SAN ANTONIO – San Antonians will elect a new mayor and vote in all 10 city council seats in the May 3 election. (Find election info on KSAT’s Vote 2025 page.)
The election is nonpartisan, meaning candidates are not affiliated with political parties.
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If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote on May 3, the top two vote-getters will advance to a runoff on June 7. And with a whopping 27 candidates, that’s all but inevitable.
Among the candidates, five current or former city council members; Manny Pelaez, Melissa Cabello Havrda, Adriana Rocha Garcia, John Courage and former Councilman Clayton Perry. Pelaez and Courage will be reaching the end of their term limits. Garcia and Havrda could serve another two years as council member, but they decided to take their shot now.
Of the other 22 candidates, most have never sought election to public office. Some have worked in government — in unelected positions — at the local, state or federal level. Others have held (or hold) high-level positions in the private sector. And the rest are regular, everyday San Antonians who want to serve their city with no political experience at all.
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Meet The Candidates
Here’s a quick look at the people who would be mayor (in ballot order):
WATCH: San Antonio mayor’s race: Meet the candidates interviewed in KSAT’s ’3 Questions’ series
Rolando Pablos is a former Texas secretary of state and Texas Public Utility commissioner. He is a graduate from UTSA and St. Mary’s School of Law. He currently works with Cross-National Advisory Partners, an advisory firm that guides and assists government agencies with business in foreign markets. This is the first time he has sought elected office.
Sonia Traut is a retired Air Force veteran. A self-proclaimed non-politician, Traut does not have a campaign website or social media dedicated to the campaign. She did not respond to an invitation to take part in KSAT’s 3 questions for the mayoral candidates.
Attorney Robert Melvin is CEO of Limitless Creations, LLC. He is a real estate developer. Melvin is a former president of San Antonio for Growth on the Eastside.
U.S. Army veteran Christopher Reyes says he’s running for mayor because he didn’t want to complain about the city’s problems when he could do something instead. Reyes told KSAT the single most important issue is transparency, saying that too many things are decided behind closed doors, then brought to the public after “everything has been taken care of.” Reyes has never run for public office, and says he doesn’t want to start a career, but he believes his lived and work experience in the military and his career will help him do the job.
Jade McCullough says her top issue is affordable housing. She decided to run after her apartment abruptly ended her lease, making her homeless. Though her political experience is limited, she says she gained insight into how the city and government run when she worked with District 2. McCullough is small business owner, born and raised in San Antonio.
Brandon Gonzales isn’t in the race to win it. The granite polisher and manufacturer says he is running to expose the “phony characters” in the political system. Gonzales doesn’t have a campaign website or social media. Homelessness, illegal immigration and “never-ending construction” are what he sees as the biggest issues in San Antonio. This is his first time running for any office.
Tim Westley ran for Texas Land Commissioner in 2022 as a Republican. He lost in the primary to eventual winner Dawn Buckingham. He’s an Army veteran who was stationed at Fort Sam Houston. He has worked as a college professor, pastor, writer and a teacher. He says his number one priority is economic development.
District 8 city council member Manny Pelaez is finishing up his final term on the council. He has also served on VIA Metropolitan Transit, the Metropolitan Planning Organization and Advanced Transportation District Boards. He attended Trinity University and St. Mary’s School of Law. Pelaez says he wants San Antonio to be the safest, smartest and strongest city. He says his experience with Toyota, Brooks City Base and VIA makes him the best candidate.
Bill Ruppel has wanted to run for mayor for a while but couldn’t for personal reasons. He told KSAT that he is now ready to do something that he’s always wanted to do. Citizen safety is his top issue. Ruppel, a former insurance adjustor at USAA, says that job taught him to listen to, work with and help people at all levels and prepared him to help address the challenges of leading the Alamo City.
This is the second time Armando Dominguez has run for mayor. His first bid came two years ago, joining a field of eight challengers trying to unseat current mayor Ron Nirenberg. Dominguez says homelessness and allocation of funds are two of the top things that the city needs to address.
Adriana Rocha Garcia, who has served as the District 4 council member since 2019, was born and raised in San Antonio. Outside her work on the council, she is an assistant professor of marketing at Our Lady of the Lake University. Garcia also serves on several boards, committees and commissions. Affordable housing and fiscal responsibility are among Garcia’s primary focuses.
Air Force Veteran Gina Ortiz Jones’ career has taken her from the Alamo City around the world, serving in the Iraq War and as Undersecretary of the Air Force in Washington, D.C. Jones made two unsuccessful bids for Congressional District 23 in 2018 and 2020. Affordable housing and public education are among her top priorities.
Diana Flores Uriegas, who made unsuccessful runs for City Council’s District 3, describes herself as a housewife. The Bexar County Green Party describes her as “an indigenous activist who has a long history of fighting for poor and working class people, a Southsider who will represent poor people at city hall.”
Former District 10 city council member Clayton Perry left under the cloud of a drunk-driving crash in his third term in office in 2023, opting not to run for reelection. He told KSAT he is running for mayor because he missed being on the council and he believes he has the experience to lead San Antonio. Perry retired after more than 20 years in the U.S. Air Force. Crime is the issue that Perry says he is hearing most about from the people of San Antonio.
City Councilman John Courage is wrapping up his final term representing District 9. The U.S. Air Force veteran and former school teacher was the first to enter the mayoral race last year. He dropped out due to health reasons and jumped back in the last day of candidate filing. He said his decision to run was based on concerns that money from outside the city and state was backing other candidates. Courage says his biggest concern is how what’s happening in Washington could impact San Antonio. Public safety and affordable housing were also high on the list.
Chris Herring is a U.S. Air Force veteran who lists “digital creator” on his personal Facebook page. He also serves as the Executive Director of Global Chamber San Antonio. He says support for San Antonio businesses, public safety/criminal justice reform and education/workforce development are the primary platforms for his campaign.
James “Jae” Melvin says he has been getting requests to run for mayor for the last couple of years. He told KSAT he did his homework before jumping into the race. According to his website, he is a Navy veteran and former union president. He lists “construction liaison” as his occupation. He lists education, the power grid and crime rates are priorities and says his whole platform is about giving power back to the people.
Andrew Fernandez Vicencio has been a candidate in two other races prior to this year’s municipal election: in 2021 for the city council, District 2 seat, and in 2020 he sought the Republican nomination for state Rep., District 120. He retired from the U.S. Army and is a graduate of UTSA and McArthur High School. His listed campaign goals include growing SAPD and modifying the road construction projects schedule.
Engineer Gerardo Zambrano (G Zambrano on the ballot) is a graduate of Texas A&M who moved to San Antonio 40+ years ago. He says he wants to freeze property taxes, freeze moving of stadiums and raise the minimum wage. He says a major motivation for entering the race was seeing one of the best tourist places in America turn into a city with construction and trash everywhere.
Arturo Espinosa was one of two challengers in 2023 who ran against incumbent Teri Castillo for the District 5 city council seat. Castillo won re-election. His application lists his occupation as a chemical engineer.
First-time campaigner April Guadarrama is a U.S. Navy veteran, small business owner and former insurance agent. Vicious dogs, ACS reform, crime and affordable housing are among her priority issues.
This is Michael “Sam” Samaniego second run for the city’s top job. His first run was in 2023, where he finished fourth. The U.S. Air Force veteran says he was called to run, though he was not looking for a political career. Lack of transparency and crime are among his top priorities.
Beto Altamirano is a first-time candidate for political office of any kind. CEO & co-founder Irys Technologies, which developed the City of San Antonio 311 App, among other technological tools. He says he chose to run to give back to the city he has chosen to call home. He points to his experience working with the Texas House and U.S. Senate and was endorsed by former Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff.
Auto repair shop owner Robert Salinas says rising property values motivated him to get in the race. He recognizes the city has issues that need to be addressed as well, but the first thing he wants to tackle is property values.
District 6 council member Melissa Cabello Havrda is another member of the council looking to move up to the mayor’s seat. She has two more years of eligibility as a council member, but like colleague Adriana Rocha Garcia, she’s seizing the opportunity and running now. Havrda is a lawyer and realtor who graduated from St. Mary’s and UTSA. She told KSAT she is running on three pillars: City Hall should work for you; people should feel safe in their neighborhoods; bring opportunities home.
Mauricio “Mau” Sanchez spent time in New York and Austin working in the finance world before coming back home to San Antonio. Sanchez is a graduate of University of Incarnate Word with a degree in economics and finance, and the founder and Chief Investment Officer at Portfolio Capital. The Clark High School grad has never sought political office before, but says political experience is not going to fix what he sees as the problems here: Household income, public safety, animal care and homelessness.
San Antonio is home to Santos Alvarado but his military career and work for the government took him all over the world. He told KSAT when he came home and he didn’t like what he saw in his city. Wants to give the city back to the voters. Homeless, animal control and affordable housing are priority issues for Alvarado.
