A prolonged contest to succeed Ron Nirenberg as San Antonio mayor reached the finish line Saturday night.
SAN ANTONIO — Gina Ortiz Jones declared victory and her opponent, Rolando Pablos, congratulated her on the win as a prolonged San Antonio mayoral race reached the finish line.
With 130 of 182 vote centers reporting results Saturday night, Jones had a comfortable lead of nearly 10,000 votes. She’s collected 53.9% of the vote in a historic race that’s expected to see Jones become the first San Antonio mayor without City Council experience since Phil Hardberger was elected in 2005.
She’s set to be sworn in on June 18 and will succeed Ron Nirenberg, who will leave office after serving eight years–the most allowed under the City Charter. But Jones will be the first mayor to serve a four-year term, following voter-approved changes to the City Charter last fall.
“As we move forward as a community, I am very thankful for the opportunity to serve with everybody in mind,” Jones said at her watch party, to applause from supporters. “We reminded folks what San Antonio stands for. We reminded them that our city leads with compassion.”
Pablos called the contest a “very tough race.”
“San Antonio continues to be a blue city,” he said. “(The race) became highly partisan, and today it showed.”
Jones’ lead has grown over the course of the evening, having jumped out to an early lead when she collected 52.3% of the early votes. More than 125,000 ballots have been counted in the race so far.
The initially close race reflected just how intensely partisan the technically non-partisan race has become since the May 3 election in which they beat out 25 other candidates, including four sitting City Council members.
Mayor Ron Nirenberg is leaving office after eight years, having served the maximum allowed by the City Charter. Voter-approved changes mean the next mayor will serve a four-year term instead of two years.
One expert, Jon Taylor, a UTSA political science professor, said he anticipated the race to be “relatively close” between the two candidates.
“Whoever wins, it’s gonna be a historical election,” Taylor told KENS 5 leading up to Election Day. “The narrative will be much different: San Antonio elects a progressive woman as mayor versus a conservative Republican who’s elected who might be emblematic of a new trend of blue cities electing more conservative mayors.”
Whoever wins will be sworn in on June 18, along with four City Council members.
About the mayoral contest
Pablos entered the race in August and Jones joined a couple months later in December. They ended up being the top two vote-getters in the jam-packed May 3 election.
With the pair headlining June’s runoff, the race has taken on a partisan scope.
Jones, a former U.S. Air Force under secretary who served under then-President Joe Biden, has blasted Gov. Greg Abbott’s school voucher initiative and criticized local ICE operations in rounding up undocumented migrants. She’s won the endorsements of more progressive members of City Council, including Jalen McKee-Rodriguez and Phyllis Viagran. Jones has cited expanding free Pre-K services and protecting public education among her priorities, and has expressed concerns about transparency regarding Project Marvel, the city’s multibillion-dollar plan to revitalize downtown.
Pablos served as Texas secretary of state for two years under Abbott and has been staunch in his support for law enforcement and smart budgeting. He’s secured endorsements from Marc Whyte, the most conservative member of the current City Council makeup, as well as San Antonio’s police union. His campaign’s focus points: tackling poverty, infrastructure and smart spending.
The next mayor will be the first to win the office without City Council experience since the 2005 election of Phil Hardberger.
They will also be expected to get up to speed quickly before diving into annual budget discussions. In the long term, the next mayor will help carve the city’s future as it relates to growth, Project Marvel, 2027 bond priorities, and issues like poverty and lack of affordable housing.