Rolando Pablos
Rolando Pablos (Republican Party) was the Texas Secretary of State. Pablos assumed office on January 5, 2017. Pablos left office on December 15, 2018.
Pablos ran for election for Mayor of San Antonio in Texas. Pablos lost in the general runoff election on June 7, 2025.
Pablos previously served as a member of the Public Utility Commission of Texas from September 2011 to February 2013. He was appointed to the commission by Governor Rick Perry (R).[1]
Biography
Prior to his position on the Public Utility Commission, Pablos was a senior advisor to the global law firm of SNR Denton. Earlier, he served as general counsel and chief legal officer to Francois-Charles Oberthur, a multinational firm specializing in high-security printing.[2]
Education
- St. Mary's University, B.A.
- University of Texas at San Antonio, M.B.A
- St. Mary's University School of Law, J.D.
2025 battleground election
Ballotpedia identified the May 3, 2025, general election as a battleground race. The summary below is from our coverage of this election, found here.
Gina Ortiz Jones defeated Rolando Pablos 54.3% to 45.7% in the June 7, 2025, runoff election for mayor of San Antonio, Texas.
Ortiz Jones and Pablos advanced to the runoff from the nonpartisan general election on May 3. Ortiz Jones received 27.2% of the vote and Pablos received 16.6%. The two advanced to a runoff because neither received at least 50% of the vote.
Incumbent Ron Nirenberg, elected in June 2017, was term-limited. Though the office was nonpartisan, Nirenberg joined the Democratic Party in 2024 and was previously an independent.[3] This was the city's first mayoral election in 16 years without an incumbent on the ballot.[4]
The San Antonio Report's Andrea Drusch wrote, "The race to become San Antonio’s next mayor is headed toward a partisan showdown between one candidate loved by national Democratic Party leaders [Ortiz Jones] and another [Pablos] who has close ties to the Republicans who control every lever of power in Texas state government. ... Texas’ big city mayors have steadily become less progressive as traditional liberal incumbents termed out, and all eyes will be on San Antonio as Jones and Pablos face off in what is supposed to be a nonpartisan race."[5] The runoff election did not feature any city council candidates. Drusch wrote, "Historically, San Antonio has shown preference for candidates with council experience. The city has elected just one mayor without it in 70 years — Phil Hardberger — making the dominance of City Hall outsiders in this race highly unusual."[5]
Notable endorsements for Ortiz Jones included: former mayors Phil Hardberger and Julian Castro; congressmen Greg Casar (D) and Joaquin Castro (D); councilmembers Jalen McKee-Rodriguez, Phyllis Viagran, and Teri Castillo; and the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations. The San Antonio Police Officers’ Association, former U.S. Rep. Will Hurd (R), and Gov. Greg Abbott (R)-affiliated PAC, The Texas Economic Fund, endorsed Pablos.[6][7]
Ortiz Jones served as undersecretary of the Air Force (2021-2024) in the Biden administration. She said she would focus on working families and young people, and would "work to bring down costs where we can, make smart investments in our future, and respect taxpayers by increasing transparency around how tax dollars are spent."[8] Pablos served as Texas secretary of state from 2017 to 2018. He said his priorities were public safety, better-paying jobs, small businesses, government accountability, and basic city services such as affordable utilities, walkable neighborhoods, and enhanced drainage systems and garbage collection.[9]
Heading into the May 3 election, the San Antonio Report's Leigh Munsil said the new mayor and city council would need to navigate "multiple city-shaping economic development efforts like a downtown stadium for the Missions baseball team and a possible relocation of the Spurs to Hemisfair ... [as well as] challenges of housing affordability, public safety and infrastructure, to name a few."[10]
San Antonio, which was the seventh most populous city in the country as of May 2025, has a council-manager system, meaning the mayor represents one of 11 votes on the city council. The mayor and city council appoint a chief executive called a city manager to oversee day-to-day municipal operations and implement the council's policy and legislative initiatives.[3][11][12]
This page covers the June 7, 2025, runoff. Click here for more on the general election.
Elections
2025
See also: Mayoral election in San Antonio, Texas (2025)
General runoff election
General runoff election for Mayor of San Antonio
Gina Ortiz Jones defeated Rolando Pablos in the general runoff election for Mayor of San Antonio on June 7, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Gina Ortiz Jones (Nonpartisan) | 54.3 | 77,587 |
 | Rolando Pablos (Nonpartisan) | 45.7 | 65,245 | |
| Total votes: 142,832 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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General election
General election for Mayor of San Antonio
The following candidates ran in the general election for Mayor of San Antonio on May 3, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Gina Ortiz Jones (Nonpartisan) | 27.2 | 27,517 |
| ✔ | | Rolando Pablos (Nonpartisan) | 16.6 | 16,798 |
 | Beto Altamirano (Nonpartisan) | 12.1 | 12,190 | |
 | Adriana Garcia (Nonpartisan) | 9.9 | 10,016 | |
 | Manny Pelaez (Nonpartisan) | 7.3 | 7,398 | |
 | Melissa Cabello Havrda (Nonpartisan) | 6.7 | 6,736 | |
 | John Courage (Nonpartisan) | 5.6 | 5,625 | |
 | Clayton Perry (Nonpartisan) | 5.5 | 5,575 | |
 | Tim Westley (Nonpartisan) | 3.7 | 3,776 | |
 | Robert Melvin (Nonpartisan) | 0.9 | 944 | |
 | Christopher Reyes (Nonpartisan) | 0.5 | 522 | |
| Sonia Traut (Nonpartisan) | 0.4 | 449 | ||
| Diana Uriegas (Nonpartisan) | 0.4 | 444 | ||
 | Jade McCullough (Nonpartisan) | 0.4 | 425 | |
 | Brandon Gonzales (Nonpartisan) | 0.4 | 355 | |
 | Mauricio Sanchez (Nonpartisan) | 0.3 | 337 | |
 | Andrew Vicencio (Nonpartisan) | 0.3 | 303 | |
| Michael Samaniego (Nonpartisan) | 0.3 | 302 | ||
| Chris Herring (Nonpartisan) | 0.2 | 236 | ||
 | Robert Salinas (Nonpartisan) | 0.2 | 197 | |
| Gerardo Zambrano (Nonpartisan) | 0.2 | 183 | ||
 | Santos Alvarado (Nonpartisan) | 0.2 | 164 | |
| James Melvin (Nonpartisan) | 0.2 | 163 | ||
| Armando Dominguez (Nonpartisan) | 0.2 | 152 | ||
| April Guadarrama (Nonpartisan) | 0.1 | 149 | ||
| Bill Ruppel (Nonpartisan) | 0.1 | 113 | ||
| Arturo Espinosa (Nonpartisan) | 0.1 | 81 | ||
| Total votes: 101,150 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Polls
- See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls
We provide results for polls from a wide variety of sources, including media outlets, social media, campaigns, and aggregation websites, when available. No polls were available for this election. To notify us of polls published in this election, please email us.
Election campaign finance
Candidates in this election submitted campaign finance reports to the City of San Antonio. Click here to access those reports.
Satellite spending
- See also: Satellite spending
Satellite spending describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.[13][14][15]
If available, this section includes links to online resources tracking satellite spending in this election. To notify us of a resource to add, email us.
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Pablos in this election.
2016
Pablos was appointed Texas secretary of state by Governor Greg Abbott (R) on December 5, 2016.
2011
In September of 2011, Texas Governor Rick Perry appointed Rolando Pablos to the Public Utility Commission, where he was charged with regulating the state’s electric and telecommunication utilities.[2]
Campaign themes
2025
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Rolando Pablos did not complete Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign ads
| April 30, 2025 |
| April 17, 2025 |
| April 4, 2025 |
View more ads here:
Noteworthy events
June 2017 request for voter rolls
On June 29, 2017, the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, created by President Donald Trump (R) on May 11, requested information on registered voters from all 50 states dating back to 2006. The states were given until July 14 to respond. Secretary Pablos announced that the state would provide only publicly available information to the commission.
| “ | The Secretary of State’s office will provide the Election Integrity Commission with public information and will protect the private information of Texas citizens while working to maintain the security and integrity of our state’s elections system. As always, my office will continue to exercise the utmost care whenever sensitive voter information is required to be released by state or federal law.[16] | ” |
| —Secretary Rolando Pablos[17] | ||
See also
2025 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Mayor of San Antonio |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Governor.state.TX.us, "Gov. Perry appoints Pablos to Public Utility Commission," September 20, 2011
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Rolando Pablos Bio
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Downballot, "Morning Digest: How the pick to replace Vance in the Senate upends Ohio's race for governor," January 20, 2025
- ↑ KSAT.com, "The San Antonio mayor and council races are set. Could the ballot order sway the outcome of a packed race?" February 24, 2025
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 San Antonio Report, "From a field of 27 candidates, San Antonio’s mayor race is now Jones vs. Pablos," May 4, 2025
- ↑ KSAT, "List: Endorsements for San Antonio mayoral candidates," May 13, 2025
- ↑ San Antonio Report, "Greg Abbott has a PAC to shape local politics — including San Antonio’s mayoral race," March 18, 2025
- ↑ Gina Ortiz Jones for Mayor, "Priorities," accessed March 22, 2025
- ↑ Rolando Pablos for Mayor, "My Vision For San Antonio," accessed March 22, 2025
- ↑ San Antonio Report, "The 2025 San Antonio Report Voter Guide is live! Use our guide to prepare your vote." March 13, 2025
- ↑ City of San Antonio, "About Us," accessed September 2, 2021
- ↑ City of San Antonio, "City Charter," printed July 2021
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Outside Spending," accessed December 12, 2021
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Total Outside Spending by Election Cycle, All Groups," accessed December 12, 2021
- ↑ National Review.com, "Why the Media Hate Super PACs," December 12, 2021
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ KXAN, "Texas to give public voting info to president’s election integrity commission," June 30, 2017
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