Former City Hall chief of staff Ivalis Meza Gonzalez beat out conservative attorney Paula McGee 57.4% to 42.7%% in the District 8 council runoff Saturday night.
Meza Gonzalez, 43, who grew up entrenched in Democratic politics from a young age, took a commanding lead in the first round of a six-way council race.
Her mother, “Choco” González Meza, was a longtime voting rights advocate, La Raza Unida activist, local Democratic Party chair, and the inspiration for her daughter’s political career.
“My mother taught me the importance of community and civic engagement,” Meza Gonzalez, 43, said in an October 2024 speech covered by La Prensa. “Her life’s work wasn’t just a career; it was a calling. And now, it’s my turn to carry that torch forward.”
Amid several strangely polarized runoffs for nonpartisan seats, however, this year Meza Gonzalez found herself distancing from the Democratic brand, while her opponent, McGee, 66, was part of a slate of candidates campaigning with Republicans and calling for a conservative reboot at City Hall.
Meza Gonzalez said she took a step away from partisan labels to focus on the city level issues voters told her they cared about.
She will replace term-limited Councilman Manny Pelaez (D8), a left-leaning political moderate.
“People were really just wanting to understand how their money is being spent. And they wanted to talk about construction issues, public safety issues, issues happening in the city as a whole,” said Meza Gonzalez at her watch party at an office space off Wurzbach Road.
“And that was important to me — that folks knew that whatever label it is, it’s just about getting to work, right?”
A political family
Coming from a family that’s worked alongside state and national Democratic figures for decades, expectations for Meza Gonzalez have long been high.
She worked her way up in Mayor Ron Nirenberg’s office, starting as a director of policy and public engagement in 2018, ending as his chief of staff role and earning the San Antonio Business Journal’s 40 under 40 “2021 Woman of the Year” award.
Despite that, Meza Gonzalez finished third in her first political bid in the 2022 Democratic primary to replace Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff.
“You learn a lot more from your losses,” she said Saturday. “For me, it was about just having a longer runway to really get to know the district better than I knew it.”
In this year’s race her father, Daniel Meza, also a civil rights activist, ran the phone bank and was a prolific block-walker. San Antonio political consultant Laura Barberena, who worked on Meza Gonalez’s mother’s old party chair campaign, was the general consultant.
“She’s a representation of work that takes generations,” Barberena said of Meza Gonzalez, pointing to the efforts her parents put in pushing for single-member districts in San Antonio.
As soon as early voting results were released Saturday, dozens of people packed into a small office space off Wurzbach Road for Meza Gonzalez’ watch party erupted into applause.
“She did it!” someone yelled from the crowd. Only moments later, Meza Gonzalez walked in, immediately bombarded with hugs, handshakes and congratulations.
Standing beside her father, Meza Gonzalez took a moment to thank her campaign staff, family and late mother for her win, describing her mom as a “strong angel” who has accompanied Meza Gonzalez through her political path.
“This means the world to us … We worked really hard over the last 15 months, and now we can enjoy the night and celebrate with family, volunteers, friends — everybody that made this possible. District 8 residents put me here,” she said.
Throughout the race Meza Gonzalez was the name to beat, taking the brunt of the attacks from other candidates who called her a lobbyist, a continuation of the Nirenberg era and accused her of pretending to be a lawyer. (Meza Gonzalez received a law degree, but never practiced law.)
Now, she joins the council as one of the most politically experienced members, in a district that’s launched past members to other leadership opportunities.
“My understanding of local government is what I think voters are looking for — it’s what residents are asking for,” Meza Gonzalez told the Report. “District 8 is just too important to kind of wait for anybody to do any sort of training there. It’s got to get to work on day one, and I’m ready to do that.
Late Saturday night, Meza Gonzalez stepped away from the party to take a congratulatory call from Mayor Ron Nirenberg.
“Tonight is also a testament to the work he did,” she said.
A conservative challenger
McGee stayed out of the fray in the first round and kept her cards close on partisan issues, but facing an uphill runoff, she picked up many of the other contenders’ criticisms of Meza Gonzalez and campaigned alongside a slate of Republican-backed candidates this year.
Over at McGee’s watch party held at Luce Ristorante E Enoteca, the mood was heavy-hearted within minutes after early voting results.
“I was stunned,” McGee said. “Certainly not what we expected to see based on what we were hearing from voters at the polls throughout the early voting … but you know, the voters speak and I respect that.”
Resigned, McGee said she was thankful for the opportunity to run for office and will find a different way to serve the D8 residents.
“It’s about public service. So, I’ll practice law more than I have been, for sure, in the last few months, and then I’ll find another place where I can serve the community, because that’s who I am.”
