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The Race For San Antonio Mayor Is Now Down To Two

San Antonio voters next month will chose between candidates Ivy Taylor and Leticia Van de Putte for mayor.

  The campaign headquarters of former state senator Leticia Van de Putte vibrated with wild cheering shortly after the polls closed at 7 p.m.  The early vote showed Van de Putte leading a field of 14 candidates running for San Antonio mayor, and she remained in first place throughout the evening as Election Day tallies rolled in.

But the 30 percent vote she captured didn’t give her the majority she needed to win the election outright.  Now she’ll face Ivy Taylor, the interim mayor, in a runoff election on June 13.  Taylor placed second with 28 percent of the vote; Former state tepresentative Mike Villarreal captured 26 percent; and Former Bexar County commissioner Tommy Adkisson had 10 percent.   

Van De Putte told supporters she’s ready to work hard for the votes she didn’t get in the first round.

“(I want) to convince those who may not have cast a ballot to trust Leticia, to believe in her vision for this city, but most of all to understand that I know that I can bring people together. People from all walks of life like you see here tonight that form all sectors of our city,” she said.

During her campaign Van de Putte has pointed to bills she passed in the legislature as evidence she can get things done

Taylor may also point to Van De Putte’s legislative experience, but in a different way – as proof Van de Putte is a politician who was elected on a partisan ticket.

Taylor has campaigned with a message that she’s not a partisan, and has never run as a Democrat or a Republican. Van de Putte was elected as a Democrat and served in Austin for 24 years.

“We’ll be getting out to as many voters as we can about our message which is getting away from politics as usual and focusing on what’s best for our city and us all coming together and finding common ground,” Taylor told election night supporters as they celebrated with music and line dancing.

Taylor and Van de Putte each have one month to woo voters before the run-off, including those who supported unsuccessful candidates Tommy Adkisson and Mike Villarreal.  Together they garnered 36-percent of the vote, and neither has said whether he’ll endorse one of the two remaining candidates in the final round.

Joey Palacios can be reached atJoey@TPR.org and on Twitter at @Joeycules
Shelley Kofler is Texas Public Radio’s news director. She joined the San Antonio station in December 2014 and leads a growing staff that produces two weekly programs; a daily talk show, news features, reports and online content. Prior to TPR, Shelley served as the managing editor and news director at KERA in Dallas-Fort Worth, and the Austin bureau chief and legislative reporter for North Texas ABC affiliate WFAA-TV.