Manny Pelaez’s run for San Antonio mayor draws online jab from council colleague

Manny Pelaez’s Tuesday announcement of a mayoral run is already drawing online jeers from detractors, including a fellow member of San Antonio City Council.

Pelaez, a District 8 councilman who’s bid was widely expected, formalized it in a three-minute YouTube video centered around his campaign slogan of “Safer. Stronger. Smarter.”

“We will bring all voices to the table. But we won’t allow grievance, the culture wars or cynicism to impede our success,” a finger-wagging Pelaez says in the YouTube clip, which has its comment function turned off.

By noon the same day, District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez trolled Pelaez on social media platform X with a brief video of a woman appearing to laugh at an Express-News article about his colleague’s mayoral campaign.

McKee-Rodriguez and Pelaez have butted heads in recent months, most notably over council’s proposed Israel-Hamas ceasefire resolution. Pelaez killed debate on the resolution after deciding at the last second to withdraw his signature from a document authorizing its discussion.

Weeks later, Pelaez invited a pastor with a reported history of making anti-gay remarks — including one directed at McKee-Rodriguez — to lead a council invocation. Pelaez has denied he knew of the pastor’s prior comments before extending the invitation.

Former SA2020 CEO Molly Cox also chimed in on X following Pelaez’s big announcement, writing, “Lolololololol. Let the games begin.”

Meanwhile, San Antonio bar owner Aaron Peña — a frequent and vocal critic of the city’s construction blunders on the St. Mary’s Strip — said in a tweet that he’s “personally volunteering to raise a lot of money and hell to make sure [Pelaez doesn’t] win.”

While Pelaez has drawn backing from deep-pocketed business leaders, he’s also faced recent criticism over his handing of the Israel-Palestine resolution and what critics have called a U-turn on criminal justice reform since his vehement opposition to the Proposition A reform package, which went to voters last summer.

Although the 2025 mayoral race is expected to draw a wide array of contenders, Pelaez and District 10 Councilman John Courage are the only high-profile candidates to so far declare.

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This article appears in Apr 3-16, 2024.