It didn’t take John Loza long to return to Dallas’ political scene. Loza, former mayor pro tem and District 2 council member from 1997 to 2005, was one of the few former political leaders to join Angela Hunt and the Vote Yes! campaign to stop the Trinity Turnpike from being built in Dallas’ floodway.

Even though he was on the losing side of the vote, Loza and former council members Sandy Greyson and Donna Blumer gained political capital for their efforts. Former state representative Sam Coats also came out looking good after losing his run for mayor in May.

When the vote came in on the Trinity, I wondered what was next. As for what the next big thing will be for the city, I have some thoughts on that, which I’ll be sharing in an upcoming column. As for what was next for some of the people involved, we’re just gonna have to take it one person at a time. I took a look at Hunt in my last column, and now I’ll take a peek at what lies ahead for John Loza.

I don’t claim to know much about the sheriff’s race, but I’ve admittedly gotten interested lately, mostly because of the coverage by The Dallas Observer’s Matt Pulle. His post on Unfair Park breaking down the contenders for sheriff noted that Loza is “helping out” with Pete Schulte’s campaign. Loza is Schulte’s campaign treasurer as Pulle posted July 18.

Loza was also heard making noise about a potential run for county judge during the Vote Yes! party at the MAC. So with the Trinity vote behind me, some new interest in the sheriff’s race and the rumor mill placing Loza in a battle for county judge, I called him to get the scoop.

Loza said the position of county judge intrigues him, but he’s not officially throwing his name in contention. Loza did say he felt like it was time to get back into politics, and he is looking strongly at running for something in the 2010 election.

Loza, a former Republican who turned Democrat when he became openly gay, said he’s assuming current County Judge Jim Foster will run for reelection. Loza said if he decided to run for county judge, it wouldn’t be as “the anti-Foster candidate.” Loza said he wants to take Dallas County government to a higher level.

Foster, who also is openly gay, was able to beat Margaret Keliher in the Democratic takeover in November in a surprise victory. However, he could be seen as vulnerable given his rough start. Foster has had a few missteps, most notably the Oct. 12 blog by Matt Pulle and follow-up by Managing Editor Patrick Williams. I asked Loza what he thought about Foster so far.

“To be honest, I think his record kinda speaks for itself,” Loza said. “Things could change in a couple years, but I really don’t expect that.”

So even though 2010 seems like a long way away and we don’t know if Loza is even running yet, it certainly looks like a Democrat won’t let Foster get another term without a fight. And why not John Loza?

This would be face-off between two homosexuals with political credibility -- a first for Dallas. Loza would be the first Hispanic county judge, giving him a significant advantage. Also, whatever is left of the John Wiley Price political machine would back Loza as Price disliked Foster so much that he endorsed Republican Margaret Keliher.

In addition, the Trinity Turnpike will likely be even more of a disaster by 2010, and he can tout that he not only was on the right side of the issue during the election, but he also was against putting the road inside the levees as a council member.

Loza, a former criminal law attorney for Gioffredi & Associates who went into private practice, is expected to hire Democratic consultant Anna Casey to run his campaign. Casey was a consultant for Loza during his campaigns for city council.

And now on to the sheriff’s race.

While Loza didn’t elaborate much on Foster, he had plenty to say about Lupe Valdez. He said Valdez isn’t up to the job and is in over her head.

“I don’t think she’s a very good manager, and she doesn’t really seem to have a lot of ideas or direction,” Loza said. “I’ve always heard from other people, and I kinda got this impression myself, that she’s not really willing to listen to other people’s advice.”

Loza said he doesn’t see Valdez as a strong candidate for reelection. He said she’s been unable to fix problems with the jail, there have been staffing problems, and she doesn’t have a good relationship with the Commissioners Court.

“I understand that she inherited a mess from her predecessors, and I certainly wouldn’t hold that against her, but if you have three years to do the job and you haven’t turned it around, then you have to wonder how much of an opportunity do you get,” Loza said. “She’s been there long enough now to where it should have been taken care of, and it hasn’t been.”

Loza said he is backing Pete Schulte because he is an energetic candidate with good experience and ideas. He also said Schulte provides a sharp contrast to Lowell Cannaday, who is the top Republican contender. Schulte just turned 30 while Cannaday is 70.

“He’s [Cannaday] going toward a time in his life where he probably outta be retired,” Loza said.

Loza first met Schulte when Schulte was attending SMU law school. Schulte was the first Democratic challenger to announce and has experience as a police officer in McKinney, a prosecutor in the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office and as a defense attorney.

Cannaday’s experience dwarfs Schulte’s -- and everyone else’s -- as he worked for the DPD almost longer than Schulte has been alive. Cannaday spent 28 years with DPD, rising to assistant chief of police before spending 10 years as chief of police in Irving from 1994 to 2004. He also was a City Council member in Irving for two years.

Cannaday is clearly the Republican frontrunner, especially with the endorsement of the Dallas Police Association. However, Catherine Smit, 47, has impressed some Republicans with her grassroots effort. She has an uphill battle as she is police chief in Cockrell Hill, a tiny town with a small police force.

Loza says Democrats should be concerned if Cannaday squares off against Valdez.

“If we re-nominate Lupe, I think she’ll lose to Lowell Cannaday.”

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