The San Antonio Eastside has witnessed history
This weekend, local high school math teacher Jalen McKee-Rodriguez defeated District 2 City Council incumbent Jada Andrews-Sullivan. At 26, McKee-Rodriguez is the first openly gay Black man elected to City Council and the first openly gay Black men elected to any office in the state of Texas.
Late Saturday night, news outlets, such as Kens 5 and KSAT 12, reported on the runoff election results in Districts 1, 2, 3, 5, and 9. Reporters David Ibanez and Garrett Brnger wrote, “with all the votes counted, McKee-Rodriguez captured 63% of the vote compared to 37% for Andrews-Sullivan, a difference of 1,230 votes… McKee-Rodriguez, a former teacher who previously worked for Andrews-Sullivan as a communications director, said that his historic victory on San Antonio’s East Side proved a lot of people wrong.”
Indeed, McKee-Rodriguez’s win was quite the surprise for District 2, one of the largest districts in San Antonio that covers areas such as Walzem, Eisenhower, to parts of Broadway and Downtown, to encompassing the entire historic East side from Houston St to Commerce St, Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, W. W White, etc.
Quite the eventful campaign, McKee-Rodriguez’s run was not met without controversy. Just weeks leading up to the runoff, news broke of homophobia antics at the hands of church pastors and local community leaders in the East side area. Many alleging a vote for McKee-Rodriguez is a sin. Regardless, the 26-year-old city councilman elect ran a grassroots, organized campaign, becoming the candidate with the highest funds raised from the beginning.
While not the youngest city councilman, McKee Rodriguez is the youngest city councilman elected to District 2. There is no doubt McKee-Rodriguez’s win will become a part of the latest trend of millennials joining the political races.
Writer Charlotte Alter, in her 2020 article for Time.com, “How Millennial Leaders Will Change America”, writes, “Millennials are more racially diverse, more tuned in to the power of networks and systems and more socially progressive than either Gen X or baby boomers on nearly every available metric…Research has shown that people’s experiences in early adulthood have the greatest impact on their lifelong political leanings, and millennials, for the most part, have experienced an America riven by inequality, endless wars, a financial collapse, a student debt crisis, and inertia in the face of climate change. All that has made them distinctly more liberal than their elders.”
McKee-Rodriguez’s win shows a shift in the culture in San Antonio City Council that will exhibit the growing trend in young people voter turnout and political activity, especially at the local level where many San Antonio millennials are impacted by racial inequality, wage disparities, housing crises, etc.
The District 2 runoff election proved to be one to remember and in an era where diversity, equity, and inclusion are at the forefront of political agendas and wish lists, the election of Jalen McKee Rodriguez will have an impact for generations to come.
