Councilman Manny Pelaez, an attorney who has represented District 8 on the City Council since 2017, formally announced plans to run for mayor Tuesday morning.
Pelaez has been talking about running for months, and a list of candidates, potentially including his mom, are already lining up to seek his open Northwest council seat.
He likely faces a crowded race to replace Mayor Ron Nirenberg, who is term-limited from seeking reelection. Councilman John Courage (D9) announced plans to run in January, while two other members, Adriana Rocha Garcia (D4) and Melissa Cabello Havrda (D6) are also considering the race.
In a three-minute video ad, Pelaez said he’s running to “fight to preserve our most important assets,” including the Edwards Aquifer, “our historical treasures, our green spaces, our neighborhoods, our small businesses and our cultural traditions.”
He also vowed to “bring all voices to the table” and not allow “grievance, the culture wars, or cynicism to impede our success.”
Culture wars dogged all of Nirenberg’s mayoral campaigns. Conservatives punished him for trying to keep Chick-fil-A out of the airport in 2019, while progressives were angry with him for opposing the Justice Charter initiative in 2023.
Pelaez was in the same position as Nirenberg on both of those issues.
Pelaez’s ability to transcend such disagreements was put to the test earlier this year, when he tried to arrange a council discussion about whether to call for a cease-fire in Israel’s war with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
He ultimately scuttled the meeting after pushback from the Jewish community in his district, drawing scathing criticism from his progressive colleague, Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez (D2).
Pelaez’s campaign will be managed by San Antonio political consultant Laura Barberena, who ran Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai’s successful campaign in 2022.
