Place 4 candidate quits, backs Pressley

Place 4 candidate Marco Mancillas suspended his campaign Wednesday and endorsed one of the better known candidates in the race, Laura Pressley. In a news release entitled “Collaboration is more powerful than competition,” Pressley said Mancillas had “made the decision to halt his campaign” and support Pressley. In the release, Mancillas told Pressley that out of the eight candidates running for District 4, “you’re the right person for the job, and that’s why I’m jumping on your team to help you get there.” In addition, the duo took aim at the other presumed front-runners in the race, Katrina Daniel and Greg Casar. Mancillas criticized Daniel for allegedly taking money from lobbyists and Casar for taking money from donors who live outside of Austin. Asked to comment, Casar responded, “It’s unfortunate but not surprising (based on his policy positions) that Mancillas is standing alongside tea party leaders and Ron Paul activists supporting Pressley.” Although Pressley got the Statesman endorsement, Casar and Daniel have received the majority of other endorsements. According to their latest campaign finance reports, Casar and Daniel each maintained about $20,000 in the bank. Casar had raised about $15,000 in the last month, and Daniel about $13,000. Pressley reported that she had raised about $5,000 and maintained $15,000 as of last weekend. Mancillas’ most recent campaign finance report showed that he had spent more than $13,000 and had a little more than that left in the bank. However, he received only $350 in the last month, according to his report.