SAN ANTONIO – A new poll shows former Under Secretary of the Air Force and two-time Democratic Congressional candidate Gina Ortiz Jones leads the field in San Antonio’s race for mayor.
However, the same poll shows that far more voters are undecided or unfamiliar with the 27 candidates running to replace Mayor Ron Nirenberg.
The University of Texas at San Antonio Center for Public Opinion Research polled 683 likely San Antonio voters between Feb. 17-20, the first public poll with the full crop of candidates.
Ortiz Jones received 9.3% of the vote in the February survey, followed by Councilman John Courage (D9) with 7.9% and Councilman Manny Pelaez (D8) at 5.5%.
Ortiz Jones had not yet declared her intent to run during UTSA’s previous polling in October 2024. The October 2024 poll put Courage in the lead at 5.7%.
Another five candidates broke at least 1% in the February survey: Councilwoman Melissa Cabello Havrda (D6), tech entrepreneur Beto Altamirano, Councilwoman Adriana Rocha Garcia (D4), former District 10 Councilman Clayton Perry and two-time Republican Congressional candidate Tim Westley.
However, 35.3% of voters were undecided. Another 20.5% of voters were unfamiliar with any of the options, according to the poll.
Former Texas Secretary of State Rolando Pablos was one of 19 other candidates to poll at less than 1% despite being one of the top three fundraisers in the race.
UTSA associate professor of political science and CPOR director Bryan Gervais described the race as “wide open.”
“I think the poll tells us where we stand right now, which is, you know, not a lot of voters really are familiar with the candidates enough to, you know, say, ‘Well, I’m voting for this person now,‘ right? Or really thinking a lot about the mayor’s race," Gervais said.
Nirenberg’s departure due to term limits has left the mayor’s seat wide open for the first time since 2009.
If none of the candidates receive more than 50% of the vote in the May 3 election, the top two finishers will face off in a June 7 runoff election.
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