Vela understands that. Let’s sweep the old way and the old losing consultants under the carpet and start winning.