SAN ANTONIO — There are moments in life that define us and influence the way we move through the world.
Gerardo Ponce's came as a child, when he stood in a picket line alongside his father and Cesar Chavez.
"I didn't know what I was doing, but he had me out there picketing, taking out water to the picketers, to the farm workers, and I enjoyed what I was doing," Ponce tells KENS 5. "Since then, I've helped people."
Ponce, an alumnus of Roosevelt High School and Wayland Baptist University, now believes the best way he can make an impact is by taking over as Bexar County judge, a role Nelson Wolff is vacating in 2022 after more than two decades.
He's one of four Democrats vying for his party's nomination in the upcoming March 1 primary, joining Ivalis Meza Gonzalez, Peter Sakai and Ina Minjarez.
"I'm a people person," Ponce said. "I've been a people person all my life."
Thus far in his career, he's had trouble turning that into a winning platform, having run multiple unsuccessful bids in recent years for San Antonio mayor and the Bexar County Commissioners Court.
That hasn't stopped him from throwing his name into a packed Bexar County judge race. Should his latest campaign prove successful, he says his top priorities would include combatting hate crimes, battling domestic violence, diversifying the local labor force and improving infrastructure.
"Traffic is a big issue for me," he said. "I think it's a horrible thing for people to be sitting in traffic (for) one to two hours when they could be at home with their families."
The primary is set for March 1, with early voting starting Monday. Click here for the KENS 5 Voter Guide to ensure you're equipped before submitting your ballot.