A prolonged contest to succeed Ron Nirenberg as San Antonio mayor reaches the finish line Saturday night.
SAN ANTONIO — The prolonged race for San Antonio mayor might end up being a close one.
Gina Ortiz Jones jumped out to the lead over Rolando Pablos after collecting 52.33% of the early vote.
With about a quarter of vote centers reporting Saturday’s results, her lead has grown. As of 8:50 p.m., Jones leads Pablos with 53.44%. About 7,600 votes separates them out of more than 111,000 ballots cast.
Pablos is at 46.56% % and will need help from election day voters if he wants to overtake his opponent.
The close race reflects 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.