9:41 p.m. It’s Van De Putte Vs Taylor For San Antonio Mayor
With more than 95% of the votes in and tallied, San Antonio’s much anticipated mayoral race will come down to a runoff between its two powerful women candidates, the incumbent Mayor Ivy Taylor and former state senator Leticia Van de Putte. With 531 of 557 precincts called, Van de Putte led the 14-person field with 30.52% of the vote (25,566 in all), not enough by any means, to give her an outright win. Taylor, with 23,794 votes and a 28.40% share of counted ballots, was close behind, while former state Rep. Mike Villareal, with 21,786 votes (26.01%) was a close third.
Villareal finally conceded the race, and thanked those that turned out to support him. “Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for believing in San Antonio. We have raised the bar,” he tweeted.
Taylor meanwhile was also clearly excited at all the city’s propositions being passed, including the all important one that will see the city council and mayor receiving salaries going ahead. “You spoke and we can now pay city council members!” she stated on Twitter, also sending out messages of support for various council members who were reelected.
The runoff will be on June 13, with early voting from June 1-9.
We are in the runoff!! #SAMayor pic.twitter.com/ZpUebKHMrY
— Ivy R Taylor (@IvyRTaylor) May 10, 2015
9:20 p.m. Mike Villarreal concedes in mayoral race.
"Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for believing in San Antonio. We have raised the bar." #Mike4SA pic.twitter.com/cTjJznart1
— Mike Villarreal (@MikeVillarreal) May 10, 2015
8:52 p.m. With just more than one-third of the vote count in (36.62% from 204 of 557 precincts), former state senator Leticia Van de Putte is still leading the pack in the San Antonio mayoral race, with 19,978 votes (31.16%). Current Mayor Ivy Taylor holds on to second place and a possible runoff against Van de Putte with 18,280 votes (28.52%), just short of a 2,000-vote lead over the third-place former state Rep. Mike Villareal, who has 16,300 votes and just more than one-fourth of the vote tally so far, at 25.43%. Former Bexar County Commissioner Tommy Adkisson is a far fourth, with 6,306 votes (9.84%).
8:46 p.m. Tommy Adkisson tells TPR News' Brent Boller that he has conceded in the mayor's race, admitting he will not be in the top two slots. Says he still has big plans to be a part of San Antonio's future.
8:31 p.m. Comal County ISD voters are deciding the fate of a $147 million dollar school bond package that would build two middle schools and update existing facilities. In early voting, 72.5% of voters are in favor, 27.5% against.
7:49 p.m. In early voting, all of San Antonio's incumbent City Council members are leading the polls.
7:46 p.m. San Antonio District 7 Councilmember Cris Medina, expected to have a battle on his hands for his seat, is leading the early voting with 2,846 votes (45.60%). Mari Aguirre-Rodriguez, who temporarily served as District 7’s council person during a two-month absence Medina took last year for Air Force training, and the person most expect to pose a serious challenge for his seat, has 1,825 votes (29.24%). The Aguirre-Rodriguez campaign had accused Medina of being absent for more than 570 votes in his two terms in office. The councilman said that he had missed a few but that number was inflated.
Of the others after early voting, attorney Enrique Valdivia has 460 votes (7.37%), former City employee John Foddrill Sr. has 236 (3.78%), and businessman Fred Rangel has 874 (14%). Again, it’s still early.
7:32 p.m. San Antonio voters could spring a surprise and finally give themselves a paid mayor and city council, something they have voted against in the past. After early voting, 27,990 voters (55.31%) had voted FOR and 22,616 voters (44.69%) had voted AGAINST City of San Antonio Charter Proposition 2. This is early voting yet.
As reported previously by Texas Public Radio, Charter Amendment No. 2, if approved, would allow City Council members to be paid an annual salary of $45,722 — equal to the San Antonio area median household income — and the mayor to be paid an annual salary of $61,725. City Council members are currently paid $20 per meeting for a total of $1,040 per year, and the mayor is currently paid up to a total of $4,040 per year. If approved, those individuals elected to the mayor and City Council in today’s election, or a runoff, would be eligible for the salary.
UPDATE 7:12 p.m. With 60,230 early votes in, former state senator Leticia Van de Putte expectedly led the other mayoral candidates in a packed race for San Antonio mayor. At 7:05 p.m, she had 16,419 or 31.33% of those 60,230 early votes, with current Mayor Ivy Taylor following with 15,069 (28.76%), and former state Rep. Mike Villareal in third place with 13,060 votes (24.92%). Former Bexar County commissioner was in fourth place with 5,263 votes (10.04%). The mayoral race is largely expected to head to a runoff.
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Tonight at 7:00, polls close in South Texas for important local and school district elections including San Antonio's competitive mayoral election. Texas Public Radio's news team will be in the studio and with the candidates for Election Night coverage beginning at 7:00 when the early voting results are released. Join us throughout the evening at KSTX 89.1 FM as we broadcast live, and online at tpr.org where we'll update the voting as the numbers roll in.
Find your polling place here: http://apps.bexar.org/ElectionSearch/ElectionSearch.aspx?psearchtab=3
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