Don Zimmerman, one of the city’s most controversial City Council members, conceded to challenger Jimmy Flannigan yesterday after the early voting results were released in the early evening, with 12,542 votes (57.65 percent) for Flannigan and 9,213 (42.35 percent) for Zimmerman. The final count was 56.45 percent for Flannigan and 43.55 percent for Zimmerman. The […]
November 2016 elections
Posted inElections
Garza, Casar easily win re-election
District 4 City Council Member Greg Casar, the youngest member ever elected to the City Council, claimed another victory last night, beating two opponents who seemed almost invisible. District 2 Council Member Delia Garza – Council’s first Latina, elected during her first run for office in 2014 – also easily defeated two opponents who were […]
Posted inCity Council, Elections, Uncategorized
Pool wins District 7
Tuesday night, incumbent Leslie Pool easily won her District 7 seat for City Council against challenger and political newcomer Natalie Gauldin. Early voting results Tuesday evening solidly placed her in the lead by 40 percent, giving rise to dinnertime cheers from her supporters. “Leslie has been a huge champion of workers,” said Jeremy Hendricks, business […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Apocalypse later
Must be Tuesday… There are a lot of details that will be needed to be sorted on Tuesday. (Most pressing, probably: Is it the end of the world or not? And: Where’s my bug-out bag?) Thankfully, one of the details no longer on the table is keeping track of what happens at the City Council […]
Posted inElections
Prop 1, District 10, 7 races bring in cash
It’s anybody’s guess whether the city’s $720 million transportation bond proposition, known as Proposition 1, will win voter approval next week, but if it does not, it won’t be because of lack of funding. Move Austin Forward, the political action committee supporting the bond, has reported total political expenditures of more than $701,000. The campaign […]
Posted inPolice
How the Travis County DA’s race could affect police use-of-force cases
One race tucked into the crowded ballots that Travis County voters are seeing this election could have a substantial effect on police use-of-force cases. From the death of Eric Garner in New York to the death of David Joseph here in Austin, the majority of these cases share a coda: Local prosecutors fail to bring […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: That’s not a dog. THIS is a dog.
Waterfall of Chihuahuas… If Robert “Crocodile” Corbin’s multiple accounts of abuse by dogs and “arrogant dog owners” are to be taken at face value, it’s no wonder he regularly pleads with city leaders to scrap Austin’s “no-kill” policy. Before urging members of the City Council Open Space, Environment and Sustainability Committee to evict Austin Pets […]
Posted inTransportation
In a city with many fatal car crashes, what will a $720 million bond do for road safety?
One hundred and two people died on Austin’s roads last year – the most in the city’s recorded history. There was the young woman killed around 5 a.m. while walking on the Interstate 35 frontage road; the 55-year-old unnamed bicyclist hit by a truck on Brodie Lane. Austin voters are now being asked to approve […]
Posted inElections
Record turnout greets first day of early voting
Voting on the first day of early voting in Travis County shattered previous records, with 35,066 voters casting ballots at polling locations throughout the county. An additional 11,020 mail-in ballots were received, bringing to 46,086 the total number of voters who have cast ballots so far – more than double the first-day total from 2012, […]
Posted inElections
Record turnout expected as early voting begins
The end is near. Early voting in Austin kicks off on Monday, heralding the imminent conclusion of 2016’s drawn-out election cycle, and Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir says her team is bracing for record turnout. Last Tuesday, DeBeauvoir told the Travis County Commissioners Court that she expects 488,000 voters to make their voices heard on […]
Posted inElections
Seven residents vie for AISD seats
Today marks the first day of early voting, and the Austin Independent School District board of trustees has five seats up for grabs, with seven residents vying for spots. However, only two seats are being contested. Cindy Anderson and David Quintanilla both filed for Gina Hinojosa’s seat, at-large position eight. Hinojosa held the at-large seat […]
Posted inCity Council, Radio
Austin Monitor Radio: Council Member Sheri Gallo
Austin City Council Member Sheri Gallo joins Austin Monitor publisher Mike Kanin to chat about her reelection campaign. Post is embedded below. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/289591207″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]