For two of the four leading candidates running for mayor, the campaign has moved from daily forums to television. The near-daily forums are still happening amid the city’s annual Fiesta celebrations, but both former state Rep. Mike Villarreal and former state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte have taken to the airwaves to woo voters as the start of early voting nears on Monday, April 27.

So far, former County Commissioner Tommy Adkisson and Mayor Ivy Taylor have not launched television ad campaigns.

Despite heated exchanges at several of the mayoral forums, both Villarreal and Van de Putte have kept their broadcast messages positive – avoiding attacks on each other and instead focusing on family values, legislative track records, and optimism for San Antonio’s future.

Villarreal made his televised campaign debut on April 14 with “Mike Villarreal – SAstrong.” In addition to television, he has created several online-only video shorts, the most recent of which is titled, “Bringing rideshare back to San Antonio.”



Van de Putte’s latest television ad will hit the air this week – the second television spot she’s had in her mayoral campaign so far. Her first campaign ad started running last week.

On April 9, each candidate submitted campaign finance reports detailing available funds in their respective accounts: Van de Putte reported $278,191, Villarreal reported $144,345, Taylor reported $101,729, and Adkisson reported $19,576.

Villarreal has used social media platforms more frequently than any of the other major candidates, but all four are using social media and working to turn out younger voters who don’t normally vote in local elections. Many of the forums have been dominated by questions about what each candidate is prepared to do to make San Antonio more appealing to Millennials.

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