Incumbent Fuentes has just one challenger for the Council D2 seat

Austin voters living in District 2 will get to cast their ballots for Vanessa Fuentes or challenger Robert Reynolds in the upcoming City Council race.

District 2 encompasses the neighborhoods of Dove Springs, Del Valle, Pleasant Hill, Dittmar, Easton Park and Goodnight Ranch. Additionally, it includes the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, Circuit of the Americas racing track and McKinney Falls State Park.

Fuentes, the incumbent, was elected in 2020, the second Latina ever to fill the seat.

In her first term, she introduced and passed legislation to increase the minimum wage for city employees from $15 to $20 per hour as a part of the Fiscal Year 2022-23 budget. She has said this living wage amendment is her proudest accomplishment thus far on Council.

“The city workers union took a chance on me as a freshman legislator to introduce this legislation,” she said. Since this amendment was passed, there has been a ripple effect. “The city as a public sector employer raising the living wage extends to the private sector. … They are also raising their wages now,” Fuentes said.

Following the 2023 ice storm, Fuentes helped pass a policy to start the analysis of burying power lines in city-funded projects. Committed to equitable environmental justice, Fuentes co-sponsored the implementation of the Austin Climate Equity Plan.

If elected to a second term, Fuentes hopes to “continue improving child care access as well as addressing food insecurity… [and] working towards better public transportation, providing a more complete and connected community.”

Fuentes highlighted the decades of institutional neglect District 2 has suffered. South Austin has historically faced food, health care and banking deserts.

“Knowing that we accomplished so much in the first four years, there’s still so much to do,” she said. Noting these issues, Fuentes wants to continue “having engagement opportunities to ensure people feel confident in their local government … [and] bring city hall into the community.”

Fuentes was born and raised in Central Texas by her mother, a Mexican immigrant, and her father, a military veteran. She said her upbringing “played a huge part in my role as a policymaker. I know what it’s like to feel overlooked and not have access to basic resources.”

Before being elected, Fuentes worked for the American Red Cross as a grassroots advocacy strategist and for the Texas House of Representatives as a committee director. As a Council member, Fuentes serves as chair of the Public Health Committee and the Community Advancement Network Board of Directors. Additionally, she is a member of the Audit and Finance and Mobility committees and the CAMPO Transit Policy Board.

“Regardless of your background and where you come from … it’s important everyone gets to experience Austin to its fullest,” Fuentes said.

Robert Earl Reynolds, 53, is the lone challenger for Fuentes’ seat. Reynolds, a Republican who twice ran for the District 51 seat in the Texas House of Representatives, did not respond to press inquiries.

In July, Reynolds told the Austin Bulldog that he “was no career politician, just an average working guy.”

He said he is not trying to compete with Fuentes but “just trying to put word out there and run my campaign. It’s not about the money. I’ve never had money, never plan to have money. Success is based on the deeds I do. I’m not going to raise a ton of money, just do the best I can and put my best foot forward.”

Early voting begins Oct. 21 and ends Nov. 1.

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Posted In: Elections, District 2