Voters strongly approved the city’s latest bond proposal to create more affordable housing, giving the city another $350 million to direct toward housing acquisition, repair and rental programs. The vote totals from Travis County as well as portions of Hays and Williamson counties covered by the proposition had it winning by just over 70 percent, […]
November 2022 elections
Posted inElections
District 3 Council race headed to a runoff
José Velásquez and Daniela Silva are poised to go head-to-head in a runoff after election results Tuesday night show the two candidates garnered the most votes for the District 3 City Council member seat. Velásquez received 7,650 votes for 36.43 percent of the vote, while Silva trailed just behind with 7,228 votes for 34.42 percent. […]
Posted inElections
Bazan, Alter set for runoff in District 5
Six candidates lined up this year to take the seat held by retiring City Council Member Ann Kitchen, who has served District 5 since 2015. When the votes were counted on Tuesday, the two candidates whose campaigns emphasize streamlining development regulations, including compatibility standards to speed up building new housing, remained in the ring. Stephanie […]
Posted inElections
Ellis and Harper-Madison easily win reelection to Council
In some of the least-surprising news Tuesday night had to offer, City Council incumbents Natasha Harper-Madison and Paige Ellis both held on to their seats in decisive victories over their opponents. In District 1, Harper-Madison, who has served on Council since 2019 and was mayor pro tem in 2021, ended the night with almost 54 […]
Posted inElections
How to get a free or cheap ride to go vote in the Austin area
You shouldn’t need a car to cast a ballot, but in a car-centric city like Austin, sometimes transportation is the biggest obstacle to voting. Lack of access to a car depresses turnout most among young voters and non-white voters, according to researchers at Harvard. So here are some free or discounted ways to get to a […]
Posted inElections
Reports show wide disparities in fundraising among candidates
Last week, candidates running for City Council submitted their final campaign finance reports before Tuesday’s election, revealing a wide array of funds across campaigns and districts. DISTRICT 9 With Council Member Kathie Tovo stepping down, numerous people are vying to take the downtown seat. The major contenders seem to be Linda Guerrero, Tom Wald and […]
Posted inElections
Five seats on the Austin ISD school board are up for election. These are the candidates.
This fall’s election is poised to have a significant impact on Austin ISD’s future. There is a $2.44 billion bond package on the ballot, which is the largest in district history. If voters approve the bond, the district will be able to rebuild and renovate schools, fix critical infrastructure issues, improve athletic facilities and invest in technology. […]
Posted inElections
Reports show Watson spending far ahead of the pack
Mayoral candidate Kirk Watson, who wishes to claim the center seat again, has raised and spent far more money than any other candidate in his race – or any of the others up for election next week. Watson, a former mayor and former senator, reported that he had spent more than $830,000 while receiving more […]
Posted inElections
Ethics commission notifies D8 candidate of campaign materials violation
The Ethics Review Commission will file a letter of notification for a City Council candidate who neglected to put required disclaimers on some of his campaign materials. At last week’s meeting, the commission held the preliminary hearing for the complaint by one-time Texas House candidate Julie Oliver against Richard Smith, who is running for the […]
Posted inBonds & Propositions
Real estate leaders put affordable housing bond under the lights
In summarizing the city’s many efforts and successes to preserve and create more affordable housing, Rosie Truelove offered a simple summary of what’s going on in one of the hottest real estate markets in the country. Speaking at last week’s Urban Land Institute Austin breakfast panel that looked at the $350 million affordable housing proposal […]
Posted inElections
Anthony Bradshaw wants ‘to see an Austin, Texas, that is successful’
On Oct. 18, KVUE and the Austin American-Statesman livestreamed a debate that included all six of the candidates running for mayor. The 90-minute affair included questions about Austin’s pressing issues – affordability, homelessness, policing and transit – as well as questions about each candidate’s personality, priorities and objectives. At one point in the debate, the […]
Posted inElections
Watson, Israel weigh in on mayoral plans to help arts community
As local artists and musicians continue to be priced out of Austin, the next mayor and City Council will need to take decisive, ongoing actions and think in new ways to prevent the city’s highly touted creative culture from being wiped away. How best to handle those pressures was the topic of the day at […]