Frances Carnot

This campaign season, local candidates are hoping a north Bexar County issue will bring voters to the polls. The battle over toll roads on U.S. Highway 281 in north San Antonio may be the lightning rod that ignites the local political scene.

Texas House District 122 covers a wide area of north Bexar County from Castle Hills to Fair Oaks and includes municipalities such as Hollywood Park and Hill Country Village, along with a large portion of U.S. 281.

Tony Kosub

This spring, Corte will have to defend his seat from candidate Tony Kosub, a member of Corte’s own political party, who is backed by a group called the San Antonio Toll Party.

The San Antonio Toll Party, lead by regional director Terri Hall, considers itself “a non-partisan, grassroots movement to stop the double tax tolling of our existing freeways and rights of way,” as per the group’s official Web site.

This past Saturday morning, Kosub kicked off his campaign in front of a vocal crowd of family and supporters at the Hollywood Park Voigt Center. Hall, who introduced the first-time candidate, said “he desperately desires to remedy the disconnect we have between us (the constituents) and our elected representatives.”

Hall also attacked the incumbent Corte’s voting record on toll roads.

Kosub, a local public middle school teacher and coach, calls himself a true fiscal conservative and is quick to point out that he is “not a career politician.” Kosub rallied his supporters during his kick-off speech by saying today’s government and it policies are “a disturbing reality, and this reality shows that the people that make this state great are not being represented.”

With the San Antonio Toll Party’s backing, the inter-party battle between Corte and Kosub is destined to be fierce. The Texas Republican primary is scheduled for March 4; then the winner will have to turn his or her attention across the aisle, to Democrat contender Frances Carnot.

Carnot, who was born in Monterrey, Mexico, and immigrated to United States at the age of 6 with her parents, calls herself a “proud Texan.” A graduate of Our Lady of the Lake University, Carnot has served as a teacher, social worker, mentor and college instructor.

Carnot, whose campaign began this past Saturday, is concentrating on issues such as education and the economy. She is also ready to take on the toll road issue.

“I am against toll roads if we already have the money allocated to upgrade our mobility,” said Carnot.

Carnot also made it clear she was ready to take on the Texas Department of Transportation as well and mentioned that she has already met with the Assistant Executive Director for District Operations for TxDOT David Castell.

“They (TxDOT) are saying the moneys had to be allocated elsewhere: then show me,” said Carnot.