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Gina Ortiz Jones defeated Rolando Pablos to become the next mayor of San Antonio on Saturday night.
The vote tally was 77,484 for Jones and 65,202 for Pablos.
Pablos conceded in a speech shortly before the Bexar County Elections Department posted the final results.
"I am very thankful for the opportunity to be able to serve with everybody in mind," Jones said in her victory speech. "Y'all, we won tonight, we won tonight."
She added: "There's a lot going on at the federal level. There's a lot going on at the state level. But we here in San Antonio — deep in the heart of Texas — reminded folks what San Antonio stands for, didn't we? We reminded them that our city is about compassion, and it's about leading with everybody in mind."
She also said to her supporters: "I always think about the courage that my mom had to come to this very special country, and the importance for all of us to do our part to make sure that others see just how special our country can continue to be when it's led by the right folks and when our actions match our values."
Jones was endorsed by four sitting city council members. Despite not serving in city government before, Jones said she was prepared to step into the mayor’s role. “I've worked hard to build those relationships, and we'll work hard to strengthen them, and we'll do that with the entire council, because we've got a lot of work ahead of us, and we're going to be best suited to do that, if we're working together.”
Her first major challenge as mayor will be handling multi-million dollar budget deficits in the coming years.
State and national Democrats swiftly congratulated Jones for her victory.
In a statement, the Texas Democratic Party said that "despite Governor [Greg] Abbott and his MAGA-billionaires spending millions of dollars in support of Pablos, San Antonio voters cast their ballots decisively for Gina Ortiz Jones, a Democrat who will bring down the cost of living for working families. Today’s victory proved that voters are tired of Abbott’s billionaire donors and are ready for a grassroots movement to take back power in Texas."
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) said in its own statement that "from school boards to city councils to mayoral offices across the state, Texas voters are making their voice heard loud and clear: They want strong Democratic leaders who will fight for them, protect their rights, and build opportunities within their communities. While Republicans alienate working- and middle-class families, Democrats continue to build momentum, win elections, and offer an alternative to Republicans’ disastrous agenda."
The DNC also touted its own contribution of more than "200 volunteers to reach over 100,000 voters in support of the campaign."
Their statements underscored how a San Antonio mayoral race that is officially nonpartisan was transformed in 2025 into one more battleground between Donald Trump, Abbott, and the Democratic opposition.
Jones — a former Undersecretary of the Air Force — ran twice for Congress as a Democrat. Her campaign focused on keeping San Antonio a compassionate city and improving housing affordability.
At least one political expert was surprised by and impressed with the Jones victory.
Jon Taylor, a political science professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio, said that "polling suggested it was going to be a tight race. Conventional wisdom suggested that it was going to be a tight race. ... Early voting numbers — Jones was up by maybe 4,000+ to almost 5,000 votes. [That tells] me she did a fantastic job for early get out the vote efforts."
Taylor said he expected Pablos to "heavily" focus on that effort, but "Jones basically outdid him there. ..." He then added that on Election Day, he was surprised that Jones received more votes than expected.
Taylor said that he expects to see "a bit more of a progressive leaning City Council than we saw in the previous one ... [so] Jones might get a few things accomplished with a city council that might be a bit more amenable to her," even though they will face a budget shortfall alongside the traditional city issues, from "crime to transportation to income inequality."
Following changes to the San Antonio City Charter last November, winners of council and mayoral elections will have four-year terms. Voters will judge their performances in 2029.
