After eight years under Mayor Ron Nirenberg’s leadership, San Antonio is electing a new mayor this year.
Voters have 27 candidates to choose from on the May 3 ballot, including four City Council members, a former Under Secretary of the Air Force and a former Texas Secretary of State.
Here’s where the race stands in terms of fundraising and endorsements. You also can watch the eight leading candidates answer questions in the San Antonio Report’s mayoral debate.
Early voting runs April 22 through April 29 for the May 3 election. If no candidate takes at least 50% of the vote, a runoff between the top two finishers will be held June 7.
Read more about the 27 mayoral candidates’ vision for the city in their Q&As for our 2025 Voter Guide.
Why are there so many candidates running this year in San Antonio? There are three major reasons.
- Nirenberg is term-limited from seeking reelection, and the city hasn’t seen a mayor’s race without an incumbent on the ballot since Julián Castro was first elected in 2009. Lots of local political talent had been waiting for such an opportunity, including several council members, whose emptied council seats also drew many interested candidates this year. (All 10 City Council seats are up for reelection, too. Click here for a list of those candidates.)
- Voters made all of these jobs more appealing this year, by approving longer terms and a pay raise for the council and mayor during the November election. This year’s winners will have four years to implement their vision for the city, instead of two, before they have to run for reelection. The next mayor will get paid $87,800 per year, instead of the $61,725 per year Nirenberg makes.
- San Antonio has also set a relatively low bar to run for office, charging just $100 to appear on the ballot, compared to other major Texas cities that have higher filing fees or require petitions signatures. The city hasn’t changed that fee since 1974, in an effort to ensure candidates from all economic backgrounds can serve.
Here’s the complete list of who is running to become San Antonio’s next mayor:
Information is compiled from filing forms, past coverage and campaign websites. Candidates drew for ballot position in February, but are listed below in alphabetical order.
Beto Altamirano
Beto Altamirano is a tech entrepreneur best known for creating the city’s first digital service request platform — a precursor to the 311 app. He now runs Irys, an artificial intelligence company.
Earlier in his career Altamirano was a political organizer and staffer for Democratic candidates and officeholders. He worked in the Texas Legislature, the U.S. Senate and for the United States Trade Representative’s office.
Santos Alvarado
Santos Alvarado is a U.S. Army veteran who retired after 23 years of combined Army Reserves and U.S. Army active duty in 2011. He also worked abroad as a government employee.
John Courage
Councilman John Courage (D9) is a former teacher and Air Force veteran who has represented the city’s far North Side since 2017. He has run for office previously as a Democrat and held a seat on the Alamo Colleges Board.
Courage was the first candidate to formally launch a mayoral campaign in early 2024. He folded the campaign later that fall due to concerns about his age and health, but rejoined the race just before the filing deadline.
Armando Dominguez
Armando Dominguez was born on San Antonio’s South Side and has lived here for 42 years. He ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2023.
Arturo Espinosa
Arturo Espinosa is a chemical engineer who previously ran for a District 5 City Council seat.
Adriana Rocha Garcia
Councilwoman Adriana Rocha Garcia (D4) is a San Antonio native who has represented the city’s Southwest side since 2019. She has a background in advertising and marketing.
Rocha Garcia previously worked as a vice president for communications for the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and a special projects manager and executive recruiter for the City of San Antonio.
Brandon Gonzales
Brandon Gonzales is a granite polisher, manufacturer and first-time political candidate.
April Guadarrama
April Guadarrama is a U.S. Navy veteran who had a 30-year career as an insurance agent. She’s also a filmmaker and previously owned an RV park in Rockport.
Melissa Cabello Havrda
Councilwoman Melissa Cabello Havrda (D6) is a disability lawyer who has represented the city’s far West Side since 2019. She chairs the council’s Public Safety Committee.
Cabello Havrda previously served as a special assistant to former Mayor Ed Garza and project coordinator to Mayor Emeritus Lila Cockrell.
Christopher Herring
Christopher Herring is the executive director of Global Chamber San Antonio. He served on the city’s Small Business Advisory Committee and is a U.S. Air Force veteran.
Gina Ortiz Jones
Gina Ortiz Jones is an Air Force veteran who served as Under Secretary of the Air Force under the Biden Administration. She twice ran for Congress twice as a Democrat in Texas’ 23rd Congressional District — one of the most politically competitive districts in the country at the time.
Ortiz Jones has a master’s degree in military arts and sciences at the School of Advanced Military Studies of the United States Army Command and General Staff College.
Jade McCullough
Jade McCullough is the owner of Jaszy’s Angel Childcare. She previously served on the city’s Small Business Economic Development Advocacy Committee.
James “Jae” Melvin
James “Jae” Melvin is a construction liaison.
Robert Melvin
Robert Melvin is a real estate developer who chaired the economic development group San Antonio for Growth on the East Side.
He worked for former Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s office as a Small Business Development Director and served on the boards of Brooks City Base and Greater: SATX.
Rolando Pablos
Rolando Pablos served as Texas Secretary of State under Gov. Greg Abbott. He chaired the state’s Public Utility Commission and started the regional economic development group Borderplex Alliance.
Pablos currently chairs the international committee for the state’s chamber of commerce, the Texas Association of Business. He launched a think tank to advise on city policy before joining the mayor’s race in August.
Manny Pelaez
Councilman Manny Pelaez (D8) is an attorney who has represented the city’s far Northwest side since 2017. He launched his mayoral campaign in April.
Pelaez chairs the council’s Intergovernmental Relations Committee. He served on the boards of Brooks City Base, VIA Metropolitan Transit Authority, the Metropolitan Transit Authority, the Metropolitan Planning Organization, and the Advanced Transportation District.
Clayton Perry
Clayton Perry is a former City Council member who represented Northside District 10 from 2017 to 2023. He has a background in civil engineering and retired from the Air Force as a lieutenant colonel.
Perry is a leader in the Northeast Neighborhood Alliance and was an outspoken conservative on the council. Perry’s council career was cut short by charges of driving while intoxicated and failing to stop after a hit-and-run crash in 2022.
Christopher Reyes
Christopher Reyes is a survey technician for an engineering company. He returned home to San Antonio in 2017 after serving abroad in the U.S. Army.
Bill Ruppel
Bill Ruppel had a 27-year career at USAA where he worked as an appraiser.
Robert Salinas
Robert Salinas is an auto repair shop owner.
Michael ‘Sam’ Samaniego
Michael “Sam” Samaniego is a retired Air Force master sergeant who ran for mayor in 2023.
Mauricio ‘Mau’ Sanchez
Mauricio “Mau” Sanchez is an executive at a San Antonio-based financial management firm.
Sonia Eliza Traut
Sonia Eliza Traut is retired from a career in the U.S. Air Force.
Diana Flores Uriegas
Diana Flores Uriegas lists her profession as housewife. She’s run unsuccessfully for mayor and City Council District 3 in the past.
Andrew Fernandez Vicencio
Andrew Fernandez Vicencio is a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel and former City of San Antonio employee. He unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the City Council in District 2 in 2021.
Tim Westley
Tim Westley is an education services specialist with the Department of Defense who ran for the GOP nomination for Texas land commissioner in 2022. He’s also a U.S. Army veteran, and he served as the historian for the Republican Party of Texas.
Gerardo Zambrano
Gerardo Del Cristo Zambrano is an engineer whose resume includes leading a wholesale company that updates petroleum refineries. His name will appear on the ballot as “G Zambrano.”
