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Candidates for the May mayor and city council elections received their randomly drawn ballot placements on Monday morning. The lottery is intended to avoid giving preference to any particular candidate and determines how high or low on the ballot voters will see in May a candidate is listed.
In the 27-way race for San Antonio’s open mayor’s seat, former Texas Secretary Rolando Pablos will be listed first; U.S. Army veteran Santos Alvarado will be listed last. Of the four sitting council members running for mayor, only District 8 Councilmember Manny Peláez will be in the top 10 candidates that voters see on the ballot.
The mayor’s race will also include council members Adriana Rocha Garcia, Melissa Cabello Havrda, and John Courage; former District 10 Councilmember Clayton Perry, who chose not to run again for his council seat in 2023 following a driving while intoxicated charge that led to a year of probation; tech CEO Beto Altamirano; and entrepreneur Robert T. Melvin.
Courage announced his exit from the race last year due to health and age concerns but filed for a spot on the ballot just an hour before the deadline two weeks ago.
The four council districts whose representatives are running for mayor — District 4, District 6, District 8, and District 9 — are all open, and every council incumbent is facing challengers in May. District 1 has the most candidates with 10, followed by District 2 and District 6, which each have eight candidates vying for the seats.
The May municipal elections will also be the first election where council members and the mayor are elected to four-year terms following last November’s approved charter amendment that extended them from two-year terms.
April 3 is the last day to register to vote for the municipal elections.
Early voting begins on April 22 and Election Day is May 3. If a runoff election is necessary for any seats, early voting for that will begin on May 27 and the runoff election day will be June 7.
