Twenty-seven candidates are running in the nonpartisan general election for mayor of San Antonio, Texas, on May 3, 2025. Beto Altamirano, John Courage, Adriana Garcia, Melissa Cabello Havrda, Gina Ortiz Jones, Rolando Pablos, Manny Pelaez, and Clayton Perry are notable candidates based on media attention, polling, and endorsements.

Incumbent Ron Nirenberg, elected in June 2017, is term-limited. Though the office is nonpartisan, Nirenberg is a Democrat. He joined the party after being an independent in 2024.

This is the city’s first mayoral election in 16 years without an incumbent on the ballot. In San Antonio, one candidate must win at least 50% of the vote to be elected outright. If no candidate does so on May 3, the top two finishers will advance to a June 7, 2025, runoff election.

Heading into the election, the San Antonio Report said the new mayor and city council would need to navigate “multiple city-shaping economic development efforts like a downtown stadium for the Missions baseball team and a possible relocation of the Spurs to Hemisfair … [as well as] challenges of housing affordability, public safety and infrastructure, to name a few.”

A University of Texas at San Antonio poll released in March 2025 had Ortiz Jones and Courage polling at 9% and 8%, respectively, while Pelaez, Cabello Havrda, Altamirano, Garcia, and Perry all polled between 3% and 6%. The poll had a margin of error of +/- 3.8% and 683 likely voters responded. According to KENS 5, “One of the main takeaways from the survey is that many voters are not sure who they support or don’t know who is running just two months out from the election. About 35% of voters are undecided and 20% are unfamiliar with any of the 27 candidates running.”

According to the San Antonio Report, Courage, Garcia, Cabello Havrda, and Pelaez “have relatively liberal social views and a pro-business ideology.” Altamirano and Ortiz Jones are affiliated with the Democratic Party, while Pablos and Perry have identified themselves as conservative candidates.

In San Antonio’s mayoral election, lawmakers, former judges, and organizations have made notable endorsements, including: Progressive Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez for Cabello Havrda; former Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff (D) for Altamirano; Gov. Greg Abbott-affiliated PAC, The Texas Economic Fund, for Pablos; and Emily’s List and Annie’s List for Ortiz Jones.

Below are the notable candidates:

1. Altamirano is the CEO and co-founder of Irys Technologies, an artificial intelligence company. He said his top priorities are “ensuring the safety of all residents, maintaining and growing our infrastructure, and creating economic conditions that provide opportunities for everyone to work and provide for their families.”
2. Courage was elected to the San Antonio City Council in 2017, representing District 9. He said his top priorities are “overseeing the installation of baby boxes at fire stations; creating a ‘participatory budgeting’ process that allows for more residents to have a say in how dollars are spent; and an initiative to help San Antonians reduce their medical debts with the help of a national nonprofit.”
3. Garcia was elected to the San Antonio City Council in 2019, representing District 4. She is also an assistant professor of marketing at Our Lady of the Lake University. Garcia said she will focus on fiscal issues and crime.
4. Cabello Havrda was elected to the San Antonio City Council in 2019, representing District 6. She is also an attorney and realtor. She said her top priorities are “lowering taxes, creating jobs, supporting public safety, and increasing housing options for all San Antonians.”
5. Ortiz Jones served as undersecretary of the Air Force (2021-2024) in the Biden administration. She said she will focus on working families and young people, and will “work to bring down costs where we can, make smart investments in our future, and respect taxpayers by increasing transparency around how tax dollars are spent.”
6. Pablos served as Texas secretary of state from 2017 to 2018. He said his priorities are public safety, better-paying jobs, small businesses, government accountability, and basic city services such as affordable utilities, walkable neighborhoods, and enhanced drainage systems and garbage collection.
7. Pelaez was elected to the San Antonio City Council in 2017, representing District 8. He is also an attorney. Pelaez said he will help find “innovative solutions for crime, the increasing cost of living, homelessness, unreasonably high taxes, and a job market that excludes too many San Antonians.”
8. Perry served on the San Antonio City Council from 2017 to 2023, representing District 10. According to the San Antonio Report, Perry said he was running because ‘there’s a conservative yearning here in San Antonio’ among people who are fed up with crime and other quality of life issues, such as the overall ‘dirtiness’ of the city.”

San Antonio, which is the seventh most populous city in the country as of March 2025, has a council-manager system, meaning the mayor represents one of 11 votes on the city council. The mayor and city council appoint a chief executive called a city manager to oversee day-to-day municipal operations and implement the council’s policy and legislative initiatives.