Former Bexar County Judge John Longoria said Monday that his bid for the bench in one of three newly created county courts probably has been tanked by staunch pro-choice opposition.

Longoria and 22 others are vying for appointments to four courts — three that were created by the Legislature earlier this year and a fourth existing county court-at-law whose judge has taken an administrative position with the county.

Bexar County Commissioners Court is expected to make appointments this afternoon.

Longoria, a Democrat and longtime anti-abortion advocate, said he believed he had enough support from members of Commissioners Court last week to be appointed to one of the positions. But pro-choice opponents mobilized — opposition e-mails began circulating and the phones started ringing — as word spread that his appointment appeared likely. By Monday, Longoria said his support from commissioners had dwindled to almost nothing.

“They're not challenging me on the issues and the ability to be a fair and impartial judge. They're challenging me on my stance of being pro-life,” he said. “Very bluntly, that's as close to religious persecution as I've ever seen.”

Longoria — who's served as a commissioner, county judge and state lawmaker — said the opposition offends him because, he claims, it's misdirected. A county court-at-law judge hears misdemeanor cases that wouldn't have anything to do with abortion issues, Longoria said.

His opponents disagree, and they offer hypothetical situations that could play out in a county court.

“He's not a friend of women, and I don't think he belongs on this court,” community activist Ginger Purdy said.

Pat Smothers, another women's rights advocate, said she fears that Longoria — if he were to win an appointment — would become “the epitome of an activist-type judge.”

“People are very upset about this and committed to stopping this kind of appointment,” Smothers said.

The candidate's opponents point to bills Longoria authored during his tenure as a state legislator that, in one case, declared that human life begins at conception.

“I was certain that the bills would not succeed, but they were acts of conscience,” Longoria said. “That was the appropriate place to do that. The courtroom is not the place to make law or change law.”

The newly appointed judges, who will earn $139,000 their first year on the bench, will preside over the new courts, which are supposed to go operation Sept. 1. They'll have to stand for election next year. The courts were created by the Texas Legislature at the behest of the Commissioners Court because of a consistent backlog of cases and overcrowding in the Bexar County Jail.

Both opponents and supporters of Longoria are expected to pack today's meeting, which begins at 8:30 a.m.