Pardee Alumna Gina Ortiz Jones Wins the 2025 San Antonio Mayoral Election
On June 7, Gina Ortiz Jones (Pardee ‘03), former under secretary of the Air Force under the Biden administration won a runoff election to become the new mayor of San Antonio, the country’s seventh largest city. A Filipino American and progressive, Jones will be the city’s first openly gay mayor.
Jones beat Rolando Pablos, a Mexican immigrant and former Texas secretary of state who is closely affiliated with Governor Greg Abbott, a conservative Republican.
“San Antonio showed up and showed out,” said Jones. “We reminded them that our city is about compassion and it’s about leading with everybody in mind.”
“I look forward to being a mayor for all.” — Gina Ortiz Jones
Before winning the election, Jones mentioned that her focus will be on tackling poverty in San Antonio, where approximately 20% of the population has lived below the poverty line for the last four decades.
Like many in her community, Jones was raised by a single parent. Daughter of Victorina M. Ortiz, a retired educator who emigrated from the Philippines, Jones candidly discussed her upbringing during the mayoral campaign. The Pardee alumna also praised her mother’s work ethic, a virtue she inherited.
Jones received an Air ROTC scholarship to study at Boston University in 1999. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in East Asian studies and economics and a master’s degree in economics in 2003. In the subsequent years, she earned postgraduate degrees from the University of Kansas and the U.S. Army School of Advanced Military Studies. With an extensive career in national security and financial services, Jones has served as an intelligence officer, senior strategic planner, senior advisor, and director of investment in several federal agencies.
Learn more about Jones’s election victory in this New York Times report.