Gina Ortiz Jones, left, and Rolando Pablos, center, face off in the first mayoral runoff debate at San Antonio College. The discussion was moderated by SAC adjunct faculty member Ken Mireles. Credit: Michael Karlis

Gina Ortiz Jones and Rolando Pablos made it clear to voters during Tuesday’s first San Antonio mayoral runoff debate that a vote for either candidate will send a message.

But each of those messages is intended for a drastically different target.

Jones — a former Under Secretary of the Air Force and two-time Democratic congressional candidate — said her election would be a strong rebuke of the Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and President Donald Trump and policies such as school vouchers, voting restrictions and the state’s almost-total abortion ban.

“I would be a mayor that is very vocal at the federal level and the state level,” Jones said at the packed forum at San Antonio College.

Meanwhile, former Texas Secretary of State Pablos — who primarily focused on local issues such as economic development during the debate — suggested his election would send a message to City Hall that it’s time to spend money on infrastructure and educating San Antonio’s workforce instead of council members’ “pet projects.”

“A lot of companies skip San Antonio and go elsewhere because they feel that other places provide that workforce for them,” Pablos said. “We have to double down on workforce development, and it all starts with education.”

One local issue that sparked fireworks between the candidates was Project Marvel and its proposed $1 billion arena for the San Antonio Spurs.

Jones emphasized that Pablos, in a San Antonio Express-News editorial board mayoral questionnaire, said he’s open to the city fronting as much as half the cost of a new arena.

“The Spurs have a $500 million-a-year economic impact in this city,” Pablos quipped. “We have to make sure we consider that first, because the City of Seattle played that game, and they lost the Sonics to Oklahoma City.”

Pablos fired back that Jones was among the only top-performing candidates in the mayoral race that didn’t respond to the daily’s questionnaire.

“I’m not going to answer that question if I don’t have all the data,” Jones responded. “We need some basic information before we pony up taxpayer dollars for something else.”

Jones added that money spent on Project Marvel could be better used for programs such as the publicly subsidized Pre-K for SA program.

The two candidates found common ground in agreeing that San Antonio’s Animal Care Services Department needs major reform. San Antonio residents and local media have put ACS under a microscope following a slew of headline-grabbing dog attacks, some fatal.

Jones proposed ACS employees work longer hours. As mayor, she said she also would examine the department to determine what is and isn’t working.

Meanwhile, Pablos, in a theme that carried on throughout the evening, focused on enforcement, arguing that ACS needs more funding and more staff to tackle the city’s dangerous dog problem.

“We have to address the irresponsible pet owners,” Pablos said. “We have to have a dangerous-dog task force that goes out and addresses them.”

Pablos added that other issues afflicting the Alamo City, namely crime, stem from a lack of enforcement.

While San Antonio’s overall crime rate remains above the national average, violent crime here declined 2.4% in 2024 from the prior year, according to San Antonio Police Department data.

“We have to back the blue and work with our men and women to make sure that they know and they understand that they’re appreciated right now,” Pablos said. “There is a morale problem with the police department.”

Pablos is backed by the Texas Economic Fund, a political action committee formed to elect conservative candidates at the local level. The group’s political strategist, Mitchell Carney, previously worked as one of Abbott’s senior campaign advisors, and his father Dave Carney is the governor’s longtime political strategist. Jones — whose campaign has received most of its money from national progressive PACs based outside of Texas — tried several times to paint Pablos as an Abbott patsy, specifically on the issue of school vouchers.

Pablos surprised some in the crowd when he said he isn’t completely on board with the voucher legislation the governor signed into law Saturday.

“If a single mother on the South Side wants to send their child to the North Side, how are they going to participate in after-school activities?” Pablos asked rhetorically. “I still have a lot of questions about it.”

Even so, Pablos added that he believes that “competition is good” between schools.

“We need to fix our public school system,” he said. “We have to look at the results. Is this a silver bullet? We’ll see.”

Although Jones’ attacks on school vouchers garnered applause from the crowd, she didn’t offer any details on how she might try to mitigate the legislation’s effect on local schools, if elected.

The next mayoral debate is set for Monday, May 19, at the Pearl’s Stable Hall.

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This article appears in Apr 30 – May 13, 2025.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...