May 28, 2025 - News
Get to know San Antonio mayoral runoff candidates
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Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
There's only about a month between the May 3 election and June 7 runoff for San Antonio voters to get to know mayoral candidates Gina Ortiz Jones and Rolando Pablos, the two who emerged on top from a field of 27 people.
We asked each a series of fun questions to learn more about them as a person.
Catch up quick: Ortiz Jones, a former Air Force undersecretary under the Biden administration, won about 27% of the vote in the May 3 election. Pablos, a former Texas secretary of state appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott, won nearly 17%.
- Early voting is underway now through June 3. Find polling times and locations online.
- Election day is June 7.
Here are the questions:
- How do you start your morning?
- What's your favorite restaurant in the city?
- Tell us a fun fact about you.
- What are your hobbies when you're not working?
- What's your favorite TV show?
- What's your favorite movie?
- What's your favorite book?
- What's your favorite band or musician?
- What's your proudest personal achievement?
- What do you consider your top career accomplishment?
Here's what they told us.
Gina Ortiz Jones
- Thinking about how many people in our city would suffer if our next mayor was a green light for Trump/Abbott.
- Dinner: Leche de Tigre, Breakfast: the (El Rodeo De) Jalisco on Potranco and Dugas.
- I've been shark cage diving off the coast of South Africa.
- Reading, running and grabbing a spicy margarita with friends.
- "The Sopranos."
- "(The) Godfather (Part II)."
- Hannah Arendt's "Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil."
- George Strait.
- Being a good big sister and daughter.
- From Air Force intelligence officer deployed to Iraq, to 27th Under Secretary of the Air Force, my service has always been to our country.
Rolando Pablos
- I spend time praying and meditating. It helps me compose myself and reflect on the blessings in my life.
- Mi Tierra. I love it and Market Square because our city's culture is so alive there, and it's filled with visitors from other cultures.
- My family immigrated from Mexico in 1976, when I was 8 years old. I appreciate the sacrifices my parents made, and we have lived the American dream.
- I love hunting. I'm a "foodie" and enjoy trying different restaurants. And I'm a big fan of all genres of music and enjoy concerts.
- "Entourage."
- "Lost in Translation."
- The Bible and "The Road Less Traveled."
- Rush.
- My 30-year marriage to my wonderful wife and our four remarkable children. I'm also blessed to have a very tight-knit extended family.
- Working my way through earning university degrees and setting an example for my children … earning the trust of two Texas governors to serve at the highest levels of state government.
