This Express News story on the beginning of the Mayoral runoff in San Antonio between Leticia Van de Putte and Ivy Taylor gets to the question of what if anything the two runnersup and their supporters will do.
Leticia Van de Putte
But all eyes were on the mayoral race, and the historic runoff with two women candidates. Van de Putte would be the first Latina elected to the mayor’s post, and Taylor the first African-American elected to the seat.
As Villarreal and Adkisson, the third- and fourth-place finishers, licked their wounds Sunday, questions remained about whether they would support either Van de Putte or Taylor.
Communications Director Greg Jefferson said Villarreal planned to meet with his supporters Monday to discuss the matter. Adkisson said after conceding the race that he wasn’t in a hurry to throw his support behind either candidate.
“I think we’ll take some time to chill,” Adkisson said.
Campaign consultant Colin Strother said there’s no way to predict what the former county commissioner would do.
“The guy has been through 50 forums with these ladies and he probably knows better where they stand on the issues than anyone else. At some point, I’m sure he’ll have meetings with them,” Strother said. “With Tommy, one thing I’ve learned is he’s an unconventional guy and he thinks unconventionally, so it’s hard to predict what he’s going to do. I don’t know what he’s going to do, and I don’t know that he knows what he’s going to do.”
Ultimately, support from Villarreal and Adkisson could play a pivotal role in the runoff election. St. Mary’s University political scientist Henry Flores said the contrast of support for the candidates is stark.
“If Leticia gets support from Adkisson, that would be some really important support from the South Side, and that’s a high turnout area. That’ll work to her advantage,” he said. “Ivy is tied to the evangelicals and the tea party, so her support is going to come out of (North Central and Northeast Side) Districts 9 and 10 and a little bit of 8.”
Randy Bear helpfully points out that all campaign acrimony aside, Van de Putte and Villarreal are much closer on the issues that Taylor and Villarreal. That’s not a guarantee of anything, but Van de Putte needs Villarreal voters, so I’m sure she’ll be working to get them, while Taylor will make her pitch to Republicans. Van de Putte did pick up County Judge Nelson Wolff’s endorsement, which is nice but I don’t know how many actual votes it moves. Early voting begins June 1, so there’s not a lot of time to get it done. This is going to be a fast and eventful ride.
UPDATE: And Taylor picks up the endorsement of Mike Villarreal’s campaign treasurer. I figure there will be a lot more of this going back and forth.
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