Candidates for SA City Council District 8 head to runoff

BEXAR COUNTY, Texas — Strong voter turnout had Ivalis Meza Gonzalez with a clear lead Saturday night. But it wasn’t enough to secure the seat for City Council District 8, which is now headed for a runoff.

Ivalis Meza Gonzalez will face opponent Paula McGee in the runoff set for June 7.

Meza Gonzalez received 40.33% of the vote (4,968 votes) while McGee scored 22.22% of the vote (2,737 votes), separated by only 77 votes from apparent third-place finisher Sakib Shaikh — according to Bexar County Election results.

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Frontrunner Meza Gonzalez is a San Antonio native, UTSA alumna and a mother of two. She also formally served as chief of staff to Mayor Ron Nirenberg.

According to her campaign, Meza Gonzalez says some of her top priorities as a City Council candidate include funding public safety, improving infrastructure, supporting seniors, protecting parks and growing the economy.

“Making sure that we continue to be a strong district that is safe, that has all the resources that residents care about from public safety to our park to our infrastructure,” said Meza Gonzalez.

Meanwhile, opponent Paula McGee says she does not consider herself a politician. This is McGee’s first run for an elected official position. 

Mother, grandmother and Baylor University alumna, McGee says she has raised her family and established her career as an attorney in San Antonio.

She has served on the San Antonio Zoning Commission, the Ethics Review Board and the Board of the Alamo Colleges Foundation.

Some of her priorities, according her campaign, also include public safety, improving infrastructure, better parks and libraries, homelessness response and water resource management.

“We need collaborative thinkers and deep thinkers to prepare for the future and that’s how I am. I come from an outsider perspective for the needs in the community,” said McGee.

The candidate elected for District 8 City Council will serve a four-year term. The two will face off in the runoff election on June 7.