Steven Rivas

Austin is at its best when leaders show up and deliver for the people who make this city what it is.

Council Member Ryan Alter has done exactly that.

As a Latino who’s spent two decades working across communities here, I pay attention to who follows through. Ryan has been a steady partner for Austin’s Latino community and a strong advocate for LGBTQIA2S+ quality of life, including funding for HIV, STI, and Mpox prevention and support for a future 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ cultural center.

Ryan is also focused on strengthening the historic Bettie Naylor district and making sure small businesses downtown have the support and safety they need to thrive.

That kind of leadership matters right now.

I’m proud to serve as a co-host for a breakfast supporting his reelection:

Tuesday, April 14, 2026
8:00–9:30 AM
Juan in a Million
2300 E. Cesar Chavez St.

RSVP: [email protected]

Join us. Let’s keep moving Austin forward!

Today is Transgender Day of Visibility 🏳️‍⚧️

Visibility matters because silence has never protected anyone.

Trans Texans are our neighbors, our friends, our family. They deserve to live openly and safely.

Texas is home to the 2nd-largest transgender population in the country. And transgender people are more than 4x as likely to experience violent crime.

This is about dignity and who we choose to stand with.

Austin has long been a place where people can be themselves and be welcomed for it. That identity matters. It is part of who we are.

This is a moment to continue that tradition and show up for our LGBTQIA2S+ Austinites.

Right now, $800,000 for HIV, STI, and Mpox prevention is still missing from the budget.

This is something we can fix together.

Please tell the Mayor & Council Members: Restore $800k for lifesaving HIV, STI, and Mpox programs in Austin’s upcoming budget.

All Council Members | AustinTexas.gov

Dustin Burrows just put out his priority list for Texas.

And one item stands out.

A study on whether Texas should annex counties from New Mexico.

That’s on the list.

At a time when Texans are dealing with real pressures in their daily lives.

Since 2021, Texas has spent billions of dollars on border operations.

Meanwhile, our public schools are under strain.

Teachers are leaving. Districts are cutting budgets and closing campuses. Families are being asked to do more with less.

Higher education is feeling pressure as well, with shifting enrollment patterns and growing financial strain in some programs.

And instead of focusing on those realities, we’re studying whether to redraw the state line.

Here is what that would actually take:

1. Voters in those New Mexico counties would have to approve leaving their state.

2. New Mexico’s government would have to agree to give up that land.

3. Texas would have to approve taking it.

4. Congress would have to sign off.

That is not a near-term outcome.

That’s not governing. That’s a sideshow.

Texans are not asking for any of that.

They’re asking for schools that work. Costs they can manage. Leadership that understands what 2026 actually looks like.

We are about 29 weeks out from early voting. Let’s elect Democrats up-and-down the ballot in November!