Gina Ortiz Jones Bio
Gina Maria Ortiz Jones (born February 1, 1981) is an American politician and United States Air Force veteran serving as the 184th mayor of San Antonio, Texas, since 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as Under Secretary of the Air Force from 2021 to 2023. Jones was the Democratic nominee for Texas’s 23rd congressional district in 2018 and again in 2020.
A former Air Force intelligence officer and Iraq War veteran, Jones has built a career that spans military service, federal agency leadership, and elected office. She is the first Asian-American female mayor of a major city in Texas, the first openly lesbian mayor of San Antonio, and the first female mayor in Texas to have served in war. Her public service has included intelligence analysis, trade policy, and veterans-focused initiatives.
Early Life and Background
Gina Maria Ortiz Jones was born on February 1, 1981, in Arlington, Virginia, and grew up in San Antonio, Texas, as a first-generation American. She is the daughter of Victorina Ortiz, a single mother and Ilocano immigrant from Pangasinan in the Philippines, who came to the United States and later earned a teaching certificate. Jones has a younger sister, Christi Ann, who has served as an intelligence officer in the United States Navy.
Jones identifies as Ilocano, a Filipino ethnolinguistic group, and her upbringing reflected the values of service and education that her mother modeled. She graduated from John Jay High School in San Antonio in 1999. With the help of a four-year Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps scholarship, she enrolled at Boston University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in East Asian studies and economics and a master’s degree in economics jointly in 2003. A lesbian who came out to her mother at age fifteen, Jones served under the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and was at risk of losing her scholarship if her sexual orientation became known.
Path to US Politics
After graduating from college, Jones joined the United States Air Force as an intelligence officer and was deployed to Iraq with the 18th Air Support Operations Group, supporting close air support operations. She completed three years of active duty, reached the rank of captain, and returned to Texas in 2006. During this period, she cared for her mother, who was being treated for colon cancer, while working for a consulting company.
Jones then returned to intelligence work, serving as an analyst for United States Africa Command in Germany before joining the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2008, where she specialized in Latin American topics and eventually became a special adviser to the deputy director. In November 2016, she moved to the Office of the United States Trade Representative in the Executive Office of the President, continuing her service across administrations of both parties until June 2017. Her departure from that role marked a turning point, as she decided to seek office directly and returned to San Antonio to run for Congress.
Gina Ortiz Jones Career
Early Career (2003–2017)
Jones began her professional life in the United States Air Force as an intelligence officer, serving on active duty from 2003 to 2006 and deploying to Iraq. After leaving active duty, she held successive intelligence roles in Germany and at the Defense Intelligence Agency, building deep expertise in Latin American affairs. She later joined the Office of the United States Trade Representative in 2016.
Throughout these years, Jones served under presidents of both parties. In a 2017 interview with HuffPost, she explained her decision to leave the executive branch, saying that she wanted to serve the public in a different way. That decision set the stage for her transition from federal staff work to candidate for elected office.
Congressional Campaigns (2017–2020)
In 2017, Jones became the first Democrat to announce a challenge to Republican Representative Will Hurd in Texas’s 23rd congressional district, a predominantly Hispanic swing district along the Texas-Mexico border. She finished first in the March 6, 2018, Democratic primary with about 41 percent of the vote in a five-candidate field and won the May 22 runoff. Media coverage at the time identified her as part of a wave of Democratic candidates who were women, LGBT, and military veterans.
Endorsements from EMILY’s List, the Asian American Action Fund, the Equality PAC, VoteVets, the LGBTQ Victory Fund, Wendy Davis, and Khizr Khan strengthened her 2018 campaign. Both Jones and Hurd broke fundraising records in the district, and she ultimately lost to Hurd by roughly 1,150 votes, conceding on November 19, 2018. She launched a second campaign in May 2019, raised more than one million dollars, and received the endorsement of Pete Buttigieg’s Win the Era PAC. In the November 2020 general election, Republican Tony Gonzales defeated Jones 51 percent to 47 percent.
Under Secretary of the Air Force (2021–2023)
Jones was confirmed as President Biden’s Under Secretary of the Air Force by the Senate on July 22, 2021. She was the sixth woman to hold the position, the first woman of color, and the first open lesbian to serve in the role. Her responsibilities included personnel management across the Air Force.
In that post, she managed the implementation of a revised policy on pregnant service members that replaced the service’s total prohibition on flying while pregnant, allowing pregnant members to apply to Air Force Officer Training School without waiting a year after pregnancy. She also enhanced services for victims of domestic abuse and produced a study to give senior leadership better data on the performance of female officers, in order to counter anecdotal criticism. She resigned as Under Secretary in February 2023, effective March 6.
San Antonio Mayoral Election (2025–Present)
In December 2024, Jones announced her candidacy for mayor of San Antonio after incumbent Ron Nirenberg was term-limited. She joined a crowded field of candidates and advanced to a runoff on May 3, 2025, with 27.2 percent of the vote. She received most of her campaign funding from out-of-state donors and used funds from her previous congressional campaigns to seed her bid.
Jones won the runoff with 54.3 percent of the vote, becoming the 184th mayor of San Antonio. She is the first Asian-American female mayor of a major city in Texas, the first openly lesbian mayor of San Antonio, the first female mayor in Texas to have served in war, and the first mayor since 2005 to have not previously served on the San Antonio City Council.
Notable Events and Milestones
Among Jones’s signature accomplishments is her 2025 election as mayor of San Antonio, a result that made history on several fronts, including as the first Asian-American female mayor of a major Texas city. Her narrow loss to Will Hurd in 2018 and her 2020 contest against Tony Gonzales were both record-breaking fundraising efforts for the 23rd district. As Under Secretary of the Air Force, she led meaningful changes in policy for pregnant service members and victims of domestic abuse.
Gina Ortiz Jones Political Achievements
Throughout her career, Jones has combined military service, federal executive leadership, and electoral politics in a sequence of first-of-their-kind milestones. She has not held an office defined by repeated election wins, and verified tallies of electoral victories beyond her 2025 mayoral race are limited.
2025 Mayoral Victory
Jones’s most decisive electoral win came in the 2025 San Antonio mayoral runoff, when she defeated her opponent with 54.3 percent of the vote after advancing from a crowded field with 27.2 percent in the May 3 first round. Her runoff victory was fueled by substantial out-of-state donations and unspent funds from her earlier congressional campaigns. The win placed her in the office of mayor and made her the first Asian-American female mayor of a major Texas city.
Congressional Campaign Records
Although Jones did not win a congressional seat, her 2018 and 2020 campaigns in Texas’s 23rd congressional district were noted for breaking fundraising records and drawing national attention. Her 2018 loss to Will Hurd came by roughly 1,150 votes, and her 2020 loss to Tony Gonzales came by a margin of 51 percent to 47 percent. Both races were regarded among the most competitive in the state.
Gina Ortiz Jones Family
Family Background and Public Service Lineage
Jones was raised in San Antonio by her mother, Victorina Ortiz, an Ilocano immigrant from Pangasinan in the Philippines who earned a teaching certificate after arriving in the United States. Her mother has been a central figure in her life and was cared for by Jones after her 2006 return from active duty during a battle with colon cancer, from which she recovered. Jones has a younger sister, Christi Ann, who has served as an intelligence officer in the United States Navy, continuing a family pattern of military and public service.
Personal Life
Jones is in a relationship with Angelica Cortez. Cortez accompanied Jones to her evening inauguration ceremony on June 18, 2025, marking a public moment in their partnership. Jones, who came out to her mother at age fifteen and served under the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, has been open about her identity as a lesbian throughout her public career. She resides in San Antonio, Texas, the city she now leads as mayor.