Councilman John Courage (D9) has ended his 2025 mayoral campaign, citing new longer terms that voters approved on the Nov. 5 ballot.
At age 72, Courage was among the oldest candidates in the field of mayoral hopefuls.
Since council is moving from two-year terms to four-year terms after the next election, he would be 76 years old by the end of his first term as mayor.
On Monday his campaign said that change led the councilman to cancel his campaign in favor of a real retirement — despite holding an early lead in public polling of the race.
Courage has been privately alerting supporters of his decision, but has not made a formal statement about dropping out.
Speaking on a panel earlier this year several former San Antonio mayors lauded a well-qualified field, including some young candidates like tech entrepreneur Beto Altamirano, who they hoped would bring fresh ideas to some of the city’s longstanding problems.
“We’re got some really, really good candidates,” said Nelson Wolff, who previously served as both San Antonio mayor and Bexar County judge. “… We’ve got young Beto [at age] 34, and Courage, what about 100?”
Courage has long been active in Democratic politics and ran for office multiple times before he was elected to the City Council for the first time in 2017. He was term-limited from seeking reelection to his council seat, which ends in June.
Back in January, he was the first well-known candidate to launch a campaign for San Antonio’s open mayor’s race, astounding some political watchers who said such races usually start a full year later.
His campaign launch outside City Hall this year was disrupted by pro-Palestinian activists calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, many of whom criticized Courage as having lost his progressive credentials.
Since then a total of 15 candidates, including two other council members, have filed treasurer’s reports, allowing their campaigns to start raising money.
Candidates can’t formally file to run in the May 3 municipal election until Jan. 16, meaning others may reconsider their plans before then.