SAN ANTONIO – Following a Saturday runoff election, the Alamo City has elected a new mayor into office. Ron Nirenberg garnered 54.59 percent of the votes with 54,010 votes, beating out incumbent Ivy Taylor who obtained 45.41 percent of the votes with 44,919 votes.
Early in the night, Nirenberg took hold of the lead with over 50 percent of the votes. As the night progressed, his camp showed no signs of slowing down.
While addressing voters, Taylor seemed to concede during her speech, saying, “A majority of the votes have come in. It doesn’t look like it’s going the way that we anticipated this evening. But you know what? I am so grateful to God … I am at peace. I am so thankful to God for each and every person in this room, for your support, for your prayers, for being here.”
In contrast, Nirenberg’s campaign sounded confident early on with Nirenberg addressing voters, saying, “Tonight, the voters got it right on a lot of things. Tonight, the voters rejected the politics of division and false choices, and they said yes to a bigger and brighter vision of inclusion, of diversity, of respecting each other, of fairness, of respecting each and every person in San Antonio, no matter if you live on the North Side, the South Side, the East Side, the West Side or any place in between. Tonight, the voters said yes to a mayor for all of San Antonio.”
Taylor was elected to office in 2015. She was chosen by her City Council colleagues in July 2014 to replace Mayor Julian Castro, who accepted a White House cabinet position. Taylor is the first African-American woman to serve as mayor of a city with more than 1 million people, and only the second female mayor in the history of San Antonio. Before becoming mayor, Taylor served on City Council for five years.
Nirenberg was first elected to District 8 in 2013 and was re-elected in 2015.
A representative for Taylor’s campaign said she has not called Nirenberg to congratulate him and does not intend to call Saturday night.
See all San Antonio city runoff election results below: