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 "excerpt": "Gina Ortiz Jones is an American Democratic politician and Air Force veteran serving as Mayor of San Antonio, Texas, after serving as Air Force Under Secretary in the Biden administration.",
 "snippet": "Gina Ortiz Jones is an American Democratic politician and Air Force veteran serving as Mayor of San Antonio, Texas, after serving as Air Force Under Secretary in the Biden administration.",
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 "markdown": "# Gina Ortiz Jones\n\nGina Ortiz Jones is an American politician and Air Force veteran serving as Mayor of San Antonio, Texas.<sup>[1](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/08/san-antonio-mayor-gina-ortiz-jones/)</sup> A Democrat, she previously served as Air Force Under Secretary in the Biden administration and was twice a Democratic candidate for Congress in Texas's 23rd Congressional District.<sup>[1](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/08/san-antonio-mayor-gina-ortiz-jones/)</sup>\n\n| Fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Party | Democratic<sup>[1](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/08/san-antonio-mayor-gina-ortiz-jones/)</sup> |\n| Current office | Mayor of San Antonio, Texas<sup>[1](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/08/san-antonio-mayor-gina-ortiz-jones/)</sup> |\n| Previous offices | Air Force Under Secretary<sup>[1](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/08/san-antonio-mayor-gina-ortiz-jones/)</sup> |\n| Education | John Jay High School; commissioned through an ROTC scholarship<sup>[1](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/08/san-antonio-mayor-gina-ortiz-jones/)</sup> |\n\n## Party affiliation\n\nJones is a Democrat.<sup>[1](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/08/san-antonio-mayor-gina-ortiz-jones/)</sup> San Antonio's mayoral race is officially nonpartisan, but the 2025 runoff between Jones and Rolando Pablos became, in the Texas Tribune's reporting, a high-profile and bitterly partisan contest.<sup>[1](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/08/san-antonio-mayor-gina-ortiz-jones/)</sup>\n\n## Early life and education\n\nJones is a West Side native of [San Antonio](https://www.edgepedia.org/san-antonio) who rose from John Jay High School to the top ranks of the U.S. military on an ROTC scholarship.<sup>[1](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/08/san-antonio-mayor-gina-ortiz-jones/)</sup> She served in the Air Force.<sup>[1](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/08/san-antonio-mayor-gina-ortiz-jones/)</sup>\n\n## Career\n\nJones most recently served as Air Force Under Secretary in the Biden administration before running for mayor of San Antonio.<sup>[1](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/08/san-antonio-mayor-gina-ortiz-jones/)</sup> Before that, she was a two-time Democratic congressional candidate in Texas's 23rd Congressional District, coming close in 2018 and running again two years later.<sup>[1](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/08/san-antonio-mayor-gina-ortiz-jones/)</sup> In 2025 she won the San Antonio mayoral runoff, and, thanks to longer terms that voters approved in November, she is among the first mayors to serve a four-year term before seeking reelection.<sup>[1](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/08/san-antonio-mayor-gina-ortiz-jones/)</sup>\n\n## Electoral history\n\nIn the [2025 San Antonio mayoral election](https://www.edgepedia.org/2025-san-antonio-mayoral-election), Jones led a 27-candidate field in the first round with a 10-percentage-point lead, then defeated Rolando Pablos with 54% of the vote in the runoff.<sup>[1](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/08/san-antonio-mayor-gina-ortiz-jones/)</sup> In 2018, she lost Texas's 23rd Congressional District race to Republican incumbent [Will Hurd](https://www.edgepedia.org/will-hurd) by roughly 1,000 votes; she lost the same district two years later to U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, by a larger margin.<sup>[1](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/08/san-antonio-mayor-gina-ortiz-jones/)</sup>\n\n## Issues specific to Jones\n\nThe 2025 mayoral runoff drew national Democratic attention. The [Democratic National Committee](https://www.edgepedia.org/democratic-national-committee), the [Texas Democratic Party](https://www.edgepedia.org/texas-democratic-party), and the Democratic Mayors Association all issued statements congratulating Jones after her victory, and the Texas Democratic Party spent money on her behalf near the end of the runoff.<sup>[1](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/08/san-antonio-mayor-gina-ortiz-jones/)</sup> Pablos and his allies sought to cast Jones as a progressive, and the San Antonio Police Officers' Association claimed she would [defund the police](https://www.edgepedia.org/defund-the-police), an outcome Jones has said she does not plan to pursue.<sup>[1](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/08/san-antonio-mayor-gina-ortiz-jones/)</sup> At her victory party, Jones was joined by activist Rosie Castro, former Mayor Julián Castro, and representatives of groups including Texas Organizing Project, Vote Vets, and labor unions.<sup>[1](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/08/san-antonio-mayor-gina-ortiz-jones/)</sup> On election night she said she was proud of a campaign that treated people with dignity and respect.<sup>[1](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/08/san-antonio-mayor-gina-ortiz-jones/)</sup>\n\n## Positions\n\n### San Antonio's future\n\nOn her campaign website, Jones presents her mayoral agenda in these terms: \"Let's make San Antonio a strong, safe, and vibrant city–not for a few–but for everyone.\"<sup>[2](https://ginaortizjones.com/)</sup> After her runoff victory, she remarked that \"deep in the heart of Texas,\" San Antonio voters had reminded the world that it is a city built on \"compassion.\"<sup>[1](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/08/san-antonio-mayor-gina-ortiz-jones/)</sup>\n\n### Policing\n\nThe San Antonio Police Officers' Association claimed during the 2025 runoff that Jones would defund the police. Jones has said she does not plan to do so.<sup>[1](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/08/san-antonio-mayor-gina-ortiz-jones/)</sup>\n\n### Federal and state politics\n\nSpeaking on election night in 2025, Jones said, \"With everything happening around us at the federal level and at the state level, some of the most un-American things we have seen in a very, very long time, it's very heartening to see where we are right now.\"<sup>[1](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/08/san-antonio-mayor-gina-ortiz-jones/)</sup>\n\n## References\n\n1. [Air Force veteran Gina Ortiz Jones wins runoff race for San Antonio mayor, The Texas Tribune](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/08/san-antonio-mayor-gina-ortiz-jones/)\n2. [Gina Ortiz Jones campaign website](https://ginaortizjones.com/)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Politics and government › Government and public administration › Mayors and municipal executives › Mayors of the United States › Mayors of Southern and Western cities › Surnames I to Z*\n\n*Initially written Sep 27, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 29, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Sep 29, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n",
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 "credit": "\"Gina Ortiz Jones\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/gina-ortiz-jones. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.",
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 "speakable": "Gina Ortiz Jones is an American Democratic politician and Air Force veteran serving as Mayor of San Antonio, Texas, after serving as Air Force Under Secretary in the Biden administration."
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