District 1 Councilman Roberto Treviño is headed into a run-off in his bid for re-election on City Council, having captured 44.9% of the vote (5,645 votes) in Saturday night’s municipal election. Mario Bravo, Treviño’s fiercest challenger, came in second with 33.6% (4,225 votes).
Treviño, 50, who’s served on the City Council since 2014, is seeking to serve a final term. He says he plans to keep fighting for housing security and to provide a true social safety for San Antonio’s vulnerable populations, including the homeless population.
“A lot that this pandemic has taught us, including the storm, some of the incredible vulnerabilities that we’ve had as a community and as a city, we need to focus on making sure that those things don’t happen again,” Treviño said at his campaign watch party Saturday at a private residence.
In a statement late Saturday, Treviñõ said, “I knew coming into this election that it was different. The pandemic and current political climate have brought awareness to our governing processes and pressed for community leaders to be held accountable to their responsibilities.”
Bravo, 45, has criticized the City Council for, as he describes it, giving little attention to property tax relief.
On Twitter Saturday night, Bravo said, “District 1 has spoken, it’s time for new leadership. HUGE shoutout to our AMAZING & SCRAPPY volunteer program.”
Bravo works at the Environmental Defense Fund as a project manager, and grew up in San Antonio. He has been involved in several political campaigns in the past, but has never served in office. In 2018, he challenged the late Paul Elizondo for a seat on the Bexar County Commissioners Court and lost, capturing 24.9% of the vote.
During that campaign, Bravo raised awareness to help stop a proposal to increase campaign contribution limits at the local and state levels.
Treviño is perhaps most known for chairing the Alamo Management Committee in recent years. In February, however, he was removed from that post by Mayor Ron Nirenberg, who replaced him with District 3 Councilwoman Rebecca Viagran. Treviño has asserted that moving the Cenotaph was critical to the success of the new Alamo Plaza plan. Nirenberg disagreed.
On April 15, Treviño was the only opposing vote when the City Council adopted a new version of the plan, a $450 million public-private project to redesign the plaza. In a questionnaire the Heron sent to all candidates, Treviño cited concerns over the updated lease agreement, and the city funding any work that will be spent on state-controlled property.
Cyndi Dominguez, one of five candidates challenging Treviño, finished third with 13.2%, or 1,656 votes.
The run-off is scheduled for June 5.
Election results can be viewed here.
Malak Silmi is a freelance journalist in San Antonio. Silmi recently worked as an information needs reporter for Outlier Media in Detroit. Follow her at @malaksilmi on Twitter.
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