Jalen Mckee Rodriguez has won his city council seat in San Antonio’s second district. Rodriguez is the first Black, openly gay candidate to ever be elected to any office in the state’s history. He is also an extremely young candidate, being just 26-years-old.
According to the Gay Times, Rodreguez was quoted saying, “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…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.”
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! pic.twitter.com/29MwHaQq8I
— Councilman-Elect Jalen McKee-Rodriguez (@theloserteacher) June 6, 2021
On his Twitter page, Rodriguez reacted to the win in a post, stating, “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!”
According to CBS San Antonio, Rodreguez also won by a hefty portion. The news agency reports that he received a whopping 63% of the vote, proving that he won in an absolute landslide.
