San Antonio’s Latino Mayor Is Looking Ahead to Higher Office in 1990

Henry G. Cisneros, who in 1981 became the first Latino to be elected mayor of a major U.S. city, told a crowd of about 150 listeners at Cal State Fullerton on Monday night that he will consider running for a statewide post in 1989 but that a national office “is not something you seek, but work for.”

Cisneros, who recently won his fourth two-year term as mayor of San Antonio, Tex., gained national attention in 1984 when Democratic presidential nominee Walter Mondale interviewed him as a possible running mate.

The 39-year-old Cisneros said he has thought about running for governor, lieutenant governor or state senator during the 1990 elections in Texas, but he added that winning such an election would not be easy.

“For me to make a transition from mayor to a statewide office would be very tough,” Cisneros said, citing an estimated $10 million in campaign costs and the difficulty in reaching voters in Texas’ 28 television markets.

Make a Decision

“What I want to do now is do the best job I can as mayor for the next two years and make a decision at that point what is best for me,” Cisneros said.

A Harvard graduate and faculty member in the public administration program at the University of Texas, San Antonio, Cisneros was the key speaker of Cal State Fullerton’s Hispanic Distinguished Lecture Series.

Isaac Cardenas, head of the college’s Chicano studies department and a longtime friend of Cisneros, said the mayor is “without a doubt one of the leading spokesmen of the Chicano community” in the nation.

Cisneros told the audience that he senses there is an “unprecedented optimism” among the nation’s Latino political community as a result of increased influence, unity and a new-found pride in Latino cultural history.