6 City Candidates: Austin’s Dangerous Socialist Push in D1

Austin, TX – Austin’s District 1 race offers voters a choice, but perhaps not the one the campaign literature would have you believe. Six candidates are running for the East Austin seat being vacated by Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison, and while Austin’s municipal elections are officially nonpartisan, the political lines are not exactly difficult to see.

The candidates are Alexandria Anderson, Steven Brown, Amber Goodwin, Michael Nahas, Misael Ramos and Portia Riggins. All six have filed for the November 3 election, according to Austin’s City Clerk.

There is, however, a rather striking ideological split inside that Democratic political universe.

On one side is Misael Ramos, who openly calls himself a Democratic AfroSocialist. On the other is Steven Brown, a Democrat whose political work has put him in an unusual alliance with Austin’s conservative and Republican activists.

Ramos isn’t hiding what he believes. His campaign website describes him as a “Democratic Socialist” and a “proven progressive.” He has spent years working on housing, labor, transit and public-safety issues and serves on the board of Rethink35, an organization opposed to expansion of Interstate 35. He also worked with the Advocates for Social Justice Reform coalition on Austin’s Counsel at First Appearance program.

Then there is his most revealing political relationship.

The Austin chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America has formally endorsed Ramos.

The DSA says its members will canvass for Ramos and assist with his get-out-the-vote effort. The organization openly says one of its activities is organizing electoral campaigns to elect socialists to office. Its other current campaigns include “Abolish ICE” and Austin Against Apartheid.

And that isn’t some anonymous endorsement buried on a website. It is an organized political operation promising people, labor and campaign support.

The national trend should concern anyone paying attention to American politics: organizations that openly identify with democratic socialism have increasingly moved from protest politics into electoral politics, seeking to place candidates inside the institutions that actually write budgets, regulate businesses and set public policy. Austin DSA itself says its goal is to build “working class power” and elect socialists.

Ramos fits that model neatly. But Brown is something else.

Brown is also a Democrat, but he previously served as the Democratic co-chair of Save Austin Now, working alongside Republican political activist Matt Mackowiak. The organization successfully fought Austin’s massive proposed property-tax increase in 2025, with Proposition Q ultimately defeated by voters. Save Austin Now described Brown and Mackowiak as its bipartisan leadership team.

Brown has also advocated for greater accountability and an independent audit of Austin’s finances, arguing that taxpayers deserve to know where their money is going. That is a considerably different political posture from Ramos’ socialist organizing.

However, this doesn’t make Brown a conservative by any means but it does make him a Democrat who has been willing to cross the increasingly rigid partisan lines surrounding Austin politics.

The other four candidates occupy various places in the city’s Democratic ecosystem. Anderson emphasizes inclusion, fiscal responsibility and neighborhood leadership and has received attention from the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund. Goodwin is backed by organizations including AFSCME 1624 and gun-control advocacy groups. Nahas identifies himself as a Democrat on his campaign site, while emphasizing low taxes and responsible spending. Riggins has publicly promoted equity as the foundation of her campaign and participated in a community event hosted by Black Austin Democrats.

So, District 1 voters are not simply choosing between six names on a ballot. They are choosing between competing visions for what Austin government should be, and the differences are becoming harder to disguise behind the city’s nonpartisan election rules.

Misael Ramos has made his political identity plain. He calls himself a Democratic Socialist, and Austin’s Democratic Socialists of America has put its organizational muscle behind his campaign. Steven Brown comes from a very different corner of Austin politics, having worked alongside Republican activist Matt Mackowiak at Save Austin Now on issues including taxes and public policy.

Neither label tells voters everything they need to know. But they provide a useful starting point.

In a city where City Council decisions reach into taxes, public safety, housing, development and the daily operation of local government, voters deserve to know who is supporting each candidate, what political organizations are backing them and what those candidates have actually said and done before asking for a seat at City Hall. District 1’s November election will offer a clear test of whether Austin’s political center is shifting, or whether the progressive coalition that has dominated city politics will continue to hold the ground it has gained.