Mayor Nirenberg re-elected; 2 runoffs, 1 new member on San Antonio City Council
San Antonio Mayor Nirenberg was re-elected to another term in office while the City Council will look different.
Get more election news, results on KSAT’s Vote 2023 page.
San Antonio voters re-elected Mayor Ron Nirenberg and seven City Council incumbents Saturday night.
On the other hand, embattled D1 Councilman Mario Bravo is headed to a June 10 runoff, as are two new candidates for District 7.
The biggest ballot item this cycle — Prop A — was heavily defeated in the May 6 election but most City Council races were much closer.
Here’s a wrap-up of the election results for offices in San Antonio City Hall.
San Antonio Mayor
Steve Spriester will host a livestream with real-time election results as polls close and the numbers begin to trickle in at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
Nine candidates failed in their efforts to unseat Mayor Ron Nirenberg Saturday night.
The mayor won his fourth and final 2-year term with more than 61% of the vote, similar to the vote percentage he received in 2021.
At his campaign watch party, Nirenberg declared victory and embraced his wife and son - watch Nirerberg’s victory speech above.
Council District 1
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Possibly the most surprising result of Saturday’s election was incumbent Mario Bravo coming in second place and headed to a runoff with Sukh Kaur.
Kaur won 34% vote and Bravo got 26%.
Former Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff endorsed Kaur, who owns an education consulting company and was the first to announce that she would be challenging for the seat.
Bravo is in a fight to retain his position on the council after a tumultuous past year.
He was censured and received a no-confidence vote from his fellow councilmembers after berating District 7 Councilwoman Ana Sandoval ahead of a budget vote on Sep. 15. An independent investigation found that Bravo violated city directives on equal employment opportunity/anti-harassment and violence in the workplace.
Bravo faced eight opponents, including Jeremy Roberts, a Texas A&M University-San Antonio professor and small business owner who was endorsed by the Express-News. Roberts came in third with just over 20% of the vote.
Now, Bravo and Kaur will face off on June 10, with the winner taking the downtown district on City Council.
Council District 2
Jalen McKee-Rodriguez is the Projected winner for District 2 (KSAT 2023)
Jalen McKee-Rodriguez is projected to be the first candidate to be re-elected in District 2 in a decade.
The former teacher and District 2 aide faced nine opponents, including several community activists, but pulled in about 56% of the vote to secure his second term on the East Side.
Denise Gutierrez, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2021, had the second most votes with about 15%. This is her second run for the position. She failed to get enough votes to beat Jada Andrews-Sullivan in 2019.
No other candidate received more than 10%.
“I think people really underestimate the relationships I’ve built in my district,” he said at his campaign watch party. “While I was knocking on doors, people would say ‘you support Prop A, but I really like you. I like what you’re doing, the way you’ve communicated with me. But I don’t think I can vote with this one thing.’ So, I’ll respect that.”
“I think about every decision I make on the dais, how is it going to affect my students, my students who struggle to come to class, or when they were in class, they would struggle,” he said. “I got on council to change our equity lens, so that District 2 will be receiving millions of more dollars.”
Council District 3
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The closest race of the night was District 3 on the South Side.
Councilwoman Phyllis Viagran narrowly avoided a runoff with 51% of the vote, just a handful above the runoff threshold of 50%.
Erin Gallegos Reid received just over 22%.
Council District 4
Adriana Rocha Garcia re-elected to third term in District 4 (Copyright 2023 by KSAT - All rights reserved.)
Councilwoman Adriana Rocha Garcia won her third term on City Council Saturday night with a resounding 75% of the vote in the Southwest Side district.
Her only opponent was Gregorio De La Paz.
Council District 5
Teri Castillo wins re-election for District 5 (Copyright 2023 by KSAT - All rights reserved.)
West Side Councilwoman Teri Castillo won her third term on City Council Saturday night with more than 63% of the vote.
Rudy Lopez was one of her two opponents and he received just over 31%.
Council District 6
Melissa Cabello Havrda is the projected winner for District 6 (KSAT 2023)
Councilwoman Melissa Cabello Havrda won without a runoff after receiving about 54% of the vote in the far West Side district.
She fended off two opponents, including Irina Rudolph, who received about 35%.
Council District 7
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Newcomers Marina Alderete Gavito and Dan Rossiter are headed to a June 10 runoff in District 7 after receiving 43% and 21% of the vote, respectively.
“I still want to use my business acumen and community leadership experience to serve the residents and bring accountability and transparency to city hall. Use my business acumen to make sure our tax dollars are being used efficiently and effectively,” Alderete Gavito said after the results were released.
As for her opponent: “We just focused on the issues. Since January of this year, we began talking about the real issues, transportation, infrastructure, the needs of district seven residents had all the way from Bandera in the north to Culebra in the south and it worked,” Rossiter said.
The open seat on the Northwest Side was created when Ana Sandoval resigned from City Council in January, citing growing personal obligations.
Alderete Gavito, who served on several boards including VIA, Bexar County Child Welfare and UTSA College of Engineering. The former Rackspace and USAA employee is a graduate of St. Mary’s University.
Rossiter is on the board of directors for the Brooks Development Authority and was appointed to the 2022-27 Streets, Bridges, and Sidewalks Community Bond Committee by District 6 Councilmember Melissa Cabello Havrda.
Sandragrace Martinez came in third with 18%. She is a licensed professional counselor, who won the Democratic nomination for land commissioner in 2022 but lost in the General Election.
Maria del Rosario “Rosie” Castro, civil rights activist and the mother of prominent Democratic politicians, Julian Castro, a former San Antonio mayor and cabinet member of the Obama administration, and U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, was appointed to finish the last three months of Sandoval’s council term. But she’s not running in this election.
Jacob B. Chapa and Andrew “AJ” Luck were also on the ballot.
Council District 8
Manny Pelaez re-elected to fourth term in District 8 (Copyright 2023 by KSAT - All rights reserved.)
Councilman Manny Pelaez was re-elected with a strong performance Saturday night, pulling in 70% over his only opponent Cesario Garcia.
Pelaez has represented the Northwest Side district for three terms previously.
Council District 9
John Courage is the Projected winner for District 9 (KSAT 2023)
Councilman John Courage fended off three opponents and pulled in about 62% of the vote to sail to re-election.
This will be Courage’s fourth term in the North Side/Stone Oak district.
Council District 10
Marc Whyte is the Projected winner for District 10 (KSAT 2023)
District 10 Councilman Clayton Perry did not seek re-election after his high-profile DWI arrest.
Marc Whyte was considered the frontrunner in this race and delivered on election night with about 58% of the vote.
The small business owner was able to fend off six opponents to win without a runoff.
He was endorsed by the San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association and the San Antonio Police Officers Association.
Source: KSAT San Antonio
