The San Antonio Report, KSAT 12, and Bexar Facts will host three forums featuring a mayoral candidate each evening beginning Tuesday. Mayor Ron Nirenberg will be up first on Tuesday, followed by challenger Greg Brockhouse on Wednesday and Denise Gutierrez-Homer on Thursday.
The candidates will answer journalists’ and residents’ questions each night from 6:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on KSAT. Each forum will continue online from 7 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
The host organizations decided to have the candidates appear individually after Nirenberg refused several requests to participate in a debate-style event.
San Antonio Report Editor Robert Rivard and KSAT Anchor Steve Spriester will serve as moderators of the 7 p.m. forums after KSAT anchor Myra Arthur joins Spriester in the 6:30 p.m. portion.
“We are disappointed that we were unable to persuade Mayor Nirenberg to participate in a live debate,” Rivard said. “The forums held over three nights will be useful for voters who want to go beyond the day’s headlines and listen to more in-depth conversations with the mayor and two of his challengers, former City Councilman Greg Brockhouse and former council candidate Denise Gutierrez-Homer.”
Spriester also expressed disappointment at the mayor’s refusal to participate in a debate, calling the mayoral race “too important to ignore.” Brockhouse, a former District 6 councilman who forced Nirenberg into a runoff in 2019, and Denise Gutierrez-Homer, a businesswoman who unsuccessfully sought the District 2 council seat two years ago, agreed to a debate format.
“I think there are still a lot of answered questions folks have,” Spriester said Monday. “People have a lot of interest in Proposition B. We need to dig into some issues more like the homeless situation here in San Antonio and plans for recovery in the face of the winter storm that took place in February.”
Interested viewers can watch the forums by tuning in at 6:30 p.m. after KSAT 12’s 6 p.m. newscast or by visiting the KSAT.com homepage. The forums will continue online here at 7 p.m.
A new poll of registered voters in San Antonio shows strong support for reelecting Mayor Ron Nirenberg to a third term, with more than two-thirds approving of his job performance. The latest Bexar Facts/KSAT/San Antonio Report poll released last week found that 53% of respondents said they would vote for Nirenberg in the May 1 election, while an additional 3% were leaning toward casting a ballot for the incumbent mayor.
Early voting for the May 1 election begins April 19 and runs through April 27.
