San Antonio swore in a new batch of city leaders on Wednesday — one that’s both younger and more partisan than the members they replace.
Gina Ortiz Jones, a 44-year-old former Air Force Under Secretary who ran for Congress twice as a Democrat, took the dais for the first time amid cheers from supporters sporting “Madame Mayor” T-shirts — a nod to the optimism Democrats were feeling last year about their prospects of a first female U.S. president.
By her side was a City Council with four new members who are also no stranger to the political arena: Former City Hall staffer Edward Mungia in District 4, 24-year-old progressive organizer Ric Galvan in District 6, political dynasty daughter Ivalis Meza Gonzalez in District 8, and longtime Republican activist Misty Spears in District 9.
Together they take the place of a generation of leaders who for years sought to avoid partisan labels — on a dais dominated by socially liberal, pro-business and pro-law enforcement views.
The entire City Council elected this year will serve through 2029 before they must seek reelection.
As the new and returning members stood together for their first press conference on Wednesday, Jones acknowledged the changing council, but said its members bring passion and a shared desire to see the city thrive.
“I couldn’t be more pleased honestly, with the makeup of this council, the expertise, the leadership,” said Jones, who pointed to Galvan and Mungia’s past work at City Hall, as well as other members’ private sector backgrounds.
“If you’ve heard any of them on the campaign trail, [you’ve heard] their true commitment to service … their willingness to fight hard and go to the mat and the things that matter,” Jones said. “It’s a very exciting time, and I know that I speak for my entire team when I say, ‘We’re ready to get to work.'”
So far, Jones has hired a chief of staff: her former campaign manager Jordan Abelson, age 27.
Jones said Wednesday that other top leadership roles in the mayor’s office have not yet been named.
Among the first challenges the new leaders will face is a city that’s still recovering from a flood that killed 13 people last week.
Former Mayor Ron Nirenberg issued a disaster declaration in one of his final moves, and some council members planned to proceed straight to a vigil for the victims after receiving a blessing for elected officials at the San Fernando Cathedral and a formal inauguration ceremony on Wednesday evening.
On Thursday, Jones will head to Tampa, Florida for a convention of the United States Conference of Mayors — a group of leaders from the nation’s largest cities that Nirenberg was closely involved with throughout his eight years as mayor.
“As we look at the evolving landscape at the federal level and at the state level, and what can be done at the municipal level, we need to lean on each other,” Jones said of her plans to attend the convention.
A new, younger council
Jones, who is 44, takes the place of term-limited Nirenberg who was 48 years old when he left office.
“I entered this building as a relatively young man,” Nirenberg joked in a farewell address this month, before unveiling a formal portrait in which nearly all of his hair was painted grey.
Among their differences, Jones quipped at Wednesday’s press conference: “I’m a lot funnier than Ron.”
Of the new council members, Galvan is now the youngest at age 24. The oldest member is now only 52 years old (District 3 Councilwoman Phyllis Viagran) after Courage 74, cycled off this year.
“I will always be available,” Courage said Wednesday, vowing to be a resource to the new and returning leaders in his final speech from the dais.
The council now includes four members in their 30s: Jalen McKee-Rodriguez, 30, Mungia, 32, Teri Castillo, 33, and Sukh Kaur, 36.
Five are in their 40s: Marc Whyte, 45, Spears, 45, Marina Alderete Gavito, 43, and Meza Gonzalez, 43.
Six out of 10 San Antonio City Council members, plus the mayor, are now women. This new group of leaders is the city’s fourth female-majority council.
Moderates going extinct
Among those cycling off this year are four centrist council members who all ran for mayor, leaving open seats in Districts 4, 6, 8 and 9.
Exiting council members Manny Pelaez (D8) and Melissa Cabello Havrda (D6) are both attorneys, while Courage was a teacher and a U.S. Air Force veteran. Adriana Rocha Garcia (D4) got her start at the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and teaches marketing courses at Our Lady of the Lake University.
The crowded races to replace them largely came down to matchups between the most clear left-leaning and right-leaning candidates — something voters seemed to prefer this year, after electing more centrist, business-backed candidates in 2023.
Now, in addition to two Democratic Socialists of America-backed candidates who joined the council in 2021, McKee-Rodriguez and Castillo, the council has a progressive bloc that includes Galvan and Mungia.
Whyte, previously the council’s lone conservative, celebrated the addition of GOP-backed Spears, who attended Wednesday’s swearing in dressed head-to-toe in red.
The ‘gayest City Council in Texas?’
Four years ago, McKee-Rodriguez made headlines for becoming the first gay, Black man elected to public office in all of Texas.
This year Jones’ victory marked the city’s first mayor from the LGBTQ+ community, after which McKee-Rodriguez took to social media asking whether San Antonio is now “the gayest City Council in Texas?”
Three of the city’s 11 elected officials identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community: Jones, McKee-Rodriguez and Kaur.
And San Antonio is set to make history again later this year, when McKee-Rodriguez takes paternity leave and his seat is temporarily filled by Leo Castillo-Anguiano.
Of the applicants that applied for the position, the council chose Castillo-Anguiano, 26, who will be the first transgender man to hold office in the state of Texas.
