San Antonio elects Filipino American as its mayor

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Gina Ortiz Jones, Filiipino American, is the new mayor of San Antonio, Texas.

Gina Ortiz Jones  went up against the Texas GOP machine and beat her Republican opponent to become San Antonio's first Asian American mayor and the city's first mayor who is openly queer.

The Filipino American lost two earlier bids for Congress but upset Rolando Pablos, a former Texas Secretary of State aligned with Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, 54%-46% in Saturday's runoff election.

"There's a lot going on at the federal level," said Jones, who was the Air Force undersecretary in the Biden administration. "There's a lot going on at the state level. But we here in San Antonio — deep in the heart of Texas — reminded folks what San Antonio stands for, didn't we? We reminded them that our city is about compassion, and it's about leading with everybody in mind."

She also said to her supporters: "I always think about the courage that my mom had to come to this very special country, and the importance for all of us to do our part to make sure that others see just how special our country can continue to be when it's led by the right folks and when our actions match our values."

Apparently, the third time was a charm for Ortiz. She came close in 2018 in Texas’ 23rd Congressional District, losing by rabout 1,000 votes to Republican Will Hurd, then lost by a larger margin in the same district two years later to Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales.

San Antonio’s mayoral race suddenly took on new significance when it came down to a runoff between Jones, a two-time Democratic congressional candidate, and Pablos, a close ally of Texas’ GOP leaders. They were the two top vote-getters in a special election held earlier. Since no one garnered more than 50% of the vote, the race was narrowed down to Jones and Pablos.

Although it is supposedly a nonpartisan contest, both Democrats and Republicans poured tons of money into the campaign and it became a high profile contest in the GOP-dominated state. However, in San Antonio, a city of about 1.5 million, Democrats outnumber Republicans allmost 2 to 1.

"I am very thankful for the opportunity to be able to serve with everybody in mind," Jones said in her victory speech immediately after the total votes were counted. "Y'all, we won tonight, we won tonight."

“It might have been Gina Ortiz Jones on the ballot, but on the ballot was decency. And kindness. And compassion,” she said at one of her victory celebrations. 

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