It’s almost two weeks until early voting begins in the runoff election for San Antonio mayor. Former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro has cast his support for mayoral opponent and District 8 Councilman Ron Nirenberg. The pair block-walked this weekend to garner support.
“We know that Ron Nirenberg is the mayor that can make San Antonio a more prosperous city,” Castro told a crowd of supporters at Nirenberg’s campaign headquarters on Broadway.
Fresh off his recent job as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Julian Castro made his surprise endorsement on Saturday. Nirenberg currently represents District 8 on the San Antonio City Council. He was first elected in 2013. Castro claims Nirenberg has a better vision for creating opportunity.
“He can reach into every part of this community. He can pull people together to get things done. I just believe he would make a better mayor for San Antonio,” Castro said.
Nirenberg who came in second with 37 percent of the vote says he asked for Castro’s support. “I’ve communicated with former Mayor Castro for advice on policy issues for a long time, with many of our former mayors,” he said.
Castro says although there have been some differences on policy he has much respect for incumbent Mayor Ivy Taylor. Taylor replaced Castro 2014 after he was tapped to work for the Obama Administration.
Taylor also spent some of her time block walking this weekend in a North Side neighborhood off San Pedro near her campaign headquarters. “I’m just staying focused on my message to reach out to voters and remind them of the great work we’ve done over the past two years,” she said.
She declined to comment on the endorsement but her campaign strategist Colin Strother says the endorsement isn't a surprise. “Since the election a week ago, Ron Nirenberg has definitely been focusing towards gaining market share among liberal democrats. His first call Saturday night was to Manuel Medina and then on Monday he had lunch with Secretary Castro,” Strother said adding that Nirenberg is often on the wrong side of majority council votes.
