One added to mayoral lineup as Littlefield tweets candidate facts

Pollster and political prognosticator Mark Littlefield has put together an impressive series of statistics about all the people signed up to run for mayor and for five seats on City Council this November. After Littlefield posted his tweets, Craig Allen Blanchard III designated himself as his own treasurer to run for mayor. Blanchard, 37, told the Austin Monitor he is a Democrat but has friends who are Republicans. He said he would be focusing on the environment and helping the homeless. That makes eight candidates for mayor, though only three – Kirk Watson, Jennifer Virden and Celia Israel – have either the money or the name recognition to be considered real contenders. In District 9, where Council Member Kathie Tovo is stepping down after 11 years, there are nine contenders to date, while District 1 Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison has just one opponent so far. The filing deadline for all of these races is Aug. 22.