By Molly Smith, Staff writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2025-01-31 16:07:52
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
2024年11月6日，市长罗恩·尼伦伯格(Ron Nirenberg)在市政厅外举行的新闻发布会上倾听发言，该发布会宣布圣安东尼奥为2025年HBCU全明星篮球赛的主办城市。
罗恩·尼伦伯格市长(Ron Nirenberg)正寻求补充其竞选账户资金，因为他即将进入第四个也是最后一个任期的最后几个月——这引发了关于他下一步在圣安东尼奥政坛的行动的诸多猜测。
尼伦伯格募集竞选资金的目的是什么？坊间传闻说，他是为了在2026年的民主党初选中与贝克萨尔县法官彼得·萨凯(Peter Sakai)竞争。
市长是这样说的：“我对县法官的职位不感兴趣。”
他还补充道：“我希望彼得能够成功。”
他说，他即将于2月5日举行的筹款活动，由退休的AT&T首席执行官埃德·惠特克主持，目的是为了筹集资金，以便他能够“履行作为城市首席倡导者的工作”，而不是为了提前资助未来的竞选活动。
这项工作包括前往会议或活动以推广城市，例如由他今年早些时候被任命为副主席的民主党市长协会组织的那些活动。这类旅行——包括机票、酒店住宿和餐饮——不属于城市预算；尼伦伯格用他的竞选账户支付，该账户目前只剩下几千美元。
“关于6月之后公共服务方面的生活会是什么样子，我将继续专注于我的市长工作，”47岁的尼伦伯格本周告诉《圣安东尼奥快报》。“从现在到6月之间还有很多工作要做。”
70岁的萨凯在8月份表示，他打算竞选第二个四年任期。
这位首任县法官在成为贝克萨尔县政府的首席执行官后，迟迟未能留下自己的印记，他可能容易受到挑战者的挑战，这些挑战者希望在他巩固自己的地位之前将他赶下台。与圣安东尼奥的市长和市议会不同，县法官和四名县委员没有任期限制。
萨凯的前任尼尔森·沃尔夫(Nelson Wolff)于2001年被任命为县法官，以填补辛迪·泰勒·克里尔(Cyndi Taylor Krier)的剩余任期，后者当时辞职担任德克萨斯大学系统校董。沃尔夫于2002年当选，并在2022年退休之前四次连任。
不难理解这些传言背后的逻辑——尼伦伯格未来可选择的职位并不多。
他居住在民主党控制的德克萨斯州众议院和参议院选区——分别由长期担任州众议员的迭戈·伯纳尔(Diego Bernal)和州参议员的何塞·梅嫩德斯(José Menéndez)代表——但由于民主党在德克萨斯州立法机构中是少数党，他们很难通过有意义的立法。
尼伦伯格居住的国会选区，即美国众议院第21选区，是坚定的共和党选区。美国众议员奇普·罗伊(Chip Roy)自2019年以来一直代表该选区。
但与萨凯竞争将使为新的马刺球馆争取公共资金的努力变得尴尬。
该市和马刺队至少从2023年1月以来就一直在讨论在市中心建造一座球馆的可能性，这将导致球队离开位于东区的县属弗罗斯特银行中心。而且，该市和NBA球队正在考虑用县里的场地税来支付部分建设成本，预计将超过10亿美元。
尼伦伯格是马刺队重返市中心的大力支持者。
据尼伦伯格的竞选团队称，市长上次举行筹款活动是在2024年4月。
根据他最近的竞选财务报告，截至12月31日，他的账户里只剩下3500多美元。在2024年的最后六个月里，他筹集了大约2600美元，花费了近29000美元。
这些支出中约有三分之一用于他在8月份前往芝加哥参加民主党全国代表大会的行程，他在那里在一个德克萨斯州民主党活动上发表了讲话。这其中包括价值1765美元的来自圣安东尼奥Karlita’s Salsitas的莎莎酱，他将其带到了民主党市长协会的民主党全国代表大会活动上。
尼伦伯格是卡玛拉·哈里斯(Kamala Harris)总统竞选活动的代理人。如果她获胜，一些人预计他会被选中在她的政府中担任一个角色。
至于将来他会对哪些类型的职位感兴趣（如果有的话），尼伦伯格不会说——至少不会公开说。
“老实说，我现在不想考虑这些，直到我完成这里的工作，而这要到我在6月份交棒之后才会结束，”他说。
点击查看原文：San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg talks about county judge rumors
San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg talks about county judge rumors
Mayor Ron Nirenberg listens to speakers during a press conference announcing San Antonio as the host city of the 2025 HBCU All Star Basketball game outside City Hall on Nov. 6, 2024.
Mayor Ron Nirenberg is looking to replenish his campaign bank account as he heads into the last few months of his fourth and final term — which has set off a storm of speculation about his next act in San Antonio politics.
What is Nirenberg raising campaign funds for? The rumor mill says it’s to run against Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai in the 2026 Democratic primary.
Here’s what the mayor says: “I have no interest in the county judge position.”
And for good measure: “I want Peter to be successful.”
He said his upcoming Feb. 5 fundraiser, hosted by retired AT&T CEO Ed Whitacre, is to raise money so he can “do the work of being the city chief’s advocate,” not to get a head start on funding a future campaign.
That work includes travel to conferences or events to promote the city, such as those organized by the Democratic Mayors Association, of which he was named vice president earlier this year. That kind of travel — including flights, hotel stays and meals — doesn’t come out of the city budget; Nirenberg pays for it out of his campaign account, which is currently down to a few thousand dollars.
“With respect to whatever life looks like in public service after June, I’m going to continue to stay focused on my job as mayor,” Nirenberg, 47, told the San Antonio Express-News this week. “There is a lot of work to get done between now and June.”
Sakai, 70, said in August that he intends to run for a second four-year term.
The first-term county judge, who has been slow to make his mark as chief executive of Bexar County government, could be vulnerable to challengers looking to unseat him before he becomes entrenched in the position. Unlike San Antonio’s mayor and City Council, the county judge and four county commissioners face no term limits.
Sakai’s predecessor, Nelson Wolff, was appointed county judge in 2001 to fill the remainder of Cyndi Taylor Krier’s term when she stepped down to serve as a University of Texas System regent. Wolff was elected to the seat in 2002 and reelected four times before he retired in 2022.
It’s not difficult to understand the logic behind the rumors — Nirenberg has few good options for future office open to him.
He lives in Democratic-held Texas House and Senate districts — represented by longtime state Rep. Diego Bernal and state Sen. José Menéndez — but because Democrats are the minority party in the Texas legislature, it’s difficult for them to pass meaningful legislation.
The congressional district where Nirenberg lives, U.S. House District 21, is staunchly Republican. U.S. Rep. Chip Roy has represented the district since 2019.
But running against Sakai would make efforts to line up public financing for a new Spurs arena awkward.
The city and Spurs have been talking since at least January 2023 about the possibility of building a downtown arena, which would result in the team leaving the county-owned Frost Bank Center on the East Side. And the city and NBA franchise are eyeing the county’s venue tax to potentially pay some of the construction costs, which are expected to exceed $1 billion.
Nirenberg is a strong supporter of returning the Spurs to the center city.
The mayor last held a fundraiser in April 2024, according to his campaign.
He had just over $3,500 in the bank as of Dec. 31, according to his recent campaign finance report. He raised about $2,600 in the last six months of 2024, and spent nearly $29,000.
About of a third of those expenses went toward his trip to Chicago in August for the Democratic National Convention, where he was a speaker at a Texas Democrats event. That included $1,765 worth of salsa from San Antonio’s Karlita’s Salsitas that he brought to a Democratic Mayor Association DNC event.
Nirenberg was a surrogate for Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. Had she won, some expected him to have been picked for a role in her administration.
As for what type of offices, if any, would be of interest down the road, Nirenberg won’t say — at least not publicly.
“Honestly, I don’t want to think about any of that right now until I finish the job here, and that won’t be until I hand the baton off in June,” he said.
By Molly Smith, Staff writer, via San Antonio Express-News