With the exception of District 1 Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison, incumbents who may run for re-election in 2026 have been gathering funds for possible races. That includes Council Members Ryan Alter (District 5), Zo Qadri (District 9) and Paige Ellis (District 8). Ellis has already indicated that she will be gathering signatures to put her […]
Campaign Finance
Posted inElections
Austin’s Ethics Review Commission dismisses complaints against Siegel and Faddis without prejudice
Two complaints about alleged campaign finance violations were dropped at a special called meeting of the city’s Ethics Review Commission, but they could be filed again in the future. Adam Haynes, a former member of the Planning Commission, filed the complaints, the first of which was against Mike Siegel, the recently elected City Council member […]
Posted inElections
January reports show who’s got the money to run again
On Jan. 15, months after votes from the November election were tallied, all City Council members and candidates filed reports showing how much they had in their campaign bank accounts as of Dec. 31. Mayor Kirk Watson is clearly the big spender from the November City Council ballot, having spent more than $1 million to […]
Posted inElections
Laine, Ganguly to see no penalties for ethics violations over election filings
The Ethics Review Commission found that two candidates in last year’s City Council elections violated the city’s financial disclosure requirements, but commissioners opted to not pursue penalties for either infraction. At Wednesday’s meeting, the commission held final hearings for two similar cases: a complaint filed by new District 10 Council Member Marc Duchen against his […]
Posted inElections
Ethics commission dismisses Watson and Greco cases and sets hearing on two other complaints
The city’s bruising election season comes to an end Saturday with a runoff in the District 7 City Council race, but the Ethics Review Commission’s work continues as it considers another round of the season’s ethics violation complaints. So far, the commission has dismissed two complaints and agreed to move forward with final hearings on […]
Posted inElections
Ethics complaint against Watson campaign still unsettled after hearing
The question of whether Mayor Kirk Watson’s reelection campaign violated the city’s campaign finance rules remained unsettled last week following a hearing before the Ethics Review Commission. The commission recessed shortly after 10 p.m. after deadlocking on one motion to dismiss the complaint and another to extend the meeting past 10 p.m. That left little […]
Posted inElections
Watson leads in fundraising among mayoral candidates
Mayor Kirk Watson leads all other candidates for mayor in terms of contributions received and political expenditures, according to reports filed Monday with the city clerk’s office. His Oct. 7 report shows that the mayor raised more than $216,000 over the most recent period, which started in mid-July. Watson reported raising more than $710,000 on […]
Posted inElections
Ethics complaint alleges mayoral candidates received too much money from outside the city
A former member of the city’s Ethics Review Commission, Betsy Greenberg, has filed ethics complaints against Mayor Kirk Watson and one of his challengers, Doug Greco. In her complaints, Greenberg alleges that both candidates collected more money from outside the city of Austin than is allowed under the city charter. The Austin Bulldog reported on […]
Posted inElections
Who’s raising money? Campaign finance reports show some surprises
Earlier this week, the Austin Monitor reported on campaign finance tallies for Mayor Kirk Watson, his opponents and candidates for District 7 and District 4. Now it’s time to look at the other races and the surprising fundraising by City Council members Zo Qadri and Ryan Alter, who are not up for reelection until 2026. […]
Posted inElections
City candidates’ financial filings are in for the latest fundraising period
Monday was the deadline to file campaign finance reports for members of City Council and other candidates in the November election. No one was surprised last week when the Austin Monitor reported that Mayor Kirk Watson had raised more than $710,000 between mid-April and June 30, probably more than his opponents are likely to raise […]
Posted inCourts
Judge declares city campaign contribution blackout period unconstitutional
U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman on Wednesday declared an Austin regulation on campaign fundraising unconstitutional. The regulation prohibits candidates for City Council seats from seeking or accepting campaign contributions more than a year before an election. Pitman issued his ruling on a case brought by former candidate Jennifer Virden and one of her supporters, William […]
Posted inElections
Lawsuit challenging city decision on Fair Campaign money fails
A Travis County judge has denied a temporary restraining order request from two City Council candidates who claim they were wrongly disqualified from receiving public campaign funds. District 3 candidate José Velásquez and District 5 candidate Ryan Alter filed the request in the 455th Civil District Court on Monday morning. The suit claimed they were […]