Ron Nirenberg

Ronald Adrian Nirenberg (born April 11, 1977) is an American politician who is the mayor of San Antonio, Texas.

Prior to his election, Nirenberg served as a member of the San Antonio City Council for District 8 for two terms.

In 2013, Nirenberg was first elected in an upset victory to represent district 8 of the San Antonio City Council.

In his 2013 run for District 8 of the San Antonio City Council, Nirenberg was considered the underfunded candidate unlikely to be successful that was challenging a well-funded establishment candidate, Rolando Briones.

Nirenberg had run a grassroots campaign that consisted primarily of volunteers, including college students and recent graduates.

Nonetheless, Nirenberg was victorious winning nearly 55% of the votes cast in the runoff election.

In 2013, Nirenberg endorsed a city ordinance that bans discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.

Taylor, then also a member of the city council, voted against the ordinance.

Taylor also opposed the city's filing of a lawsuit against a then-new state law that defines a misdemeanor offense for municipal officials who refuse to cooperate with federal authorities seeking to halt illegal immigration.

On December 10, 2016, Nirenberg became the leading challenger to Ivy Taylor for her position as mayor of San Antonio.

Nirenberg was elected mayor in 2017, defeating incumbent Ivy Taylor, and was sworn in as the mayor of San Antonio on June 21, 2017.

On May 6, 2017, the first round of voting was held, with no candidate reaching the required majority of 50% of the vote.

Nirenberg and Taylor finished with the two highest vote totals and advanced to a runoff election held June 10, 2017.

Although Nirenberg trailed Taylor in the first municipal election, he went on to defeat Taylor 54.59–45.41% in the runoff election.

In so doing, Nirenberg became the first person in twenty years to defeat an incumbent mayor of San Antonio who sought re-election.

His main opponent was identified as Greg Brockhouse, a member of the San Antonio City Council who also took office in 2017 and frequently objected to Nirenberg's platform.

He was narrowly re-elected in 2019 facing Greg Brockhouse, a city councilman critical of his policies.

In the 2021 mayoral election, again, against Brockhouse, Nirenberg won with 61.89% of the vote.

In the 2023 mayoral election, Nirenberg won his fourth and final election as mayor, with unofficial results of over 61% of the vote.

Nirenberg is of Ashkenazi Jewish descent (from Poland and Russia) on his father's side and of mixed Filipino, Malay, Indian, and British heritage from his mother's side.

Nirenberg's mother and father met while the couple was serving with the Peace Corps in Malaysia.

His paternal grandparents immigrated to the United States before World War II, passing through Ellis Island.

His Roman Catholic mother is half-Filipino and was born in Penang, Malaysia (then part of the colonial British protectorate of Malaya).

His maternal grandmother was Anglo-Indian, born to a Scottish father and an Indian mother, while his maternal grandfather was a Tagalog-speaking Filipino musician with possible roots in Mindanao.

Nirenberg, who is Methodist, was raised in Austin, Texas.

Nirenberg attended Trinity University in San Antonio and graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in communication.

He later attended the University of Pennsylvania, from which he earned his Master of Arts in communications.

After college, he was a program director for the Annenberg Public Policy Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and served as the General Manager of KRTU-FM, the radio station at Trinity University.

Nirenberg declared his candidacy for re-election to the office on January 29, 2019.

The election was scheduled for May 4, 2019, but since no majority was reached by any candidate, a runoff election was held on June 8.

In the runoff, Nirenberg was elected to a second term, defeating Brockhouse by a 51.11% to 48.89% final vote.

Nirenberg declared his candidacy for re-election for a third term in office on January 22, 2021.

The election was held on May 1, 2021.

Due to the close runoff in 2019 between Nirenberg and Brockhouse, they were considered by political watchers to be the two front-runner candidates in the election.

Nirenberg won his third term as mayor with 61.89% of the vote, while Brockhouse received 31.26%.

Nirenberg declared his candidacy for re-election for a fourth term in office on January 26, 2023.

Due to term limits if Nirenberg won, it would be his last term.

Nirenberg faced minimal opposition and was expected to win re-election.

On May 6, 2023, the election was held and Nirenberg was re-elected with an unofficial count of over 61% of the vote.

Although Nirenberg identifies as an independent and ran for office as a nonpartisan politician, he has been described as ideologically progressive.