Clayton Perry, a former city councilman for District 10 who declined to run for reelection after a DWI charge, said on Friday that he is running for San Antonio mayor in 2025.
He was the sixth person to officially announce a run for mayor. The seat is open because Mayor Ron Nirenberg is termed out.
Perry joined a crowded field that includes District 4 Councilmember Adriana Rocha Garcia, District 8 Councilmember Manny Peláez, District 9 Councilmember John Courage, local tech entrepreneur Beto Altamirano, and Rolando Pablos, a former Texas secretary of state. District 6 Councilmember Melissa Cabello Havrda was also expected to join the race.
When asked about the field of candidates, including his former council colleagues, Perry said he was ready to take on anyone in the race. “I know I have the right leadership and the right ideas to overcome some of these obstacles that San Antonio has and build on the potential of San Antonio is tremendous,”
In regards to his 2022 DWI charge and subsequent probation, Perry said he’s taking that head on and takes full responsibility.
“You talk about something being humiliating — [it] cut me off at the knees and really, really took its toll on me. I took all that on, I have done everything, everything required of me,” he said.
He added it will be up to voters to decide how much of a factor that plays on his candidacy. “I prayed a lot," he said, "and I'm still praying every day, asking for guidance and helping me to make the right decision on what to do. And at this point, I've made that decision, and I'm going to follow through with this."
In April 2023, Perry pleaded no contest in a Bexar County court to charges of driving while intoxicated and failure to exchange information relating to a November 2022 hit and run after consuming more than a dozen drinks at the Evil Olive bar and fleeing the scene to his nearby home, according to court documents.
Perry admitted to being involved in a car crash shortly after the incident.
The judge allowed for deferred adjudication, a type of probation that kept the charge off his record. He served no jail time but had to complete 12 months of probation.
Prosecutors were seeking a tougher sentence and indicated that deferred adjudication was not appropriate. Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales said Perry was not given any special treatment due to his status as an elected official.
Perry served on the San Antonio City Council since 2017 and won reelection in 2019 and 2021 without a runoff. Following the incident, Perry announced he would not run for a fourth and final term.
In May 2023, Marc Whyte won the seat. In late December, he was also arrested on suspicion of driving drunk after he was stopped on the city's North Side. In July 2024, the Bexar County DA formally charged him with driving while intoxicated.
