Gina Ortiz Jones, a lesbian and military veteran who served in President Joe Biden’s administration, has been elected mayor of San Antonio, the second-largest city in Texas and seventh-largest in the U.S.
Jones beat Rolando Pablos, a former Texas secretary of state, in a runoff election Saturday. The margin was 54.3 percent to 45.7 percent, according to Ballotpedia. They advanced to the runoff because no candidate out of 27 in the May 3 general election received a majority of the vote. In the general election, Jones led with 27.2 percent and Pablos came in second with 16.6 percent. The current mayor, Ron Nirenberg, could not run again due to term limits.
Races for mayor and other city positions in San Antonio are officially nonpartisan, but this election was partisan in practice. Jones emphasized her affiliation with the Democratic Party, while Pablos, who was elected secretary of state as a Republican, highlighted his ties to leading Republicans such as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
Jones was undersecretary of the Air Force during the Biden administration; she was the first lesbian, second member of the LGBTQ+ community, and first woman of color (she’s Filipina American) to serve in the post. She twice ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House as a Democrat.
She was an intelligence officer in the Air Force and was deployed to Iraq during the war there, serving under “don’t ask, don’t tell.” After leaving the Air Force, she worked for the federal government as an adviser on intelligence and trade, with agencies including the Defense Intelligence Agency and Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. She left government service six months into Donald Trump’s first term.
In the mayoral race, “she campaigned on her plans to expand early-childhood education to more children and increase affordable housing and work programs for unskilled workers,” The New York Times reports.
“San Antonio showed up and showed out,” she told supporters Saturday night after the results came in. “We reminded them that our city is about compassion and it’s about leading with everybody in mind. … So I look forward to being a mayor for all.”
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Two other cities among the largest 10 in the nation have had LGBTQ+, specifically lesbian, mayors. Annise Parker was mayor of Texas’s largest city, Houston, from 2010 to 2016. Until recently, she was president and CEO of the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund. Houston is the fourth-largest city in the U.S. Another lesbian, Lori Lightfoot, was mayor of Chicago, the third-largest, from 2019 to 2023.
Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson hailed Jones’s victory, releasing this statement: “Every one of us deserves leaders who value equality and will fight to ensure that we can live freely without fear of discrimination. Gina Ortiz Jones is that leader. That’s why HRC was proud to make calls and knock doors to help mobilize Equality Voters in San Antonio and put her over the finish line. Her win isn’t just exciting, it’s historic; as the first ever openly LGBTQ+ mayor of San Antonio during a time of ceaseless attacks on our community, Gina is emblematic of the resilience, strength, and joy that our community has already used to thrive in challenging times. We can’t wait to see her get to work tackling the problems that are impacting our neighbors, families and coworkers and standing up for the rights and safety of every San Antonian.”
Jones will be sworn in June 18 for a four-year term.