Texas elects first-ever openly gay Black man for San Antonio City Council

Jalen McKee Rodriguez has made history in a landslide election win after securing over 60 per cent of votes.

The 26-year-old ran to represent the second district of the San Antonio City Council against incumbent Jada Andrew Sullivan who achieved 37 per cent of votes.

Speaking to KSAT news, the former high school math teacher expressed a hopeful outlook following the news of an election win.

”A lot of people said that District 2 wouldn’t be ready for a candidate like me. Would District 2 be ready for a young, gay candidate? Is Texas ready for a young, gay Black man to be elected anywhere into any position? And, so I think what we proved and what the community proved is that everyone deserves representation,” he told the news outlet.

Rodriguez added: “And if you have the right motives, if you have the right passions, and if you’re a good listener, the people will trust that.”

“I’m excited to be passing the torch and provide a voice for young people because we’re not represented in a number of ways at City Hall and in our government locally and nationally. And so I won’t take that lightly either.”

The newly elected councilman has lived in San Antonio since 2013. During his bid for election, Rodriguez appealed to the “stories” he had heard and petitioned for representation for “regular people like us”.

“I am running for City Council District 2 because in my career, I have heard thousands of stories, I’ve made millions of decisions, and I know that regular people like us deserve ears at city hall, not just scripted words and promised voices,” the 26-year-old shared on Twitter.

“City Council’s influence, especially in decisions around this pandemic, have affected our students and families greatly,” Rodriguez added in a Twitter thread.

“The families looking for assistance right now can’t be helped by our council office, because they have not been taking calls since this pandemic started.”

Councilman-elect Rodriguez publicly reacted to the win on social media a day after the election: “We did it! Thank you to my wonderful and supportive husband and family, the amazing team that had my back every step of the way, every friend who supported me, and every voter who placed their trust in me. Thank you!”