Candidates running to represent District 1, District 6 and District 8 on the San Antonio City Council will appear in live debates hosted by the San Antonio Report ahead of early voting.
The series of council runoff debates will be held at Texas Public Radio and will be free and open to the public, though a donation is requested.
RSVP to attend the events at the links below, and text suggestions for questions to the San Antonio Report at (210) 796-6853.
At 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 21, the District 6 candidates, labor organizer Kelly Ann Gonzalez and progressive political organizer Ric Galvan will face off in the first debate of the series.
Just 28 votes separated the two candidates in the first round of voting to choose a successor to Councilwoman Melissa Cabello Havrda in District 6, which covers much of San Antonio’s inner-to-far West Side.
Then, at 7 p.m., incumbent Councilwoman Sukh Kaur will face former Greater Harmony Hills Neighborhood Association president Patty Gibbons in the District 1 debate, hosted in partnership with Centro San Antonio.
In the first round of voting, Kaur took 48.91% of the vote in a 10-way race, falling just short of the 50% she needed to avoid a June 7 runoff.
The District 1 council seat encompasses most of downtown, the city’s economic engine, and stretches up to include most of the neighborhoods between I-10 and U.S. 281 as well as some north of Loop 410.
On Thursday, May 22, District 8 candidates Ivalis Meza Gonzalez, a former chief of staff to Mayor Ron Nirenberg, and Paula McGee, a conservative attorney who served on the city’s Ethics Review Board, will face off in a runoff debate.
San Antonio’s City Council District 8 encompasses the city’s far Northwest side, north of Loop 1604, and the two candidates are vying to replace longtime Councilman Manny Pelaez (D8).
The debates will be hosted by San Antonio Report journalists, and free parking will be available in the City Tower Garage for the first 150 attendees.
Why isn’t there a D9 debate?
Though there is also a runoff race in District 9, candidate Misty Spears declined to participate in the San Antonio Report’s council debate series, citing scheduling conflicts.
The rare opening in San Antonio’s far Northside District 9 — one of the city’s reddest council districts — has come down to a runoff between two candidates who have each run for partisan offices in the past and finished just 400 votes apart in the first round of voting.
The San Antonio Report offered to try to move the debate to accommodate Spears’ schedule, but her campaign manager responded by email that due to the limited time until early voting kicks off on May 27, “Misty’s schedule is at its max.”
Campaign manager Jennifer Hendrix wrote, “She is fully committed to being out in the district — meeting voters face-to-face, attending neighborhood events, and listening to the people of District 9 directly. We are very sorry she won’t be able to participate in any more candidate forums than we have scheduled.”
Her opponent, Angi Taylor Aramburu, RSVPed, but without both candidates’ participation, the San Antonio Report has elected not to host a District 9 debate unless Spears’ schedule clears up between now and the planned debate date, which is May 22.
You can watch our April 17 debate between all seven of the District 9 candidates, including Spears and Aramburu, here.
