As the first week of early voting comes to a close, political operatives from both parties say a police reform proposal on San Antonio’s May 6 ballot is drawing a large number of voters who don’t normally participate in municipal elections.
Unlike other recent issue-driven campaigns put forth by progressive activists, however, Proposition A appears to have bolstered voting among its opponents, with so-far little impact on its intended supporters.
Nowhere is that dynamic more pronounced that District 9, where Councilman John Courage is seeking a fourth and final term in the only council district Republican Gov. Greg Abbott carried in the November midterm election.
“The vote no campaign has bolstered Republican voting while at the same time hampering Democratic base support,” said San Antonio political strategist Bert Santibañez.
Early data shows the voting population has so far been more male and more conservative than in past city elections, according to Santibañez. That’s despite efforts from MOVE Texas, the Texas Organizing Project and Act 4 SA to promote Prop A’s decriminalization of abortion and marijuana to women and young people.
The proposed charter amendment, labeled by supporters as the “Justice Charter,” also aims to limit no-knock warrants, ban police chokeholds, expand San Antonio’s cite-and-release policy for low-level, nonviolent crimes and establish a “justice director” at City Hall.
In the first four days of voting, more than 19% of voters were not traditional municipal election voters, meaning they didn’t cast a ballot in a San Antonio city election in the past six years, according to data provided by Santibañez, who is working for several council candidates this cycle.
District 9 accounted for 22% of the city’s total voters. The next closest was District 10, with 14% of the vote.
“If I had to measure it by what I see here, people are very opposed [to Proposition A],” Councilman John Courage (D9) said in an interview outside Brookhollow Library, where he was greeting voters Saturday morning.
Brookhollow has so far been the city’s busiest voting location, totaling 3,780 votes in the first four days, compared with 2,604 at the second-highest location, Semmes Branch Library in District 10.
“People in my district tend to pay more attention to what local government is doing… even more than the state and national government,” said Courage. “I think that’s why we have better turnout in District 9 than any other city district in almost every election.”
District 9 is located entirely north of Loop 410, running from the San Antonio International Airport up U.S. 281, with its northern edge bordering Bulverde.
In the past week, Courage’s campaign said its election volunteers have sought to connect with an unusually large number of voters who came out to cast their vote against Prop A, despite knowing little about the council race.
That dynamic could present a challenge for Courage, who ran for office in Congress and the Texas Legislature as a Democrat before he was elected to the nonpartisan council in 2017.
Courage strongly opposes Proposition A and was one of three Northside councilmen who walked out of a procedural vote to place it on the ballot after the city attorney deemed its provisions largely unenforceable.
“My biggest concern is should it pass, then the city is going to have to defend that in court, and it’s going to be a very long drawn out process because there’s so much opposition,” Courage said Saturday. “I’m advising people not to vote for it in our district. I just don’t think it’s necessary.”
But Santibañez said stronger-than-expected backlash against Proposition A — from elected officials, business groups and the police union — has depressed turnout among traditional Democratic voters, whose support candidates like Courage need.
“If campaigns repeatedly communicate to Democratic voters Prop A is inconsequential in terms of abortion rights, marijuana decriminalization and other progressive-oriented issues, they’re likely to stay home and simply not vote,” Santibañez said.
This year Courage faces three challengers, including former Johnson High School band director Jarrett Lipman, who was endorsed by the Republican Party of Bexar County. None of the candidates campaigning at forums supports Proposition A.
Though Lipman is a political newcomer, his grassroots campaign fueled by former students and their parents raised $23,000 in the first quarter of 2023, more than any other council challenger except marketing executive Jeremy Roberts in District 1.
Speaking to local Republicans last month, Lipman suggested District 9 needed more conservative representation to match its residents’ values.
“I’m very passionate about our youth and our students, and, like you, I’m very afraid of the world that they’re going to enter into,” Lipman said. “I believe that District 9 has been represented for the last several years by someone that does not share our values. I think it’s time that we have an opportunity to have our voices heard.”
As voters arrived at Brookhollow Library on Saturday morning, many of them were eager to identify which political party the nonpartisan council candidates align with.
Unsatisfied with the answer she received from Courage, one District 9 voter asked a volunteer for District 10 candidate Marc Whyte’s campaign to point out the Republican in her race. (Whyte’s volunteer declined to assign a party to the District 9 candidates.)
Courage has relied on retail political skills to win tough races in the past, including a decisive 2021 runoff against Christian social activist Patrick Von Dohlen.
That year Courage faced backlash for standing with Black Lives Matter activists at City Hall, while Von Dohlen enjoyed support from the police union, which has advertised heavily around Prop A but stayed out of the District 9 council race this year.
As of March 27, Lipman had spent nearly all of his campaign funds, while Courage, who has one possible two-year term left, still had $35,000.
In the final weeks, Courage has aggressively sought to make clear his opposition to Proposition A, including displaying his stance prominently on campaign material outside the polling locations.
“I would rather be reassuring people that I’m going to make sure that there’s public safety that there’s good libraries, that there’s good parks, that the streets are going to be taken care of,” Courage said Saturday. “Instead of trying to educate people about Prop A.”
