Mayor Pro Tem Delia Garza will take over the position of Travis County attorney after defeating longtime city and county attorney Laurie Eiserloh in Tuesday’s primary election. Garza captured 56.7 percent of the more than 113,000 votes cast and tabulated as of Tuesday evening. No Republican is running for the office, which means that Garza, […]
Elections
Posted inElections
Ann Howard wins Democratic primary runoff in county commissioner Precinct 3 race
Ann Howard won Tuesday night’s Democratic Party primary runoff to decide who will compete to replace Gerald Daugherty in representing Precinct 3 on the Travis County Commissioners Court. “I’ll just start doing some hard work to get to know even more voters, so that I win in November,” Howard told the Austin Monitor on Tuesday. […]
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District Attorney Margaret Moore concedes after José Garza’s commanding early lead
Incumbent District Attorney Margaret Moore has conceded after a commanding lead in early voting and mail-in votes in support of challenger José Garza. The Democratic primary runoff for the office pitted the embattled incumbent against a self-described progressive who says he hopes to revamp criminal justice at the office. With early voting numbers in, Garza […]
Posted inElections
Is money going to decide Travis County races?
With early voting ending today for Tuesday’s Travis County runoff elections, the Democratic candidates for district attorney and county attorney were busy making phone calls trying to coax pandemic-weary voters to the polls. They were also filing campaign finance reports and perusing their opponents’ filings. In the race for Travis County district attorney, challenger José […]
Posted inLocal Politics
Political vets line up to take on City Hall, educate Austinites on transit and other key issues
A new nonprofit group appears ready to oppose ongoing City Council actions concerning mass transit, public safety, land use and city finances, promising a targeted education campaign in the coming months. The group Voices of Austin, a 501(c)(4) organized earlier this year by local political leaders, touts the findings of a recent poll of just […]
Posted inBonds & Propositions
Parks advocates push $750M bond proposal to add sidewalks, trails throughout city
Parks and transportation advocates hope to put a $750 million bond proposal on the November ballot that would fund many construction projects centered around “active transportation” found in the Austin Strategic Mobility Plan. The effort, led by the group Austin Outside, is focused on the call to improve sidewalks, bike lanes, urban trails and safety […]
Posted inElections
Misunderstanding may lower vote-by-mail numbers
As if worries about the coronavirus were not enough, some Travis County voters inadvertently failed to ask for the correct ballot when applying to vote by mail. As a result, some voters will get a ballot only for the Texas Senate District 14 race, but not for the various runoffs, mostly in the Democratic primary. […]
Posted inElections
Texans head to the polls amid spike in Covid-19 cases
Lee esta historia en español. Early voting for Texas’ primary runoff began Monday ahead of the July 14 election. Local officials are urging voters to take extra precautions during in-person voting as Covid-19 cases have been rising in the state. Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir said her office has set up 20 early voting locations […]
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Eckhardt leads in poll but trails in fundraising
According to a poll released by the Sarah Eckhardt campaign, the former Travis County judge has a wide lead in the race for Senate District 14 over both of her closest rivals, state Rep. Eddie Rodriguez and former City Council Member Don Zimmerman. The poll, which was conducted by Myers Research on June 2-4, found […]
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DeBeauvoir: More than 25,000 ballots in the mail
If you are one of more than 25,000 Travis County registered voters who requested to vote by mail in the July 14 primary runoff and special election, your ballot is likely on its way to you. Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir told the Austin Monitor that her staff has been working hard to process those applications […]
Posted inLocal Politics
County judge selection up to precinct chairs
When Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt announced in March that she would resign from her job as the leader of the Commissioners Court in order to run for Senate District 14, it set in motion a series of events that will likely culminate in county Democratic precinct chairs electing the next Travis County judge. So far, […]
Posted inElections
Federal appeals court temporarily halts expansion of mail-in voting in Texas
An expansion of Texas’ vote-by-mail program during the pandemic is on hold, again. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday temporarily blocked a lower court ruling from a day earlier that opened up mail-in voting to people under 65. Texas has one of the strictest vote-by-mail programs in the country. It’s open only […]