San Antonio councilman Mario Bravo concedes race to political newcomer Sukh Kaur

Political newcomer Sukh Kaur, an education consultant, will represent San Antonio’s District 1 after beating incumbent Mario Bravo 60% to 40%, according to early voting results.

Bravo faced an uphill battle in the runoff after winning only a little over a quarter of the vote in May’s general election. Kaur pulled in 34%.

Bravo faced criticism for his temperament after lambasting his former girlfriend Councilwoman Ana Sandoval during a budget meeting on Sept. 15. He also weathered attacks from small business owners for his  handling of the delayed construction project on the St. Mary’s Strip.

Questions whether Bravo’s office helped prompt a police raid at a Southtown bar also proved a late-campaign distraction.

Kaur told Texas Public Radio that she and her campaign knocked on 10,000 doors around District 1, which may have played a factor in the election outcome.

During the race, she faced criticism for her support of  charter schools and for receiving donations from a pro-charter school PAC that’s largely donated to right-wing candidates. While that cost her the support of teachers unions, it wasn’t enough to stop her momentum in the runoff.

“I can say I’m really excited to work with [Bravo] during the transition and to continue the work that he’s started,” Kaur told the Current after Bravo called her to concede the race. “Both of us want to represent the community well, and he ran a great race.”

Meanwhile, at Bravo’s watch party at Backyard on Broadway, the outgoing councilman said this isn’t the last San Antonio has seen of him.

“I’ve held a lot of different jobs and have done a lot of different things, so I’ll just have to reassess and figure it out,” Bravo said. “I’m here to support the current council member and any council member because what happens at City Hall affects all of us.”

Bravo couldn’t pinpoint the one specific factor that led to his defeat, only that it was an “interesting” race and that he and his team will take some time to evaluate what went wrong.

Kaur will be sworn in at City Hall on June 21.

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This article appears in May 31 – Jun 13, 2023.