Burlesque performer Susie Hamilton wins council seat in San Antonio’s Windcrest suburb

Former burlesque performer Susie Hamilton defied the odds — and the haters — by winning a place on the Windcrest City Council in Tuesday’s election.

Hamilton faced an uphill political battle in the quiet bedroom community surrounded by Northeast San Antonio. For one, the small municipality skews older. What’s more, Hamilton has a long history as a burlesque performer, which a detractor tried to weaponize by mailing anonymous flyers.

Neither of those factors stopped her from securing victory by a margin of 67 votes against incumbent Councilman Wesley Manning.

Based on how few ballots are typically cast, the race for Windcrest City Council Place 1 was always going to come down to a razor-thin margin. Hamilton won 30% of the vote with a total of just 798. She was followed by incumbent Manning at 27%, or 731 votes in total.

Two other candidates further divided the vote. Billy Gipson nearly tied with Manning, also pulling 27% by winning just two fewer votes than the incumbent. In last place, Narquiz Cervantes got 431, or 16% of the vote.

In such a race, every vote truly does count.

That small margin of victory also means one smear campaign — such as the anonymous mailers drawing attention to Hamilton’s burlesque background — can have a great impact by swaying just enough voters.

Residents and city workers throughout Windcrest received the mailer, which didn’t include a return address. The flyer showed Hamilton in pasties, garters and thongs from her days performing with San Antonio’s Stars & Garters Burlesque.

“Windcrest Voters — Research Your Candidates,” the crudely designed flyer said. “This past will impact the present and future of Windcrest.”

But rather than destroy her chances at winning, the mailer appears to have resulted in the opposite effect. Since its distribution, Windcrest women have rallied behind Hamilton in response to what some saw as a sexist attack, she said.

“I really do think that it helped her,” Hamilton supporter and lifetime Windcrest resident Kristin Quintanilla said. “Everyone was in support of Susie, so whoever send the mailer, thank you. I think without it, it would have been a closer race.”

The mailer also generated press for Hamilton, who used the moment to her advantage by appearing in the Current and MySA.

Hamilton’s race defied the odds in another way: by unseating a sitting council member in an election that saw many San Antonio-area incumbents coast to re-election.

“Does this represent the Windcrest you want? Does this represent you?” the mailer asked the people of Windcrest.

Apparently, the answer is yes, because Hamilton now represents Windcrest on the dais.

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This article appears in Oct 30 – Nov 5, 2024.