In districts 8 and 9, council members Manny Pelaez and John Courage have termed out of their respective seats and are running for mayor. This change leaves a field of six candidates vying for the District 8 seat and seven candidates running for District 9. In District 10, incumbent Marc Whyte is running for re-election against four other candidates.
On top of the three local council races, as outgoing Mayor Ron Nirenberg completes his final term as mayor, 27 candidates have entered the mayoral race, which has attracted individuals from a variety of professions, according to city candidate applications.
Nirenberg said the candidates will have the potential to reshape the direction of the city when it comes to multiple issues, including major development projects in the works in the city and investments in infrastructure.
Two-minute impact
Not only is the North Side of San Antonio voting for three council candidates, its residents will also have an outsized influence on the mayoral race.
The North Side plays a disproportionate role in city elections, said Bryan Gervais, the director of the University of Texas at San Antonio Center for Public Opinion Research.
“[Political participation] dovetails with socioeconomic status. On the North Side, you tend to have people who are more educated and [have] higher incomes. You tend to see higher voter turnout,” he said.
Because of higher voter turnout, Gervais said North Side council members have a better chance being elected as mayor.
“The number of candidates is unusual this year, but I suspect the person who ends up being mayor is probably going to be ... somebody who’s had some official position,” he said.
San Antonio’s North Side skews higher than the rest of the city in several demographic categories, including median age, income and education.
According to U.S. Census Bureau data from 2019-23, North San Antonio has a higher rate of homeownership, with 62.36% of its population owning their own homes compared to 52.4% for the entire city.
When it comes to education levels, North San Antonio has an average of 96.7% residents who have earned a high school diploma or higher, and 57.1% of its population holds a bachelor’s degree or higher. The city’s overall attainment rates are 84.3% for a high school diploma and 28.7% for a bachelor’s degree or higher.
Additionally, North San Antonio skews older than the rest of the city, with an average age of 47 compared to San Antonio’s average age of 35, and has an average household income of $91,000 compared to the city’s average median income of $62,917.
A changing environment
In the Nov. 5 election, San Antonians voted to pass several charter amendments related to council and the mayor’s term limits and salaries. The changes stemmed from findings from a Charter Review Commission established in 2023, according to past Community Impact reporting.
Under the newly passed proposition, San Antonio council members earn $70,200 annually compared to $45,722 previously. Additionally, it raised the mayor’s salary from $61,725 to $87,800. All annual future adjustments must correlate to the U.S. Housing and Urban Development-determined income limits for a San Antonio family of four at 80% and 100% of the area median income.
Proposition F altered term limits from two-year terms with eight-year term limits to four-year terms and a term limit of eight concurrent years of service for both the City Council and mayor’s office.
As Nirenberg leaves office, he said that due to San Antonio’s growth, future mayors and City Council members need to balance multiple priorities. This includes balancing expansion with the city’s natural resources such as the Edwards Aquifer, maintaining investments in infrastructure and transportation needs like the public transit system, and continuing to develop the city.
“We remain one of the fastest growing regions in the country, and the next mayor and council will have to keep up with the record investments we’ve made in infrastructure to keep up with that growth that includes the maintenance and construction of roadways, sidewalk infrastructure, and other transportation needs,” Nirenberg said.
Additionally, Nirenberg said future city governments need to continue downtown development projects, such as the Missions ballpark and the sports and entertainment district, which will strengthen San Antonio’s tourism efforts.
