Leaning in to a progressive San Antonio
TOP PAC municipal runoff election
On May 1, 2021, the City of San Antonio had record breaking turnout in a municipal election. More than 150,000 votes were cast for police accountability measure Proposition B, with slightly fewer casting a vote in the mayoral race. Turnout was 17% compared to the typical 11-12%. Approximately 29% of voters were new municipal voters. In addition, all of TOP’s endorsed candidates handily made it into a runoff.
- Council District 2, Jalen McKee-Rodriguez outperformed incumbent Jada Andrews-Sullivan by over 800 votes. The majority Black District had a 67% increase in turnout.
- Council District 5, Teri Castillo was the front-runner in the open seat with almost 31% of the vote and 1,000 more votes than any other candidate. The district is overwhelmingly Latino. Over 1,700 more votes were cast in the district than in previous elections.
- Council District 1, incumbent Roberto Trevino, the most progressive and outspoken current council member was successful in garnering 45% to his challenger’s 34%. Turnout was 30% higher in the district.
In the May 1 election, TOP was actively involved in the Prop. B police accountability measure on both the independent and coordinated sides (with the appropriate firewalls). Our collective efforts brought this proposition to a slim loss of 49% to 51%, a difference of less than 3,500 votes. Together with community leaders who spearheaded the Fix SAPD campaign, we built a powerful coalition led by Black and Latino women and infrastructure for the progressive movement born out of the 2020 #BlackLivesMatter uprisings. Despite the loss, the City Council still has decision-making power over the police union contract and therefore there is an opportunity to re-engage voters in the runoff election. Support was highest for the initiative in our targeted runoff districts and all of our endorsed candidates were outspoken on the issue.
TOP, together with community allies, have been working for multiple municipal cycles on a progressive San Antonio for All agenda on a key set of issues including climate justice.
All three of our endorsed candidates support reforming our public utility, CPS Energy, and speeding up the move towards 100% renewables and carbon neutrality.
Campaign Progress Report, 5/17/2021:
Our intention is to knock on 18,878 doors and engage 26,067 voters. We’re currently at 36% of our goal after the first week.
District 1, Roberto Treviño:
- We have knocked on 2,340 Doors reaching 3,302 Voters
- Precincts we have reached: 2036, 4155, 1008, 2064, 4001, 3053, 4015, 4017, 2053, 2054, 2056, 2144, 2038
District 2, Jalen McKee-Rodriguez:
- We have knocked on 2,397 Doors reaching 3,192 Voters
- Precincts we have reached: 4036, 4070, 4045, 4077, 4047, 4065, 4005, 4076, 4041, 4110, 4029, 4049, 4004, 4044, 4037, 4039
District 5, Teri Castillo:
- We have knocked on 1,979 Doors reaching 2,838 Voters
- Precincts we have reached: 1003, 1013, 1006, 1077, 1029, 1032, 2018, 2070, 1007, 2021, 1023, 2011, 1014, 1031, 2022, 2012
- Text Messages Sent w/ Texas Working Families Party: 19,700 Voters Contacted
Social Media:
- Since our campaign started we have had a cumulative reach of 536,164 people on FB and Instagram
- We have had 1,885 unique clicks to the TOP Election Center
Working toward a more progressive Dallas
Our 2021 Dallas County GOTV field program is working right now to help elect a progressive Dallas City Council candidate Maxie Johnson (District 4) who will listen to and lift up the City’s communities of color. Learn more about Maxie here.
Our team will be knocking May 22 -25, May 29 – June 1, and ending strong on Election Day, June 5. We will be covering all District 4 precincts! We will be knocking on the doors of targeted Latino, Black, as well as TOP members and supporters. Our targeting used qualitative and quantitative modeling, vote history, and geography. All canvassers have been trained using strict adherence to CDC safety guidelines and have been equipped with fresh and new PPE equipment daily, that meet or exceed state guidelines. They are also being paid a hazard pay premium.
More than 1,200 unique households are being knocked in our program. In addition, our digital program will be targeting voters through social media ads in Dallas City Council, District 4. We are also partnering with our allies at Working Families Party Texas who are running an overlapping phone and text program into the district.
If you would like to support or volunteer for this initiative, contact us info@organizetexas.org.
Progress report (as of May 24, 2021):
- Special shoutout to our TOP member volunteers, leaders, staff, the Texas Working Families Party, who we have partner with for Maxie Johnson District 4 City Council
- We have partnered with RideShare2VOTE, who is providing voters with a free ride to the polls while observing CDC guidelines. RideShare2VOTE also has handicap accessible vehicles. Call them at 888-977-2250 if you or someone you know needs a ride.