Leo Pacheco

Pacheco's family is descended from the settlers who founded the original San Antonio mission from the Canary Islands. He was raised on San Antonio's South Side. Pacheco graduated from Harlandale High School in 1976.[1][2] Pacheco became the first member of his family to graduate from college; he earned an associate's degree at San Antonio College, a Bachelor of Business Management at Texas A&M University–San Antonio, and a Master of Public Administration at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). He worked his way through school,[3] including as a bus driver for VIA Metropolitan Transit.[4]

Pacheco was the chair of the Bexar County Democratic Party for four years in the 1990s.[5] He worked as a human resource specialist for Palo Alto College and taught as an adjunct professor at UTSA and San Antonio College.[4]

In 2018, Pacheco ran for the Texas House of Representatives for the 118th district in the Democratic Party's primary election against incumbent Tomas Uresti. He defeated Uresti,[6] and faced Republican John Lujan in the general election. Pacheco defeated Lujan, with 58 percent of the vote to Lujan's 42 percent.[7] In the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, he voted for Mike Bloomberg.[8]

Pacheco ran for reelection in 2020 and was not opposed in the Democratic Party primary election. He faced Republican Adam Salyer in the November 3, 2020 general election and won with a majority 57% of the vote.[9]

Pacheco and his wife, Melva, have two children.[3]

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