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A survey of more than 1,000 San Antonio and Bexar County residents by UT San Antonio shows Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones is still building her reputation among voters.
The UTSA Center for Public Opinion Research conducted the email-based polling from June 9 to June 16, 2026, and used a panel of approximately 3,000 adult residents from which a total of 1,064 responded.
It measured residents' feelings about Mayor Jones, Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai, Democratic Bexar County judge candidate Ron Nirenberg, City Manager Erik Walsh, and President Donald Trump. It also weighed support for Project Marvel, the proposed downtown sports and entertainment district.
You can see the full results here.
Mayor Jones
The polling found that residents have not fully formed an opinion about Mayor Jones who was elected in June 2025 in a runoff election.
"It's kind of a mixed bag in that maybe it's this first year with the mayor understanding that you know that she's kind of had a trial by fire and we've seen some fits and starts and what what's gone on and under her leadership so far," said Jon Taylor, chair of the Department of Political Science and Geography at UT San Antonio.
“While Jones has now been in office for one year, a substantial share of residents continued to express neutral opinions or uncertainty, suggesting many are still forming evaluations of the new mayor,” the survey results said.
Under approval of public officials, about 17% said they strongly approve or somewhat approve for Mayor Jones, while 28% neither approve nor disapprove, and 22% strongly or somewhat disapprove.
In contrast, Texas Governor Greg Abbott received a 72% strongly or somewhat disapproving rating, while President Trump received 77%.
Jones’ first year has seen several moments of council infighting and the first full censuring of a sitting mayor in modern history. Many of Jones’ initiatives have been met with council opposition and narrow votes that either failed or passed on single council vote margins.
Taylor noted that there's been a "slight amount of chaos" during her tenure that may cause some pause among residents.
"She's in her first year, she wants to kind of set the tone or agenda as mayor, but it's caused some controversies, and the result is that there's kind of this view that the mayor is combative," Taylor said. "The mayor has had problems ... we've seen substantial turnover in the mayor's office leadership roles."
City of San Antonio
On the City of San Antonio itself, close to half of the respondents believe the city will "do what is right."
“Forty-four percent of San Antonio residents say they trust the City of San Antonio government to do what is right 'just about always' or 'most of the time.' This compares with only 17% for the State of Texas and 13% for the federal government,” the polling results said.
Project Marvel
“During the Spurs' return trip to the NBA Finals, residents remained divided over Project Marvel, the city's long-term plan to redevelop Hemisfair into a sports and entertainment district that includes a new arena for the Spurs,” the report said.
Support for Project Marvel was at 47% with respondents saying it should move forward. 35% said it should not. About 8% of respondents had no opinion while 12% said they were not sure.
"I think there's a cautiousness there, and ... as we move forward with not just Project Marvel, but with issues related to the county and the city, and the budget, and the budget issues that they both face, that we may see potentially a shift in that," Taylor said.
Part of the polling for marvel was conducted while the Spurs were in the NBA Finals against the New York Knicks. The Spurs lost to the Knicks on June 13 three days before the survey period ended.
