San Antonio – More than one out of every four candidates who filed for a place on San Antonio’s May ballot on Wednesday is running for mayor.
The filing period for the mayor and all 10 City Council races opened on Wednesday morning.
The local election will be the first in 16 years without an incumbent mayor. The race is attracting a wide swath of candidates.
The full list of initial applications was not completely online as of Tuesday evening. Still, a KSAT review found at least eight of the 28 candidates who filed on the first day are running for mayor: Councilwoman Adriana Rocha Garcia (D4), Tim Westley, Sonia Traut, Arturo Espinoza, Santos Alvarado, Chris Reyes, Christopher Herring and Mauricio Sanchez.
At least another 11 candidates are eying a mayoral run, including Councilwoman Melissa Cabello Havrda (D6), Councilman Manny Pelaez (D8), former District 10 Councilman Clayton Perry, tech entrepreneur Beto Altamirano, former Texas Secretary of State Rolando Pablos and two-time congressional candidate Gina Ortiz Jones. They will need to apply for a place on the ballot first, though, before it’s officially official.
Rocha Garcia was the first to throw her name in the ring on Wednesday, forgoing a final council race for a shot at the mayor’s office.
“The signature made it real,” Rocha Garcia said afterward.
With Mayor Ron Nirenberg leaving office in June due to term limits, it will be the first mayor’s race without an incumbent since 2009. Back then, Phil Hardberger left office under what was then a two-term limit.
The race could get expensive. A political consultant told KSAT that a successful run could take more than $1.25 million.
Between mayoral campaigns and term limits, four council districts are guaranteed to have new representatives in June: Districts 4, 6, 8 and 9.
Opportunities for new council candidates in those districts will likely come forward.
“It’s an advantage that we all kind of start from the same place and see how we go from there,” said District 8 candidate Ivalis Meza Gonzalez, who is a former chief of staff for Nirenberg. She ran unsuccessfully against Peter Sakai in the 2022 Bexar County Judge Democratic primary.
Council members Sukh Kaur (D1), Jalen McKee-Rodriguez (D2), Phyllis Viagran (D3), Teri Castillo (D5), Marina Alderete Gavito (D7) and Marc Whyte (D10) are all expected to run again.
The stakes are higher than in previous elections. Term lengths are now four years instead of two. The salaries for the mayor and council are set to jump to $87,800 and $70,200, respectively, according to changes voters approved in November.
“Whether it’s a two-year term or a four-year term, it’s a responsibility that I don’t take lightly because it’s a big one,” Castillo said after filing for reelection.
The mayor and council members will still be capped at serving eight years.
The filing period runs through Feb. 14. Election day is Saturday, May 3 during the final weekend of Fiesta.
Crowded races where no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote will go to a June 7 runoff between the top two candidates.