June 7th Voters Guide

Rationale: 

Gatty Pibbons has no business being on the dais in San Antonio. Before she decided to run for City Council, she regularly spent her time on Twitter making choice comments about our endorsed DSA candidates and regularly got in arguments with some of our members online. So while we are not the biggest fans of Dr. Kaur, and there are plenty of valid critiques to go around (think anti-panhandling sign where the old District 1 Field Office resides, supporting CPS Energy rate hikes, her support for charter schools, refusing to be a third signature on the ceasefire resolution despite releasing a statement supporting a ceasefire), she is somehow a more reasonable choice than Gatty. It has to be tough to go through two runoffs, but a majority of District 1 voters on Election Day signaled that they believe that Sukh’s got that dog in her and that dog is specifically in her bag—shoutout to Heera. 

If you need something that will get you out of your house and to the polls, SAPOA is mad about Kaur’s recent policy proposal that looks to utilize retired officers and former city employees to handle lower level 911 calls and has resorted to claiming that she is trying to defund the police. 

Rationale: 

San Antonio DSA is proud to endorse Ric Galvan in the race for seis. Twenty-eight votes is what separated Kelly Ann Gonzalez and Ric Galvan on Election Day, making this one of the more competitive races in the 2025 runoffs.

There’s no doubt that Ric-mentum is rising as he has Galvan-izing support. Since Election Day, he’s earned the endorsements of former District 6 candidates Vanessa Chavez and Lawson Alaniz-Picasso, nods of support from Adriana Rocha Garcia (D4) and Marina Alderete Gavito (D7), and even earned the endorsement of his competitor’s former employer AFSCME Local 2021. (No matter who wins there should be room for D6 staff to organize for unionization… right?) People will have to ask AFSCME what that’s about, but Kelly Ann’s support for zero based budgeting could have been a factor. Undoubtedly a budget policy pushed by Marc Whyte would ultimately have no impact on the police department’s budget (thanks to Governor Abbott and his reactionary State Legislature), but would certainly impact City workers who are already feeling the brunt of Trump’s moves to gut the administrative state and vital federal funding that working class cities like San Antonio rely on. 

Between San Antonio DSA and organized Labor, particularly the San Antonio Alliance and Northside AFT, there are clear lines being drawn on what it means to support public education forcing Futuro to regroup and stay out of the race for seis. Further cementing our chapter’s perspective that the electoral arena is a site of struggle in which we cannot retreat from. On the issue of public schools it’s time for District 6 to ask themselves, which side are you on?

Rationale:

If you’re in District 8 reading this, we just want you to know it’s all almost over. You’re riding the roller coaster of Manny leaving, then possibly being your Mayor, then definitely not becoming your Mayor, Futuro lighting money on fire on a third place bid, then oh no maybe Ivalis is your next councilmember, wait then maybe Paula McGee is your councilmember? What a ride.

Look, Ivalis is backed by most of the major unions in the city and that’s worth taking some time out of your day this week to Early Vote. Day to day, there probably won’t be much daylight between Gonzalez and McGee, but when it comes to budget priorities, zoning votes, or the 2027 bond, it will be better for Gonzalez to navigate those discussions. The good news is Ivalis previously lost a  County Judge run, so hopefully with that experience comes a bit of humility and a willingness to work alongside some of the more senior Councilmembers. 

Rationale:

In the land of common sense and uncommon courage, we are recommending that District 9 vote for Angi Taylor Aramburu. Although Election Day showed Grant Moody’s Constituent Services Director Misty Spears in the lead, the land of lowest need for sidewalks, would be better off without electing someone who works for the San Antonio County Commissioner that traveled to Israel to meet with genocidal maniac Benjamin Netanyahu. District 9 is the land of anti-Semitic and islamophobic Pastor Hagee’s doomsday ministry Cornerstone Church, so perhaps that is more of a selling point in this northside district.

Angi is endorsed by the San Antonio AFL-CIO, Northside AFT, and AFSCME, while Misty is endorsed by the City’s public safety unions. Sometimes you just have to wonder when Fire will stop acting like SAPOA’s little brother and finally realize that they have more in common with the rest of organized labor than the police union that consistently receives more of the budget.

Despite Misty’s Election Day lead, turnout is the name of the game in the runoffs. Bexar County Republicans really want this seat—the vibe is that if they can’t win in one of the more conservative districts in San Antonio, then recent national electoral gains aren’t leaking over into local races. To that end, it appears as though Misty is singularly focused on hitting doors instead of accepting the invites to any of the latest debates moderated by various local outlets. There’s speculation that she’s avoiding these debates due to recent reports that she is bad with finances, but does anyone that has been alive for the Republican Party’s reign of terror really believe that this is an issue that right-leaning Courage voters actually care about? I guess there’s only one way to find out.