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This race includes dozens of candidates, and a runoff is likely. If necessary, the early voting for that contest will begin on May 27, and the runoff election day will be June 7.
Not all candidates had campaign websites.
Mayor
Rolando Pablos is a former Texas secretary of state appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott in January 2017. He served in the role for about two years. About five years prior to that, he served as the commissioner of the Public Utility Commission of Texas. His priorities include public safety, affordable housing and creating more jobs.
Sonia Traut is retired from the U.S. Air Force and is a minister. She plans to fight corruption, address human trafficking and support local small businesses.
Robert T. Melvin is an entrepreneur, real estate developer and former chair of the economic development organization San Antonio for Growth on the East Side. His campaign website lists economic development, affordable housing and education as his top three priorities.
Christopher Reyes spent 14 years in the U.S. Army before retiring in 2017. Reyes is employed as a survey technician for an engineering company. His top three priorities for the mayoral campaign are crime reduction, government transparency and government accountability.
Jade McCullough is the CEO of Jaszy Angel’s Childcare, which provides short-term childcare services. A press release from her campaign said she was made homeless by neglectful apartment complex property management in 2022, which in part inspired her to run for mayor. Her top three priorities in the campaign are renters’ rights, childcare and adult health care.
Brandon Gonzales described himself as a granite polisher in his application to run for mayor. He explained to the League of Women Voters that his priorities are homelessness, immigration and government waste of taxpayer money.
Tim Westley is a two-time Republican U.S. congressional candidate, one-time Texas land commissioner candidate, U.S. Army veteran, author, and Christian pastor. He works as an education services specialist at the Department of Defense. Westley’s top three campaign issues are safety, economic development, and infrastructure.
Manny Peláez has served as the San Antonio City Council District 8 representative since 2017. He is a practicing attorney. His campaign website says he will sign five “contracts” with residents in his first five days as mayor — to make San Antonio the safest, strongest, smartest, most compassionate, and most authentic city in the country.
William John Ruppel Jr. said that he works at the Texas Department of Insurance in his application to run for mayor. He requested that he be listed as Bill Ruppel on the May 3 ballot. A Facebook page explains that he has had a professional career at USAA for 27 years. His priorities include economic development, public safety and affordable housing.
Armando Dominguez described himself as “provider” in his application to run for mayor. He explained to the League of Women Voters that his campaign priorities were water quality, drainage, affordable housing and creative energy solutions, like solar energy, for residents.
Adriana Rocha Garcia is the current council member for District 4 on San Antonio's Southwest side. Before joining the council, she worked as a marketing manager for SAMM Ministries, vice president of the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and for the city as a projects manager. Her priorities include public safety, better housing, wider access to health care, and assistance for small businesses.
Gina Ortiz Jones is a two-time Democratic candidate for the U.S. Congress and a U.S. Air Force veteran. She served as the undersecretary for the Air Force in the Biden administration. Three of her top priorities as mayor would be public safety, housing affordability, and early childhood education and childcare.
Diana Flores Uriegas described herself as a housewife in her application for mayor. Uriegas, an activist, ran unsuccessfully for city council in 2021 and for mayor in 2023. In 2023, she received about 4,000 votes, or just under 3% of the 137,000 votes cast.
Clayton Perry is a former District 10 councilmember, U.S. Air Force veteran, and political conservative. Some of his top priorities as mayor would be public safety, fiscal responsibility, and improving streets and sidewalks. Perry did not run for re-election to his District 10 seat in 2023 after a December 2022 drunken hit-and-run and the subsequent publication of police body camera footage from the incident that showed him laying down in his front lawn unable to coherently respond to a police officer’s questions. Perry received no jail time for the offenses and served a year of probation before launching a political comeback bid.
John Courage is the sitting District 9 councilman and represents much of the city’s North Side. The Air Force veteran, who was first elected in 2017, is now termed out from running in that seat again. Courage was one of the first members on the current council to announce his mayoral run last year. However, Courage bowed out of the race in December before making a last-minute change of heart to run before the filing deadline. His top issues include tax relief, services for seniors and affordable housing
Christopher Herring is a U.S. Air Force veteran and the current executive director of the Austin, Houston, and San Antonio chapter of Global Chamber — an organization of business leaders. His top three campaign priorities are San Antonio small businesses, public safety, and workforce development.
James "Jae" Melvin described himself as a construction liaison in his application to run for mayor. He is a Navy veteran and has lived in San Antonio for 15 years. He says he will advocate for people who feel they don't have a voice and will be a strong leader for all residents.
Andrew Fernandez Vicencio is a U.S. Army veteran. Three of his priorities are hiring 2,000 SAPD officers over the next four years, opposing the sports and entertainment district Project Marvel — centered around a new downtown Spurs arena — and reversing the phaseout plan for the city’s horse-drawn carriage industry. In a campaign video on his website, he said he had “no compassion for illegals” and criticized city policies supporting immigrants.
Gerardo Del Cristo Zambrano, an engineer, will appear on the ballot as G Zambrano. His priorities include a freeze on property taxes, stopping school closures, and new construction of stadiums.
Arturo Espinosa describes himself as a professional chemical engineer for the City of San Antonio who received his degree in chemical engineering from San Jose State University. He identifies as being from, and living in, Poncitlán, Mexico. Espinosa’s Facebook page includes numerous videos of him calling out individuals with profanity.
April Guadarrama is a Navy veteran and former RV park owner and movie producer. She explained to the League of Women Voters that her priorities include dealing with animal attacks, public safety, budgets and affordable housing.
Michael “Sam” Samaniego is a U.S. Air Force veteran who ran for mayor unsuccessfully in 2023. In social media posts after that election, he accused Mayor Ron Nirenberg of being “illegitimate” based on faulty voting systems used throughout Texas. He also claimed the 2023 Hawaii wildfires were caused by “Direct Energy Warfare.” His priorities include public safety and city cleanliness.
Beto Altamirano is the CEO and co-founder of Irys Technologies, a cybersecurity company that redesigned the City of San Antonio’s 3-1-1 app. His top three issues in the mayoral campaign are public safety, infrastructure and economic development.
Robert Salinas is an auto repair shop owner who has run his business in San Antonio for the last 19 years. He is campaigning on combating rising property taxes and property valuations.
Melissa Cabello Havrda was elected to the San Antonio City Council’s District 6 seat in 2019. She’s a practicing disability attorney and has worked for multiple mayors and councilmembers before being elected. Three of her top campaign issues are launching a participatory city budget process, supporting small businesses, and enhancing school safety.
Mauricio “Mau” Sanchez is the founder and chief information officer at Portafolio Capital Management, a local investment fund. His top three campaign priorities are economic development, public safety and more education opportunities. His campaign website emphasizes his belief that bringing major private companies to San Antonio will bring economic opportunity to the city’s residents.
Santos Alvarado is a U.S. Army veteran. He has never held elected office. Alvarado has called for Project Marvel, the major proposed downtown sports and entertainment district centered around a new Spurs arena, to be put on hold because of a lack of voter support. The three top issues of his campaign are public safety; streets, water, and drainage; and improving basic city services.
