SA DSA VOTER GUIDE

Rationale: San Antonio DSA is proud to endorse Ric Galvan in the race for seis. Ric has had success garnering the support of large swaths of organized labor in San Antonio, namely the San Antonio AFL-CIO, ATU Local 694 (VIA bus drivers), Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 6143, the San Antonio Alliance of Teachers and Support Personnel Local 67, and Northside AFT. Those last two endorsements are key, because District 6 has the most public school students of any city council district, and pro-charter group Futuro has its eyes set on influencing this race. Liberals will tell you that City Council has nothing to do with public education, but we would point you toward Teri’s concerted efforts against school closures in her district, Jalen’s proposal for homebuyer assistance for teachers, or perhaps rejecting zoning for charter schools when they go before Council for a zoning change. 

The way we see it is if the teachers endorsed Ric then you know who will work in lock step to fight for the schools our students deserve. To familiarize yourself with Futuro check out the collab post between Northside AFT and the San Antonio Alliance here: Who’s Futuro? Ric also has the most individual contributions from the last cycle, with an average donation amount of just $47. Compare that to Gerald with 23 contributions, an average of $407. It’s clear to us that Ric Galvan has people power behind his campaign, while our opponents are gathering support from union busters, charter schools, and the political establishment that has led to this moment. 

With eight candidates in the race, this one will most certainly end up going to a run-off. If Ric is in the runoff, expect San Antonio DSA to continue to knock big to win big. This race has a clown car amount of characters, from “San” Antonio Raymond (come on man, the pandering knows no bounds), to corrupt former Councilman Bobby “let me skim off money from city funded contracts” Herrera. Other candidates include Lawson Alaniz-Picasso, who most recently lost her race for County Commissioner, Idea Academy worker Vanessa Chavez, libertarian bass player and perennial District 6 candidate Chris Baecker, Gerald “old guard democrat” Lopez, and recent pro-charter school champion, Kelly Ann Gonzalez.

Our opponents:

Vanessa Chavez

Vanessa is a former city and council employee. She was active in AFSCME alongside DSA members and wasn’t terrible. Unfortunately she has since jumped the shark from public services to working to privatize services for IDEA charter schools. 

Kelly Ann Gonzalez

Kelly Ann appears to be the status quo favorite for District 6. She’s endorsed by Melissa Cabello Havrda and Nelson Wolff. Her previous time as a Democratic party staffer and New Leaders Council alum have ensured some of the most lib’d up, charter-school-supporting politicos in town have her support. As an AFSCME organizer, she spoke in favor of the city manager's raise, and after losing out on her former employer’s endorsement, has since come out in favor of zero-based budgeting. After missing out on the SAISD and NISD unions' support, she has since spoken positively of charter schools. We’re sure it’s just a timing thing. 

Chris Baecker

Chris is a perennial candidate in D6 at this point. He’s an 8th grade economics instructor and writer with InfuseSA, a totally nonpartisan website. He generally does the broken clock is right twice a day trick with incentives to Big Business and other Libertarian issues like drugs. Then he goes into supporting privatizing street lights and other essential services so just don’t ask too many questions. 

Bobby Herrera

While City Council often involves drama, we appreciate the theatrics to steer away from an episode of Maury. Bobby, who had multiple scandals of alleged bribery and debauchery, chose to spend his time at a recent D6 candidate forum lecturing other candidates about how to get things done at City Hall. We hope no one was listening. 

Gerald Lopez

We can’t say how well Gerald performed in the Express-News endorsement process, but my goodness did he not do well when being confronted by the crowd he screwed over as a part of the NISD board. Gerald previously worked with Councilman Ray Lopez back when the AT&T Center was new. 

Lawson Alaniz-Picasso

Lawson is a former District 1 staffer and launched a failed bid for County Commissioner in Precinct 1. She has experience around City Hall and as a former D2 Appointee to the Board of Adjustment and CPS Energy Citizen Advisory Board Member, she has insight into a part of the City apparatus few do. However, the campaign is running a bit further away from any sort of center at this point. Oh well, we’ll always have the D1 Field Office Bill Miller Tacos.

Rationale: District 7 is the kind of place where everything is “close to downtown,” except investment, infrastructure, and affordable housing. 40% of workers have to leave the district for work, while only 3.4% of them use public transportation—because if there’s one thing this district has in abundance, it’s sidewalks to nowhere and bus stops without benches or shade. The district is young-ish (median age 35), majority Latino (63.4%), renter-heavy, and increasingly squeezed—by housing costs.

You’d think all this would make District 7 a red-hot zone for progressive transformation—but lol, no. Instead, we’ve got dueling Alderetes and one stay-at-home dad in a democracy cosplay outfit. Meanwhile, tech bros keep dreaming up Smart City solutions while residents are still waiting for someone to fix the goddamn pothole on Bandera. 

Marina Alderete Gavito wants you to know she’s a tech girlie, a mom, a fiscal hawk, and an infrastructure champion—all at once! But when it came time to support a local abortion fund with actual city dollars (you know, something actionable), Marina locked arms with the forced-birth crowd and voted no. Because apparently, reproductive freedom should be crowdfunded, —but SAPD’s budget? That’s sacred.

District 7 isn’t a quiet part of town. It’s a district full of people working too many hours, riding too few buses, raising kids without too little support, and surviving on too little city investment. It should be a political battleground, but for now, it’s treated like a budget line item for pilot programs, ribbon cuttings, and vibes.

And now voters get to pick between the developer-friendly incumbent, a vibes-forward ministry mom, and the one dude in the race who’s never held office and might accidentally end gentrification just by misunderstanding how zoning works. No pressure, y’all. Just the soul of your district.

Can we have Rosie Castro back now, please?

Marina Alderete Gavito 

Marina is running more and more to the Right these days. She opposed the recent Reproductive Justice Fund. She voted against an affordable housing development in D10. She’s generally been anti-union (except for the public safety ones, so anti-union generally sticks.) Despite branding herself as "pragmatic," Marina’s politics mostly come down to vibes and vibes alone. Pro-choice in theory, anti-encampments in practice, and always ready to choose private partnerships over public investment. If there’s a way to side with the cops and the developers while still quoting her own résumé, she’ll find it.

Cynthia Lugo Alderete

We regret to inform you that the District 7 race has become an Alderete Thunderdome. That’s right—two candidates with Alderete on the ballot, and neither one should be anywhere near city policy.

Cynthia Lugo Alderete enters the chat with “Hope in Action,” a campaign slogan that sounds like a church banner and reads like a cult manifesto. Her website is full of spiritual affirmations, multi-generational legacies, and declarations of servant leadership, but completely allergic to the words “housing,” “public safety reform,” or “material conditions.” If you’re wondering what she’ll do on council, just imagine a prayer circle with a PAC budget.

Let’s talk branding: her campaign logo features a giant capital ‘A’ in “Cynthia” like we’re supposed to scream ALDERETE mid-name. Is it a typo? A graphic design choice? A cry for help? Hard to say. But it's definitely giving "I'm not Marina, I swear."

And speaking of: if you thought one Alderete backing police budgets and evading meaningful action on housing was enough for one council term, Cynthia is here to prove that we’re in our Alderete Era—and not in a good way. At least Marina pretends to do techy stuff. Cynthia just showed up with Bible quotes, a Facebook presence, and vibes.

Trinity Haddox

A stay-at-home dad and former landscaper with no website, no frills, and no fear—just pure dad energy and a dream of bringing “real people” vibes to City Hall. He filled out the Sierra Club questionnaire like someone who genuinely believes in sidewalks, community, and that vibes alone might carry him past two Alderetes and into office.

Rationale: District 8 is where suburbia meets startup pitch decks. It’s home to La Cantera, UTSA, the Medical Center, and yes—Fiesta Texas. The district’s unofficial economic policy model: overbuilt, overpriced, and only fun until someone gets whiplash. If District 7 is where sidewalks go to die, District 8 is where they get replaced by 15 parking lots and a “Now Leasing” sign.

So who’s running to represent this contradiction?

You’ve got Sakib Shaikh, a landlord who kicked off his campaign by signaling support for Palestine, then immediately pivoted to privatization, business buzzwords, and vibes. His brand is “real estate professional with just enough progressive rhetoric to make you nervous.” And if you were hoping for something bold on council—well, he’s endorsed by a charter school front group. Enough said.

Then there’s Ivalis Meza Gonzalez, the “new voice” of District 8 who’s been at the center of city government for a decade. She was Mayor Nirenberg’s chief of staff (aka the gatekeeper for a mayor who loves progressive aesthetics and neoliberal policy). Her campaign is basically a LinkedIn post with yard signs. She helped steer the city through the start of the pandemic and Winter Storm Uri, but also through toothless climate plans, housing half-measures, and the kind of “stakeholder meetings” that make community engagement feel like speed dating for lobbyists. She’s got establishment endorsements for days… because when you’ve already been running the city from behind the curtain, what’s a council seat but a promotion?

The rest of the field includes a zoning commissioner, a tech contractor, and a logistics guy who thinks City Council is a team-building exercise. It’s giving “Nextdoor forum, but make it electoral.”

In short: District 8 has a rollercoaster in its backyard, but the real whiplash is watching candidates campaign like it's 1998 and govern like it's SimCity. It has the money, the turnout potential, and the infrastructure to lead, but keeps electing people who manage to be boring and dangerous at the same time. The stakes are high. The vision? TBD.

Sakib Shaikh

Sakib Shaikh is a former staffer to outgoing Councilmember Manny Pelaez—which means even as Manny tries heading for the mayor’s office, his energy lingers like Axe body spray in a Planet Fitness locker room. Sakib’s campaign technically began with a pro-Palestine posture, which earned him a flashy headline in the SA Current, but let’s be honest: that radical reputation was out the door faster than a ceasefire resolution at City Hall. Since then, he’s tacked hard into business-friendly vibes, branding himself as the “reasonable” choice–until you remember what the landlord's reason usually looks like.

And just in case you needed another reason to clutch your union card, Sakib’s also endorsed by Futuro SA, a charter school front group with the political subtlety of a sledgehammer and the ethics of a hedge fund. Their whole thing is draining public education funds under the noble banner of "choice," which in practice means fewer nurses, fewer counselors, and more glossy brochures about grit. If your vision for education involves replacing school boards with brand managers, you’ll love this part of the platform.

He’s selling experience and moderation, but it’s giving business casual continuity just with slightly less smarm than his old boss. 

Cindy Onyekwelu

Cindy has one of our favorite campaign slogans of the year, “The Struggle is Real,” and while we absolutely agree with that, it’s unfortunately only going to get worse. We’re also sorry we didn’t email you back, sorry, we’re struggling too!

Ivalis Meza Gonzalez

If you’ve ever thought “what if the establishment ran for office... again?”—congrats, you’ve met Ivalis Meza Gonzalez. She’s Ron Nirenberg’s former chief of staff, now endorsed by him, Judge Peter Sakai, and SAPOA, because nothing says fresh leadership like getting the gold star from the political class you already helped manage from the inside.

She touts “decades of public service” (read: decades of being adjacent to decisions) and brags about her work during the pandemic and the winter storm, which is bold considering how those went for, you know, the rest of us. Her whole pitch is “I already know how the sausage gets made,” but we’ve seen the city budget, and frankly, y’all should be cooking something else.

If you’re looking for change in District 8, maybe skip the candidate whose main campaign platform is basically “Hey, remember me from my boss’s calendar invites?”

Rationale: The median District 9 voter is probably pretty happy with John Courage. There’s two likely contenders: Angi Taylor Aramburu and Misty Spears, with a potential spoiler. Angi is like what happens when moms get involved in politics through the PTA and Misty is like what happens when moms get involved through Libs of Tik Tok. 

Aramburu is the best candidate with a chance to maintain ‘normalcy’ in the seat, but is there a new normal? District 9 is the city’s most conservative district in presidential elections, but City Council has been spared the more crank tendencies of forced birthers and Lawfare specialists that would make Julissa jealous. 

Misty Spears and April Chang are hoping to finally bring a conservative voice to the seat but, just like John Courage, are going to go back and forth. Aramburu has a fine enough platform that correctly posits Courage’s strength was in his constituent services team. This isn’t to say Aramburu is expected to follow in Courage’s footsteps. She’ll bring new perspectives and experiences to the District, which will at least make listening to Council sessions a bit less dull. Then again, that’s technically true for Spears and Chang, as well. 

Angi Taylor Aramburu

Angi might be the best of the worst in District 9. She has a smattering of union endorsements like Northside AFT and AFSCME, but also by Crypt Keeper Nelson Wolff so who’s to say which direction she’ll go. It’s never really a good sign when someone has “Smart Growth” as one of their policies, but in her defense she’s not actually talking about the YIMBY policies.  She means something that no one else associates with that term like eliminating wasteful spending. 

Emily Joy Garza

Emily has been attending public comment every Wednesday at 5pm for about two years, and so it’s no surprise she touts herself as the founder of a neighborhood association. Her ‘Protecting the Vulnerable’ plank of her platform is admirable and correctly does not mention police as doing so. It’s a shame she didn’t lean more into driving Patrick Von Dohlen into an asylum this election by making an Australian Makeup product type Tik Tok about her trench coats. 

Daniel Mezza

Daniel is a small business owner who probably came to city council at some point to complain about public works. He previously served as something to Will Hurd and John Cornyn which means he absolutely has thoughts about Gina Ortiz Jones running for Mayor. 

Misty Spears

Spears is filling in, and toning down, the Right lane of this year’s D9 race. Spears currently works as Grant Moody’s Constituent Services Director and they would both like to remind you they’re not like the other republicans. Her platform feels a bit like the “Say the line, Bart!” meme and then it’s just “MORE COPS LESS HOMELESS” but hey it’s working for Gavito so give it a shot. 

April Chang

April is allegedly friends with Governor Abbott but she really hopes you can’t tell by her san serif signs. 

Tristen Hoffman

Tristen is the Young Gun in this race. They’re a former (current?) speech kid, which as a former speech kid, Tristen please get out of there. They may also be an anarchist as they’re choosing to organize with people (?)  instead of organizations (?). There’s truth in both of those if you think about it enough. 

Rationale: District 10 is like a DEI program for DUIs. If you live in District 10, please know that we feel for you. The district of course gets lumped in with the other Northside districts but it’s increasingly made up of constituents displaced from inside 410. It’s only a matter of time before we start seeing signs saying “Don’t Dignowity My Dutch Bros.”

It’s expected for Marc Whyte to remain in the D10 seat for another four years. The (alleged) Designated Driver of City Council has out-raised most of his opponents, and most of his Council colleagues that matter, which raises the question of what Marc’s future plans might be. As a previously failed Texas House candidate maybe we’ll have a northside Marc Off in House District 121 or maybe Mayor Perry vs Marc for mayor?

One of his other competitors, Eric Litake is to the right of Mr. Whyte. He doesn’t think Marc is conservative enough, so if advocating against abortion rights and rejecting affordable housing tax credits isn’t good enough, I guess he’s your man?