Democrats endorse … Democrats

The Travis County Democratic Party announced Tuesday that it is officially endorsing the Democrats running in each of four Austin City Council runoff races as well as the Democrat running for AISD Trustee in District 1. County Democratic Party Chair Jan Soifer will hold a City Hall news conference at noon today to discuss the endorsements. The Democrats endorsed AISD Trustee candidate Edmund “Ted” Gordon as well as Council candidates Greg Casar in District 4, Jimmy Flannigan in District 6, Ed Scruggs in District 8 and Mandy Dealey in District 10. The party did not endorse in Districts 7 and 3 because there are two Democrats in those races. Soifer released the following statement: “The City of Austin is a Democratic stronghold in this state, much to the dismay of the GOP. Republicans have targeted our City Hall and our School Board as places where they can get a toehold. They want to make Austin hostile to social justice, women’s rights, LGBT rights, civil rights, the environment, and adequately funded quality public education for all.” Republicans would argue that they have been shut out of city government for a very long time and will fight to get their candidates elected, particularly Ellen Troxclair in District 8, Don Zimmerman in District 6 and Sheri Gallo in District 10. It is not clear how hard they will fight for Laura Pressley, who sometimes votes in Republican primaries and sometimes in Democratic primaries but has a reputation for ideas outside of the mainstream of either party.