Three San Antonio City Council members — Jalen McKee-Rodriguez, Teri Castillo and Ric Galvan — identify as democratic socialists and belong to the San Antonio chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. No other Texas city has as many DSA members serving on its council.
Their elections reflect a broader resurgence of democratic socialism, particularly among younger voters concerned about housing costs, health care, wages and economic inequality.
DSA membership has grown from several thousand people a decade ago to more than 100,000, while members and endorsed candidates have recently gained ground in municipal elections from New York and Washington to Seattle and Los Angeles.
Democratic socialists argue that democracy should extend beyond elections into workplaces and the economy. The DSA platform supports universal health care, publicly owned housing and energy systems, stronger labor unions, free public education, rent controls, higher taxes on wealth and greater public ownership of major industries.
It also calls for reducing military spending, abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement and restructuring parts of the federal government.
In San Antonio, the movement has generally focused on local affordability and public services. Its council members have promoted zero-fare transit, utility-rate reforms, tenant protections, public-housing improvements and greater investment in mental-health responses.
Critics, including conservative and centrist council members, question whether some proposals are financially sustainable and argue that resisting police expansion could conflict with residents’ public-safety concerns.
President Donald Trump and other Republicans have increasingly portrayed the movement as “communist.” In July, Trump described communism as a “cancer” that must be removed and declared that Americans could be communists or patriots, “but you cannot be both.”
Political scholars say democratic socialism is distinct from the authoritarian, one-party systems historically associated with communism. Still, the movement’s explicit opposition to capitalism and support for extensive public ownership give conservatives substantial ideological grounds for criticism, even when the communist label exaggerates what most democratic-socialist candidates propose.
Guests:
Ashik Siddique is the National Co-Chair of Democratic Socialist of America.
Amador Salazar is co-chair of San Antonio Democratic Socialists of America
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