San Antonio’s mayoral race heated up Tuesday as eight of the city’s 27 candidates came out swinging at a debate hosted by the San Antonio Report and the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce.

San Antonio councilmembers Adriana Rocha Garcia (D4), Melissa Cabello Havrda (D6), Manny Pelaez (D8) and John Courage (D9), were joined by former councilman Clayton Perry (D10), plus local tech entrepreneur Beto Altamirano, former Air Force Under Secretary Gina Ortiz Jones and former Texas Secretary of State Rolando Pablos.

The debate stage made up of eight of the race’s leading candidates was chosen considering local polling, fundraising across 2024 and 2025 and endorsements.

The candidates took eight podiums at the Carver Community Cultural Center in a randomized order and gave their perspectives on issues like public safety, education and economic development in the fast-paced event, moderated by San Antonio Report government and politics reporter Andrea Drusch.

The 90-minute debate was a clear clash between those with previous council experience and the handful of newer faces on the local political stage who have been taking up much of the political oxygen in the race so far.

Rocha Garcia, Cabello Havrda, Pelaez and Courage defended their experience and knowledge of city governance — in several answers pointedly questioning the others’ readiness for the job of San Antonio mayor — while Pablos, Altamirano and Ortiz Jones criticized the incumbents for failing to address existing issues like poverty and crime.

Their opening remarks included big swings from several of the candidates, including a swipe by Cabello Havrda that included calling Pelaez “la chancla, the flip-flopper of issues,” and Courage encouraging the several hundred attendees who not to vote for, meaning those who are new to city politics.

“You don’t get an engineering degree, go to GM and say, ‘I want to work for you, but I want the job of CEO,'” Courage said later in the debate. “You’ve got to learn what’s going on and be part of the solution, instead of standing on the outside and saying all these problems that you can’t fix.”

At one point, Courage aimed a thinly veiled attack at Altamirano, saying youthful candidates elected to mayor would have to “feel their way through for a year and a half,” while Perry dogpiled on the newcomers by calling them “shiny toys.”

So far, Ortiz Jones, Altamirano and Pablos have led the race in fundraising, along with Pelaez, who loaned his campaign $324,000 in time to show up on last week’s campaign finance report.

Ortiz Jones, who led the only independent polling on the race by UTSA in February, nodded to her experience leading the Department of the Air Force, comprised of the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force, overseeing the Department’s annual budget of more than $173 billion.

Altamirano, the 35-year-old founder of tech startup Irys, is from the Rio Grande Valley. He spent his early career working in Democratic politics and cited his experience growing his company in San Antonio as the reason he’ll be able to make strategic investments in economic development for the city.

And Pablos, who has been on the receiving end of a multi-million dollar effort by a Gov. Greg Abbott-aligned political action committee to build a bench of conservative allies in Texas cities, at one point noted that it was Abbott, not Pelaez, who brought the jobs to San Antonio that Pelaez had just referred to.

Altamirano and Ortiz Jones took quick aim at the current and former councilmembers, questioning their effectiveness in addressing longstanding issues like rising housing costs, transportation and public health.

“I think it’s time to address the elephant in the room, and that’s pervasive poverty, generational poverty, systemic poverty,” Pablos said. “Sixty years ago, the poverty rate in San Antonio was 18%. Today it’s 18% — nothing has changed. Broken promises. We haven’t moved the needle.”

Project Marvel, crime and housing

During a lightning round that asked candidates whether they will “champion” Project Marvel, a planned $4 billion downtown entertainment district that would move the San Antonio Spurs back downtown from the East Side, the majority of candidates gave quick answers — with long caveats.

Altamirano, for example, said he supports it, but not with the use of public funds, while Courage said he supports what Project Marvel used to be: improvements to the Alamodome, convention center and existing downtown district.

Pablos said he wants to champion San Antonio’s neighborhoods, while Ortiz Jones said she champions getting more answers about the project.

Pelaez said if Project Marvel doesn’t benefit every neighborhood in San Antonio, he’s not going to support it, adding, “let the Spurs build their own damn stadium.”

Cabello Havrda said she supports it if its creation is community-led, Perry added he likes it but would not support taxpayer dollars going into it, and Rocha Garcia said she supports it but would like to see a public-private partnership that is worthwhile.

Public safety also dominated the conversation, with Rocha Garcia, Cabello Havrda, Pelaez and Courage pointing to their records on crime reduction, while the others questioned whether current policies were sufficient to keep San Antonio safe and address concerns about public trust in law enforcement.

The cost of housing in San Antonio was another topic of debate.

While some candidates mentioned ongoing initiatives to increase affordable housing, most agreed that more drastic measures were needed to address the affordability gap, including better zoning policies and more aggressive efforts to prevent gentrification.

“We have to take a look at what has been working what hasn’t been working, but I propose that we have been focusing on the key issues that are important and relevant to communities like the East Side being left out, and that includes access to education, access to housing and access to health care,” Rocha Garcia said.

As the debate drew to a close, candidates reaffirmed their commitment to San Antonio’s future and emphasized the need for strong, effective leadership in the coming years.

After the debate, some of the hundreds of attendees left still feeling unsure of their votes. East Side resident Connie Rodriguez, 86, said she enjoyed the debate but remains undecided.

“I am very interested in politics, and I wanted to see what they offered,” she said of her attendance. “I really enjoyed it but I still need to research more about each candidate.”

Husband and wife duo Patricia and Cecilio Cisneros said they are hoping to see more news coverage about each candidate in the upcoming weeks, adding the event was a good starting point but noting there’s still a lot to learn.

“We really hope to see more about this on the news in upcoming weeks,” Cecilio Cisneros said.

For a full profile of all of the race’s 27 candidates, and to read a Q&A with each of them, visit the San Antonio Report’s 2025 Voter Guide.

Watch the full debate: