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 The San Antonio City Council is the legislative arm of the municipal government of the city of San Antonio in the U.S. state of Texas. It consists of 10 members elected from single-member districts. San Antonio has a council-manager form of gov ...

for District 8 for two terms. In 2013, Nirenberg was first elected in an

upset victory An upset occurs in a competition, frequently in electoral politics or sports, when the party popularly expected to win (the "favorite"), either loses to or draws/ties a game with an underdog whom the majority expects to lose, defying the convent ...

to represent district 8 of the

. Nirenberg was elected mayor in 2017, defeating incumbent

Ivy Taylor Ivy Ruth Taylor (born June 17, 1970) is the president of Rust College in Holly Springs, Mississippi, and the former Mayor of San Antonio, Texas, from 2014 through 2017. The former politician and urban planner was a nonpartisan officeholder, alt ...

, and was sworn in as the mayor of

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

on June 21, 2017. 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.

Early life and education

Nirenberg is of

Ashkenazi Jewish Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

descent (from

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

) 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 The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F. ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. 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 Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay ...

(then part of the colonial British protectorate of Malaya). His maternal grandmother was

Anglo-Indian Anglo-Indian people fall into two different groups: those with mixed Indian and British ancestry, and people of British descent born or residing in India. The latter sense is now mainly historical, but confusions can arise. The ''Oxford English ...

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

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

. Nirenberg, who is

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

, was raised in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

. Nirenberg attended Trinity University in San Antonio and graduated ''

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

'' with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in communication. He later attended the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, from which he earned his

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in communications. After college, he was a program director for the

Annenberg Public Policy Center The Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) is a center for the study of public policy at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. It has offices in Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia, where the University of Pennsyl ...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

and served as the General Manager of KRTU-FM, the radio station at Trinity University.

Electoral history

2013 San Antonio City Council, District 8 race

In his 2013 run for District 8 of the

, Nirenberg was considered the underfunded candidate unlikely to be successful that was challenging a well-funded establishment candidate, Rolando Briones. Nirenberg had ran 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.

2017 San Antonio mayoral race

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

2019 San Antonio mayoral race

Nirenberg declared his candidacy for re-election to the office on January 29, 2019. His main opponent was identified as Greg Brockhouse, a member of the

who also took office in 2017 and frequently objected to Nirenberg's platform. 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.

2021 San Antonio mayoral race

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%.

Tenure

Although Nirenberg identifies as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

and ran for office as a

nonpartisan Nonpartisanism is a lack of affiliation with, and a lack of bias towards, a political party. While an Oxford English Dictionary definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., in most cases, nonpartisan refers sp ...

politician, he has been described as ideologically progressive. In 2013, Nirenberg endorsed a city ordinance which bans discrimination based on

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the i ...

and

sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...

. Taylor, then also a member of the city council, voted against the ordinance. Taylor also opposed the city's filing of a lawsuit against the new state law which defines a

misdemeanor A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than adm ...

offense for municipal officials who refuse to cooperate with federal authorities seeking to halt

illegal immigration Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwar ...

. Signed by

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Greg Abbott Gregory Wayne Abbott (born November 13, 1957) is an American politician, attorney, and former jurist serving as the 48th governor of Texas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 50th Tex ...

, the law targets the

sanctuary city Sanctuary city (; ) refers to municipal jurisdictions, typically in North America, that limit their cooperation with the national government's effort to enforce immigration law. Leaders of sanctuary cities say they want to reduce fear of deport ...

movement. Nirenberg, conversely, backs the lawsuit. Ron Nirenberg

As mayor-elect, Nirenberg called upon the city council to endorse the

Paris climate accord The Paris Agreement (french: Accord de Paris), often referred to as the Paris Accords or the Paris Climate Accords, is an international treaty on climate change. Adopted in 2015, the agreement covers climate change mitigation, adaptation, and ...

even though U.S. President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

announced plans to remove the United States from the agreement. The San Antonio City Council approved a resolution to sign the Paris climate accord one day after Nirenberg's election, and in November 2017, the City Council approved the creation of a Climate Action and Adaptation Plan. This would lead to San Antonio being one of 25 cities awarded the American Cities Climate Challenge grant in 2019 by

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...

. In 2019, Nirenberg supported and defended the move to have a

Chick-fil-A Chick-fil-A ( , a Word play, play on the American English pronunciation of "wikt:filet#Pronunciation, filet") is an American fast food restaurant chain which is the country's largest which specializes in chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in Coll ...

restaurant removed from the concessions contract at the

San Antonio International Airport San Antonio International Airport is an international airport in San Antonio, Texas. It is in Uptown Central San Antonio, about north of Downtown. It has three runways and covers . Its elevation is above sea level. SAT averages 260 daily dep ...

, citing a conflict with the company's opposition to LGBTQ rights and that the company's closure on Sunday, done on religious grounds, would hurt revenue. The move faced controversy and national condemnation from conservatives. Councilman Greg Brockhouse opposed this decision and called for a re-vote on the decision but it was defeated.

Texas Attorney General The Texas attorney general is the chief legal officer
of the

Ken Paxton Warren Kenneth Paxton Jr. (born December 23, 1962) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the Attorney General of Texas since January 2015. Paxton has described himself as a Tea Party conservative. Paxton was re-elected to a th ...

later began an investigation on the actions of Nirenberg and the San Antonio City Council, claiming the decision was in violation of existing Texas laws, the

U.S. Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...

, and even San Antonio's own ethics code. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) also opened an investigation on this action. On June 10, 2019, Texas governor Greg Abbott signed into law Senate Bill 1978, colloquially known as the "Save Chick-fil-A Bill", which forbids local governments from taking adverse steps against companies or individuals based on their religious beliefs. On March 18, 2020, Nirenberg issued an order for the temporary closure of all non-essential businesses in response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, making San Antonio the last major city in Texas to do so. In 2021, Nirenberg criticized Texas Governor

's lifting of COVID-19 mandates and prohibition on local governments from being able to make their own ones, saying the governor was showing "callous disregard for life." The City of San Antonio, led by Nirenberg, and Bexar County sued Abbott in Bexar County court to temporarily block his executive order barring local mandates. A

Bexar County Bexar County ( or ; es, Béxar ) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. It is in South Texas and its county seat is San Antonio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,009,324. Bexar County is included in the San Antonio–New Bra ...

judge issued the restraining order on Abbott's executive order, reinstating Nirenberg's mask mandate; a ruling that he applauded. The

Supreme Court of Texas The Supreme Court of Texas (SCOTX) is the court of last resort for civil matters (including juvenile delinquency cases, which are categorized as civil under the Texas Family Code) in the U.S. state of Texas. A different court, the Texas Court of ...

would later block Nirenberg's mask mandate.

Personal life

Nirenberg married Erika Prosper in 2001. Erika is the director of customer insights for

H-E-B H-E-B Grocery Company, LP, is an American privately held supermarket chain based in San Antonio, Texas, with more than 340 stores throughout the U.S. state of Texas, as well as in northeast Mexico. The company also operates Central Market, an ...

. The couple has one son.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nirenberg, Ron 1977 births American mayors of Indian descent Methodists from Texas American people of Anglo-Indian descent American people of Malaysian descent American people of Polish-Jewish descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent American people of Scottish descent American politicians of Filipino descent American politicians of Indian descent Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania alumni History of San Antonio Jewish mayors of places in the United States Living people Mayors of San Antonio Politicians from Austin, Texas San Antonio City Council members Texas Independents Trinity University (Texas) alumni 21st-century American politicians Jewish American people in Texas politics Asian-American people in Texas politics