Led by Associate Professor of Political Science and Geography Brian Gervais, the UTSA Center for Public Opinion Research released its latest poll in April detailing San Antonians’ perception of the mayoral race, Project Marvel, the Missions Stadium, Fiesta’s impact on voting behavior and satisfaction with government and its officials. 

Conducted from April 7-8 with 685 responses, the CPOR found a significant lead among the top nine from the 27 total candidates in the poll, a slight dip in support for the new stadiums and a lessened likelihood of Fiesta impacting voter behavior.

From the top nine candidates of the mayoral race, Gina Ortiz Jones leads with a 13% following, a jump from February’s 9.3%. After Ortiz Jones, John Courage comes in with a 7% following and Beto with a 6.6% following. Although Courage remains relatively favored in the poll, he has experienced a slight drop since the February poll, which held him at a 7.9% following. Altamirano has risen three points since February. 

In addition to candidate preferences fluctuating, the April CPOR found that the number of respondents who were unfamiliar with the candidate or did not know who they were voting for dropped. For unfamiliarity with the candidates, the percentage in February was 20.5% and dropped to 15% in April, which is less than 1-in-7 voters. When questioned about who they are voting for, the number of respondents who said they do not know dropped to 30% from a 35.3% CPOR poll in February. 

The poll also uncovered Fiesta’s likely impact on voting behavior. As Director of CPOR David Gervias explains, Fiesta has “real, practical implications because it coincides with the entire voting period this year.”

Fiesta ranges from April 2 to May 4, and voting begins on April 22 and ends on May 3. The CPOR asked people about their likelihood of voting. 96% of respondents reported that Fiesta would not affect their likelihood of voting, 1% said it would, 1% said it will make them more likely to vote and 1% remained unsure. The poll displayed many voters indicating that Fiesta would not dissuade them from voting.

The CPOR poll tracked the public’s perceptions about the various projects approved for San Antonio. First, when asked whether Project Marvel should move forward, 34% approved and 44% disapproved of the project, a slight drop from February, which garnered a 41% approval rating and a 36% disapproval rating. 

The same trend continued with the usage of the venue tax for the construction of the Spurs Stadium. 40% of respondents indicated they would vote for the venue tax, but 44% said they would not vote in opposition. The numbers slightly shifted from February, as 42% were in favor and 41% were opposed.

The final project asked about was the San Antonio Missions Stadium, a $160 million ballpark. In September and February, 40% of respondents favored the new stadium, and 35% opposed it; however, in April, 34% were in favor and 42% were opposed to stadium construction. 

Although support for these endeavors has dropped, Gervias explains, “We caution a little bit interpreting this as a real trend, a real change. There could be a lot of reasons why we might see some changes.”

Overall, San Antonio residents were more pleased with local government than the state and federal governments. When asked about the direction of the city, state and country, 48% indicated San Antonio is headed in the right direction, while 29% said it was moving in the wrong direction. Respondents’ satisfaction dipped as they moved on to the state and federal government. 33% believed Texas was headed in the right direction, while 53% opposed. 30% believed the country was headed in the right direction, and 62% believed the country was headed in the wrong direction. 

The next issue they dealt with was voters’ perception of the performance of public officials. Mayor Ron Nirenberg had a 56% approval rating, Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai was 40% and Governor Greg Abbott and President Donald Trump accumulated 32%. The results followed the same trend as the previous polling about San Antonians’ satisfaction with city, state and federal government direction.

Early voting for the mayoral race runs from April 22-29, and the official election date is May 3.