Mayor Ron Nirenberg secured a fourth term Saturday, taking just over 60% of the vote in a nine-way race.
Elected in 2017, Nirenberg will become the city’s longest-serving mayor since Henry Cisneros held the role from 1981 to 1989. Nirenberg served two terms representing District 8 on the City Council before launching a long-shot bid that unseated incumbent Mayor Ivy Taylor.
Nirenberg arrived at The Friendly Spot just before 8 p.m. with his wife, Erika Prosper, who was holding up a campaign sign with a big “8” written on it, signaling the number of years he will serve as mayor.
“Ron, Ron, Ron!” supporters yelled as he took a victory lap around the popular outdoor spot in Southtown.
Nirenberg, with Prosper and their son Jonah by his side, thanked his supporters and talked about his goals for his final two years in office.
“My focus is going to be on continuing to make sure that people have education opportunities in this city, that they can get the skills and the training that they need to get good jobs to break the cycles of poverty, that we continue to make sure our neighborhoods are safe, that people feel secure and able to achieve their dreams in our city,” he said.
“My hope and my work over the last 10 years — being on City Council and now as mayor — has been to really make sure that we are living up to our promise,” he continued. “It doesn’t matter who you are, or where you live in this city, the circumstances you come from, that you have an opportunity to thrive.”
Like a handful of other big-city Texas mayors on the ballot Saturday, this year Nirenberg avoided a challenge from colleagues and other high-profile political figures. In a municipal election where turnout was barely above 13%, Nirenberg got roughly 61% of the vote.
His best-funded opponent was 33-year-old Christopher Schuchardt, a first-time candidate who put $150,000 of his own money into the race. With most of the vote in Saturday night, Schuchardt had just under 22% of the vote.
Despite a relatively clear path to a fourth term, Nirenberg spent nearly $500,000 on his final reelection race, running on his support for the post-pandemic job training program Ready to Work, more funding for VIA Metropolitan Transit and the need to emphasize public safety.
All San Antonio city offices are limited to four two-year terms, thanks to a 2008 charter amendment that expanded eligibility from a previous cap of two two-year terms.
Next election cycle two current office holders, Councilmen Manny Pelaez (D8) and John Courage (D9), could reach that limit. Both were headed toward reelection Saturday, according to early election results.
Nirenberg entered the race this year free from some of the political pressure he faced earlier in his career.
In 2017 he pushed Taylor to a runoff and won with 55% of the vote. In 2019 then-Councilman Greg Brockhouse, a conservative with the backing of the police union, forced the mayor’s race to a runoff, which Nirenberg won with 51% of the vote. The two men faced off again in 2021, when Nirenberg took 62% of the vote in the general election.
Still, a proposed charter amendment aimed at police reform, known as Proposition A, brought back the policy battles Nirenberg hoped to avoid this year.
Nirenberg relied heavily on support from progressives in his 2019 primary runoff and initially sought to stay neutral on a proposal of great importance to the Texas Organizing Project, MOVE Texas and other outside groups.
In April he came out against the proposition, however, echoing the business community’s concerns about its cite-and-release provision. Voters decisively rejected Prop A.
