Poncho Nevarez and Justin have been friends for a decade. Poncho was elected as a State Representative in 2013. Since then, he worked his way up into powerful positions. In 2019, he ran into trouble with drugs, got clean, chose not to run again, and joins us to talk about his journey into the dark and back. His honesty is refreshing.
Transcript:
[music]
Justin Hill: Hello, and Bienvenido, San Antonio. Welcome to The Alamo Hour. Discussing the people, places, and passion that make our city. My name is Justin Hill, a local attorney, a proud San Antonioan, and keeper of chickens and bees. On The Alamo Hour, you'll get to hear from the people that make San Antonio great and unique, and the best-kept secret in Texas. We're glad that you're here. All right. Welcome to the Alamo hour. Today's guest is Poncho Nevarez. Poncho is a current state rep of district 74?
Poncho Nevarez: Yes.
Justin: Covering Eagle Pass all the way out through Big Bend. I think it's one of, if not the biggest political district in the contiguous US.
Poncho: In the world. [chuckles]
Justin: Well, probably not. He's an injury attorney. He's a musician. He's a rancher. He has a Watusi or three, maybe, a father, husband, friend. Admittedly, and he just wrote a big article about it, we'll talk about some, an alcoholic and an addict. When he's not running for reelection, he is working on an album, apparently, which we're going to talk about a little bit as well. Poncho, thanks for being here.
Poncho: Thank you for having me. I couldn't help but catch in the promo you were talking about, "This is about San Antonioans, for San Antonioans," and I would ask-- I spent a good part of my adult life in San Antonio for law school, and then because of my law practice, so if they'll claim me, [chuckles] I'd say I'm somewhat from San Antonio.
Justin: So, you're co-opting me here. It's a show about San Antonio, but there's a lot of people that have some interaction or have lived here in the past that they have something to add about our city as well.
Poncho: Well, it's like Eagle Pass, I'd say. It doesn't matter where you go. There's some connection to Eagle Pass. You could be standing outside the pyramids of Giza [chuckles] and there's somebody from Eagle Pass there. I think the same thing applies with San Antonio. It's the same thing.
Justin: Well, good. You've got something to add. When I met you, you had a home here yet, an office here. I think you still practice law here on occasion.
Poncho: Yes. I think that was back in maybe 2005 or 2006 a bit.
Justin: Well, you went to law school here, and then you and I would have met around 2007, 2008, and then we worked on that case through '11 probably.
Poncho: I graduated from law school '99 and then I was away. I was here in Eagle Pass for a few years and then I moved back and then Miguel Chapa and I were partnered up and we're in San Antonio. That was back in 2005 when Miguel and I got together. He'll deny this, but we put that firm together at a Hooters.
[laughter]
Justin: I'm not surprised by this.
Poncho: True story. We were going to go to Vegas, that night, I think. It was me, Jason Hoelscher and Miguel, we were going to go to Vegas and we were killing some time and that's where we formed the firm.
Justin: Well, I do a top 10. It's just a general number of questions. Sometimes it's 3, sometimes it's 10 with all of my guests to give some sort of flavor and background on who you are. The first one was, "Talk to us about your time in San Antonio."...
