The US Trans Caucus Meets!

Back on May 9, the US Trans Caucus got together via Zoom to discuss the changing landscape of American politics.

The US Trans Caucus is comprised of Minneapolis city councilmembers Andrea Jenkins and Philippe Cunningham, and state Reps Brianna Titone of Colorado, Reps Gerri Cannon and Lisa bunker of new Hampshire and Del Danica Roem of VA 

Here's the video of that historic meeting of out trans legislators moderated by Councilmember Jenkins.. 

Trans Woman Elected To Office In West Virginia!

Trans political history was made on Tuesday night when Rosemary Ketchum was elected to the Wheeling, WV City Council by a mere 15 votes for the open Ward 3 seat.  Incumbent councilmember Melinda Koslik declined to run for reelection

She defeated three other candidates. including second place finisher Peggy Niebergall to take the open seat, running on a platform to address affordable housing and opioid addiction.   She was also supported by the LGBTQ Victory Fund.

"I am incredibly grateful to get the opportunity to represent my city," Ketchum said in a statement to CNN. "I hope that this election helps us push the needle in West Virginia so that we can fully embrace the power of culture, diversity, and representation in politics. I ran for office because I believe the job of an elected official is to reflect the values of their community in the actions of their leadership and that is why I am excited to serve."
The win made the 26 year old Ketchum the first out trans person in West Virginia and only the fourth TBLGQ person to hold public office in the state.

Ketchum is the associate director of NAMI of Greater Wheeling, an affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.  She has lived in Wheeling for over a decade, served on the board of ACLU West Virginia and is a member of Wheeling's Human Rights Commission.

Councilmember-elect Ketchum hopes that her election will be a big moment that opens eyes and hearts in West Virginia and the nation when it comes to transgender people

“I think trans people know they are capable of doing things like running for office and being elected. But I think it's much more important for the cisgender community, people who are not trans, to see that diversity is important and possible,” Ketchum said.

With the win, she joins a small but growing pool of 27 trans elected officials in the United States and takes office on July 1.   

Congratulations Councilmember -elect Ketchum!   Here's hoping that this is just the start of more amazing things in store for you, and that you'll be reelected to that seat when your term is up.

No White Supremacists On My City Council

Our Houston municipal elections back on November 5 led to the mayoral race and several city council  races going into runoffs.

One of those races going into a runoff is the At Large 4 city council race in which Anthony Dolcefino,  son of former ABC 13 investigative reporter Wayne Dolecefino, is in against Dr Letitia Plummer.

This is the seat that CM Amanda Edwards held and was expected to win reelection to before she surprisingly decided to jump into the 2020 US Senate race.

I wasn't a fan of young Dolecefino in large part because of what his father pulled back in 1991.

Wayne Dolcefino aired that libelous hit piece on Sylvester Turner mere days before that 1991 mayoral runoff that cost him the chance to become Houston's first Black mayor and cost Dolecefino his ABC13 reporting gig. 

He's been hatin' on ABC 13 and Mayor Turner ever since, and is a frequent conservafool fixture on FOX 26.

It seems that young Anthony has a troubling history of palling around with White supremacists that goes back to his days at UT.   I also find it interesting that the Houston Firefighters endorsed Dolcefino.

We don't need someone like that on our Houston City Council, and I urge you to vote for Dr Letitia Plummer next month when early voting starts to make sure that happens.

Many H-Town Races Going To Runoffs

No thanks to a last minute jacked up ruling from the Republican Texas Secretary of State Ruth R Hughs, the election results in Harris County and our Houston municipal election were delayed until well after midnight.

Mayor Sylvester Turner was comfortably ahead for most of the night, but unfortunately will be in a runoff against Trumper Tony 'I Don't Need To Be Mayor' Buzbee.

Mayor Turner released a statement early this morning once the runoff was assured.

"To those who voted for me, thank you. To those who did not, I will work hard to earn your votes 

"The good news about this runoff is that Houstonians have a very simple and very clear choice for mayor: An experienced leader who has been delivering for Houston for more than 30 years? Or a Donald Trump imitator who has no experience, no ideas and will say anything, do anything or spend anything to get elected? 

"I trust Houstonians to make the right decision for our city.

Controller Chris Brown won reelection to a second term, beating Orlando Sanchez.

In the City Council races, incumbent councilmembers Dave Martin (District E), Greg Travis (District G), Robert Gallegos (District I) and Martha Castex Tatum (District K) .

Castex Tatum won election for a full four year term of her own after succeeding the late councilmember Larry Green in May 2018 and finishing the remaining time on his term..

In an interesting development, all five of the at large council seats are going to runoffs.

At Large 1 incumbent Mike Knox will face Raj Salhotra. 
At Large 2 incumbent David Robinson will face off against HERO hating pastor Willie Davis. 
At Large 3 incumbent Michael Kubosh, who voted against HERO, will be challenged by Janaeya Carmouche. 
At Large 4 Anthony Dolcefino will square off against Dr Letitia Plummer for the seat being vacated by CM Amanda Edwards, who is running for the US Senate. 
At Large 5, Sallie Alcorn will battle Eric Dick for the seat being vacated by Jack Christie .

These Houston City Council district races are going to runoffs.

District A, Amy Peck will take on George Zoes in the battle to replace term limited councilmember Brenda Stardig. 
District B will feature a runoff contest between Tarsha Jackson and Cynthia Bailey 
District C will feature the expected runoff between Abbie Kaman and Shelley Kennedy
District D in a shocker, will have Carolyn Evans-Shabazz taking on Brad 'Scarface' Jordan from the rap group the Geto Boys to determine who replaces Dwight Boykins, who decided to run for mayor..
District F, Tiffany Thomas will face Van Huynh to replace incumbent Steve Le, who decided not to run for reelection. 
District H  incumbent Karla Cisneros will face Isabel Longoria, 
District J Sandra Rodriguez will face Edward Pollard

In the HCCS races, in District I Monica Flores Richart fell just short of winning the seat outright, and will face longtime homophobe and transphobe Dave Wilson.

In HCCS District II- Rhonda Skillern Jones will face Kathy Lynch-Gunter 

In the HISD races, incumbents Sergio Lira (Position 3) and Board president Diana Davila (Position 8) were ousted by their challengers Dani Hernandez and Judith Cruz   

Position 2 will be decided in a runoff between Kathy Bluefield Daniels and John Curtis Gibbs.
Position 4 will be decided in a runoff between Patricia Allen and Matt Barnes.   Patrica is the daughter of TX state Rep Alma Allen and sister of SBOE member Lawrence Allen 

But will it be enough to preempt a threatened state takeover of HISD?

In HD 148, the battle to replace retiring state rep Jessica Farrar will be between Democrat Anna Eastman and Republican Luis La Rotta

Down in Fort Bend County, in a closely watched special election race in HD 28,  Eliz Markowitz and perennial candidate Gary Gates will face off to determine who will replace the retired John Zerwas.

It is one of the nine seats Texas Democrats must flip in order to seize control of the Texas house for the first time since 2002   Markowitz was the lone Democrat running against five republicans for this seat.  and led for much of the night .

We'll see if she can capture the seat in a Fort Bend County that is turning purple.

The TransGriot 2019 Houston Municipal Election Endorsements

Since one of the things I talk about on this blog is politics from a trans perspective, I do pay attention to what's going on at the city, county, state, national and international level when it comes to what's happening in the political world.

As a person who is also a writer and advocate, it's also my job to know and pass that info on to you.  I want people to be more informed voters when it's time for you to head to the polls.

The early voting period starts October 21 and runs until November 2.  Election Day for our Houston municipal election and the special Texas House elections will be on November 5

Speaking of voting, if you wish to participate in our upcoming Houston municipal election or the Texas House special elections, you'll have until October 7 to register to vote in order to be eligible to do so.

Now that the basic information is out of the way, let's get to the endorsements.

***

Mayor- Sylvester Turner
Controller- Chris Brown 

City Council
District A- Iesheia Ayers Wilson
District B- Tarsha Jackson
District C- Shelley Kennedy
District D- Carla Brailey
District F-  Anthony Nelson
District G- Crystal Pletka 
District H- Isabel Longoria
District I-  Robert Gallegos 
District J- Sandra Rodriguez 
District K- Martha Castex Tatum 

At Large 1-  Georgia Provost
At Large 2-  David Robinson 
At Large 3- Janaeya Carmouche
At Large 4-  Dr. Letitia Plummer 
At Large 5- Ashton P. Woods

Houston Community College System Trustee 

District 1- Monica Flores Richart 
District 2- Rhonda Skillern Jones

HISD Trustee

District II- Kathy Blueford Daniels
District III-  Daniela Hernandez 
District IV- Larry McKinzie
District VIII- Judith Cruz

Texas House Special Elections

HD-28 -  Eliz Markowitz 
HD-148- Penny Morales Shaw 

METRONext- YES

Moni Is Going To San Antonio!

Going to San Antonio for the second time this year, and this time it's for two purposes.

May 4 is election day here in the Lone Star State.  San Antonio, Dallas and other municipalities across the state will have elections on that day. 

One of the election campaigns I'm watching is a San Antonio city council race which pits Frankie Gonzales Wolfe against an incumbent council member in District 8.

If Wolfe wins, she would become the first trans Texan elected to public office in the Lone Star State, and possibly the first out trans Latina elected nationally to any office.  I definitely want to be there to witness that history should it happen.

It goes without saying that I enthusiastically endorse Frankie Gonzales Wolfe for that San Antonio city council seat

May 4 is also my birthday and I wanted to do something on my birthday this year besides chilling in my apartment.   

So that's just a few of the reasons why I'll be spending it on the San Antonio end of I-10.   I hope I'll have a lot to celebrate before that day is over.     

Frankie Gonzales-Wolfe Is Running For San Antonio City Council

Over the last two election cycles in 2017 and 2018, voters have increasingly shown their willingness to elect trans candidates to office.   Councilmembers Andrea Jenkins and Phillipe Cunningham are serving their constituents on the Minneapolis City Council, with Jenkins also serving as the council vice president.

VA Del. Danica Roem is one of four openly trans state legislators serving her constituents in her district, and was joined by Rep Brianna Titone in Colorado, and Reps Gerri Cannon and Lisa Bunker in NH in the 2018 election cycle.

Here in Texas,  we have had trans masculine and trans feminine people running for all kinds of offices, and some have even made history like Phyllis Frye, our first transgender municipal judge in Houston who was reappointed by Mayor Sylvester Turner, and Jess Herbst, who served as mayor of New Hope,TX after the death of the town's longtime mayor.

Finn Jones and Jenifer Rene Pool were the first to win Democratic Party primary races for the state legislature and Harris County commissioner, and Vanessa Edwards Foster got an impressive 17% of the vote in her 2018 Democratic congressional primary race.

But unfortunately we have had no openly trans Texan elected to public office in the Lone Star State, much less any trans Texans of color who have attempted to run for office.

Frankie Gonzales-Wolfe is attempting to change that.   She's a small business owner and political consultant who has been running various campaigns for over 20 years.

Now this proud trans Latina is taking on the challenge of running her own potentially historic race for the San Antonio City Council.

She's running for the District 8 seat in northwest San Antonio against the incumbent council member Manny Pelaez and Tony Valdivia

The 55 square miles inside the District 8 boundaries  are not only the most diverse and fastest growing area of the city of San Antonio, it is home to UTSA, UT Health San Antonio, the San Antonio Medical Center, three of the city's largest employers in Valero, USAA and NuStar, the Fiesta Texas amusement park,  the Camp Bullis military base and the Northside ISD.

It was also formerly represented by current San Antonio mayor Ron Nirenberg, and has a history of  producing people who have moved on to statewide leadership.

Gonzales-Wolfe wants more transparency and inclusion in San Antonio city government, and has a vision for District 8 that seek to deal with traffic and infrastructure issues, growth, climate change
and economic development.

She is working hard to make sure on May 4 that history is made and a Texas electoral ceiling is pushed through.

Good luck, Frankie!  Hope you make that Texas history and give me something else to celebrate on my birthday!

Two Trans Women Elected In Alaska!

We in the lower 48 don't get much news out of Alaska, and when we do it's focused far too often on the tabloid mess coming from the Palin family.

But in a rough week for trans kind, we definitely can use some good news, and it's coming out of the city of Fairbanks.

In an electoral history making moment in the state of Alaska, two trans people have been elected to office in the area, and are now serving in their respective positions in Kathy Ottersten and Liz Lyke.

It comes during an election year in which like everywhere else in the US, women were running for office at all levels of government 

Ottersten was elected to a Fairbanks city council seat, while Lyke was elected to a seat on the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly,  Fairbanks is the second largest city in the state of Alaska with an estimated population of 32,751 residents.  The Fairbanks North Star Borough has a population of over 97,000 residents.

Boroughs are equivalent to county level governments in the other 48 states.

Ottersten is serving as a newly elected representative on the Fairbanks City Council in Seat D for one year.  Lyke is ironically serving a three year term on the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly in Seat D.

While Ottersten and Lyke just want to get to the business of serving their constituents and insist that being trans is just a small portion of their lives, I and the trans community recognize and salute the political history they just made in the Last Frontier for our community. 

Congrats ladies, and may you have much success serving your community to the best of your ability. 

Danielle Skidmore Gets Endorsed By Texas Equity PAC

Danielle Skidmore is one of the wave of trans candidates in this 2018 election cycle who are   #TransformingPolitics by running for various offices across the country and making history in some cases while doing so..

Skidmore is running for the District 9 seat on the Austin City Council, taking on incumbent Councilmember Kathie Tovo, who has been there since 2011.

Some good news in this ongoing Austin city council race for her. 

She has been endorsed by the Texas Equity PAC, the political action committee for Equality Texas.  The Texas Equity PAC seeks to elect pro-equality candidates like Danielle in local and state races.

Danielle was obviously thrilled to get the endorsement, and had this to say about it.

"I am honored to receive the endorsement of a group that has supported Mary González and so many others who inspire my fight for equality. We have a chance to make history here in Texas, but can't do it without the support of every day Texans contributing what they can to carry us to victory!" 

Danielle is not accepting PAC money for this council race, so if you wish to support her, you can send donations for her campaign via this link.

Here's hoping I hear some more good news from the ATX concerning her campaign on November 6.

Run Danielle Run! Another Texas Trans Person Is Running For Office

The record breaking year of Texas TBLGQ people running for public office continues as Danielle Skidmore has decided to run for the Austin City Council's District 9.

The seat is currently held by Austin Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo, who is running for reelection and has held the District 9 seat since 2011.

I had the pleasure of meeting Danielle last year as part of the team of trans Texans and allies working hard to kill SB 6.

She has appointed Alicia Roth Weigel as her campaign treasurer, but won't be able to officially file to run for the central Austin city council seat until July 23

Skidmore is an engineer who also serves on Austin's LGBTQ Quality of Life Commission 

If Skidmore is successful in the race this November, she'd become only the second openly trans elected official in the Lone Star State and the first ever in the city of Austin, which has a statewide and national rep as a liberal progressive enclave.

I wish her the best of luck, and I'm eager to see if Danielle gets to make that history later this year.

What's Phillipe Doing On The Minneapolis City Council?

When I wrote the post about Councilmember Andrea Jenkins being elected Minneapolis City Council vice president, I was also researching what Ward 4 Councilman Phillipe Cunningham was doing and what committees he was serving on in order to put it in a standalone post.

Just a reminder we have two awesome Black trans folks serving on the Minneapolis City Council as freshman council members, and they aren't the average freshman councilmembers.

Phillipe served as a senior policy advisor to Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges from 2015 until he resigned to successfully run for the Ward 4 seat

I also wanted my trans brother to get his moment in the TransGriot sun since he earned his place in this history books as well.    Phillipe also made history by becoming the first Black transmasculine person ever elected to office in the US in any capacity.   He also beat a 20 year incumbent and the former Minneapolis council president who had a three to one fundraising advantage in doing so

Phillipe is serving as the chair of the Health, Environment Civil Rights and Engagement Committee, the vice chair of the Committee of the Whole,  and vice chair of the Race Equity Subcommittee  (Andrea is chair), and is a member of the Ways and Means, and Public Safety and Emergency Management Committees.

And he's also meeting with his Ward 4 constituents 

So as you can see, Phillipe is definitely earning his paycheck, and then some. 

Andrea Jenkins Elected Minneapolis City Council Vice President!

Time to drop another Black history nugget on y'all.

As many of you know we had two Black trans persons in Andrea Jenkins and Phillipe Cunningham be elected to the Minneapolis City Council.   One of the first things that was done in the wake of the January 9 inauguration of the Council was holding an organizational meeting to determine who the new council president and vice president would be, the committee chairs, and the committee assignments for all thirteen councilmembers.

The council president one is a big deal because that person determines who chairs the twelve standing Minneapolis council committees and the membership of them.  It was during that organizational meeting that Jenkins was elected vice president of the council

Andrea is not your average freshman council member.  She is well prepared for the council vice president position, having served for 12 years as a policy aide for two Ward 8 council members in Robert Lilligren and Elizabeth Glidden, who both served as council vice president. 

Andrea is also chairing two of the council's permanent committees.

Sharon Sayles-Belton, another Ward 8 council member, served as the president of the council before being elected Minneapolis mayor in 1993. 

Andrea is also keeping a Ward 8 council leadership tradition going, and major props to her for doing so.

It's Inauguration Day For Councilmembers Cunningham and Jenkins!

Today was the public inauguration in Minneapolis for Councilmembers Phillipe Cunningham and Andrea Jenkins, Mayor Jacob Frey and their council colleagues in the Minneapolis City Hall rotunda. 

After the public inauguration, and the mayor's inauguration speech,  they and their city council colleagues immediately went to the council chambers to meet and elect a new council president and determine who the various committee chairs would be.

It's going to be an exciting but busy day for Andrea and Phillipe in Minneapolis today.  They'll find out their committee assignments, and after that get busy with the nuts and bolts work of helping to run Minneapolis.

And looking forward to hearing them talk about it the next time I get to spend quality time with either of them.

Keeping My Houston City Council First Meeting of the Year Tradition Going

One of the New Year's traditions I've been observing that's a fairly new one for me is to attend the first Houston City Council meeting of the year.

It started out of necessity in 2014 when in the wake of Mayor Annise Parker's election to her final term in November 2013, the chatter about a Houston non-discrimination ordinance started ramping up.  Dee Dee Watters and I were concerned that transgender Houstonians would be left out of it because we had no elected trans representation on council, and we showed up at the first Council meeting of 2014 with several Houston Black trans peeps in tow.

At that January 2014 public comment meeting we insisted that any Houston non-discrimination ordinance being considered for adoption cover gender identity in order to protect the trans community. 

We also served notice at that January 2014 meeting that any attempt to pass a HERO without trans protections would leave the Houston trans community with no choice but to work to kill it. 

That's how it started, and ever since then either both of us or one of us will make certain that we are in the council chambers for that first council meeting of the year. 

Today it was my smiling face bringing Happy New Year greetings from the trans community, thanking Mayor Turner, HPD Chief Art Acevedo and his command staff for attending the vigil we held at City Hall for Brandi Seals, our Houston trans sister who was murdered last month. 

I also called for a renewed push to pass HERO 2.0 since in the wake of the November 2015 repeal of HERO, discrimination incidents, especially aimed at the Houston TBLGQ community have been rising.

And as soon as the video pops up, I'll post it.

We'll see what happens as the rest of 2018 transpires, but I definitely will be keeping an eye on Houston City Hall and won't rest until it does.

And yes, I'll be at the first meeting in January 2019.   That's an election year in H-town.

Minneapolis Council Members Cunningham and Jenkins Get Acclimated To Their New Job

With us being in the second day of the new year, that means that the trans folks who were elected in those groundbreaking historic elections back in November now over the next few days and weeks get sworn in and start to handle their constituents business.

Here's now Councilmember Andrea Jenkins in a picture from her FB page getting sworn in this morning in Minneapolis.

Here's Councilmember Cunningham's inauguration pic.   He's ready and eager to do the job for the residents of his northside Ward 4 along with his staff .

There's also in the wake of the election, interviewing and hiring the staff for your council office.  And yes, you also have training to go through as a councilperson like any other job. 

There was a three day orientation in which Andrea and Phillipe spent several days learning the nuts and bolts basic rules in filing ordinances and bills, voting procedures and getting up to speed on local state and federal policies that impact the city

And at $98,695 a year, the salary is nice as well.

Yes people, you have to put in the work to be an effective legislator, and having the pleasure of knowing both of them, I know they are more than prepared and ready to hit the ground running as councilmembers.

The big public one takes place on January 8 in Minneapolis when all the councilmembers gather in the City Hall rotunda to be sworn in starting at 9:30 AM CST.

Following that swearing in, the organizational meeting for city council will take place in which the Minneapolis City Council leadership will be elected.   Remember Philllpe beat the incumbent council president Barb Johnson in his race who had been in that Ward 4 seat 20 years and spent the last eight of her term as the Minneapolis City Council president.

The new council president, once elected by majority vote of the council, then will assign members to various committees and appoint the committee chairs.

January 8 will not only be a historic day not only for Andrea and Phillipe, but the city of Minneapolis and the trans community as well. 

Where's President Joseph Charles?

Houston City Council public comment sessions can be entertaining at times with people from all walks of life able to speak for up to three minutes on whatever topic they choose. 

That means that in addition to having people come to City Hall to comment on issues like flooding, potholes, public safety and other issues germane to life in a large city, we also get our share of peeps who use their time to discuss conspiracy theories worthy of an Alex Jones InfoWars episode.

One way we regulars who speak at Houston City Council meetings definitively know that we have come to the end of a public comment session is when President Joseph Charles comes to the podium to get his one minute to say whatever he wants until his time has expired.



He's been a fixture at every City Council public comment session for over a decade, but during my last visit to City Hall I noticed that somebody was missing:  President Joseph Charles.

No one at City Hall has seen or heard from him over the last several months, so that has my inquiring mind asking the question where is he?   

Is President Joseph Charles still in town?  Has an illness or medical issue cropped up that has kept him from coming to City Hall?   Or has he passed on? 

It would be nice to have a definitive answer to these questions I'm posing.

Andrea Jenkins Makes History -Wins In Minneapolis

The wonderful electoral night continues for the trans community as Andrea Jenkins overwhelmingly won her Minneapolis City Council Ward 8 seat and became the first out Black trans person to win elective office in the nation.

This city council race wasn't close.  Jenkins captured 73% of the votes in Minneapolis' ranked choice system, dwarfing the next closest contender by nearly 4000 votes 

She also became with the win the first trans person of any ethnic background to capture a city council seat in a major city, and the first Black trans person since Althea Garrison in 1992 to win elective office. 

Congratulations Councilmember-elect Jenkins.  So proud of your historic win as well. 

Houston City Council Votes To Join SB 4 Lawsuit

After a contentious city council public session yesterday that featured over 200 impassioned speakers, several state legislators along with weeks of grassroots pressure to do the right thing, they Houston City Council finally got off the sidelines and into the legal game on SB 4.

Houston is home to according to the Pew Research Center the third largest population of undocumented immigrants in the US behind New York and Los Angeles.

On a 10-6 vote with one abstention in CM Jack Christie, Council voted to join the lawsuit filed by Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, El Paso County, several local governments, and nonprofit organizations in a  consolidated suit against the state of Texas over its racist and unjust SB 4 law that gets a hearing on Monday in San Antonio.

Mayor Sylvester Turner said prior to the vote," This it not an issue of our choosing, but when it ends up on your plate, you have to address it

Mayor Turner was one of the ten YES votes in addition to Councilmembers Dwight Boykins, Karla Cisneros, Ellen Cohen, Jerry Davis, Amanda Edwards, Robert Gallegos, Larry Green, Mike Laster and David Robinson.

Voting NO in opposition to joining the lawsuit were Councilmembers Mike Knox, Michael Kubosh, Steve Le, Dave Martin, Greg Travis and Brenda Stardig.

It was also laughable to hear the conservative councilmembers hypocritically whine about taking laws you don't like to court when you lose legislatively because that's exactly what they did to stymie implementation of and eventually kill the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance.

The vote came after the majority of the citizens who came to City Hall yesterday to offer five hours of testimony, urged council to join the lawsuit.

SB 4 was recently signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott (R) an allow police if they stop someone to inquire about their immigration status.   It also threatens sheriffs and police chiefs who refuse federal requests to hold immigrants detained for other alleged crimes with jail time and fines for non-compliance with the unjust law.

Unless SB 4 is declared unconstitutional in federal or state court, it will take effect on September 1.

Here's hoping that happens.

Congratulations Councilmember-elect Narvaez!

A few hours ago I received another reminder of just how many amazing people I have in my life and who call me their friend.

I've known Omar Narvaez for several years now thanks to his work with Lambda Legal in their Dallas regional office, as a past three time president of the Stonewall Democrats of Dallas and his service on the Dallas County School Board.   He was elected in 2015 to his first full six year term on the Dallas County School Board after being appointed in May 2014 to fill a vacancy on that board.

.

He recently ran for the Dallas City Council District 6 seat in West Dallas currently held by Monica Alonzo, who is also the Dallas Mayor Pro Tem and sister of Texas state rep Roberto Alonzo (D).

Narvaez during the May 6 city election made it to the runoff with Alonzo, and armed with endorsements from the AFL-CIO and former Dallas city councilmember Angela Hunt, beat her in the runoff.  All the District 6 precincts reported in a few hours ago and have been counted, so that means Omar is the councilmember-elect for District 6.

It wasn't close.  Narvaez and #TeamOmar flipped the Election Day script, and garnered 1132 votes (58% of the vote) to Alonzo's 828 votes (42% of the vote).

Alonzo was one of three incumbent Dallas council members and allies of current Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings to lose their council seats yesterday.  Alonzo was joined by her council colleagues Tiffinni Young in District 7, the southeast Dallas district that includes Fair Park where the Texas State Fair happens, and Erik Wilson in the south Dallas centered District 8.

Mayor Rawlings had endorsed Alonzo and Young, and stayed neutral in the District 8 race.

"I'm ready to fight the corruption and get it stopped at City Hall and to stop the wasteful use of our tax dollars on boondoggle projects,"Narvaez said in a Dallas Observer story.  "For far too long, District 6 has been underrepresented;  It's time for thoughtful and intelligent leadership at City Hall.

And it looks like on runoff election night, District 6 agrees with you.

Congratulations Councilmember-elect Narvaez!   Amazing accomplishment, and know you are looking forward to this exciting new challenge of representing your District 6 constituents at Dallas City Hall.