Barbara Gervin-Hawkins, superintendent of the George Gervin Academy and executive director of the George Gervin Youth Center, won the Democratic runoff race for Texas House District 120 Tuesday night. Since there is no Republican running for the office, which includes San Antonio’s East Side, Gervin- Hawkins is expected to be the district’s next representative.
Gervin-Hawkins defeated former San Antonio City Council member Mario Salas 56 to 44 percent in the runoff. She celebrated with supporters at her campaign headquarters.
"We’ve got to look at how we can improve the capacity of this community," Gervin-Hawkins says. "There’s a lot of issues out there: gentrification, annexation, the educational standing of the district, neighborhood safety. I won’t have all the answers. I want to engage the community at a high level to be able to prioritize what they think is most important."
She says she’ll work closely with her constituents to get that work done.
"I’m relying on them, just like they’re relying on me," she says. "Yes, I’ll be the front voice, but I want them to have the biggest voice and the loudest voice in terms of addressing those issues that they’re concerned about. I want everybody to start rolling up their sleeves and start seeing what they can do to start turning their quality of life around for themselves."
There is a chance that an Independent candidate could garner enough signatures to be named on the November ballot. If elected, Gervin-Hawkins says she’ll have big shoes to fill. Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon, held the District 120 seat for more than two decades. She resigned in January after serious health problems.