Who is Josh Reyna and why is he calling Kathie Tovo “MAGA?”
The core reason this is happening is that we have reached a time which comes every two years in the United States, including in Austin; that is the Democratic and Republican primaries. In Austin of course that means mainly the Democratic primary. Both Reyna and Tovo are running in that primary to replace State Representative Gina Hinojosa in central Austin’s District 49. Hinojosa is running for Governor.
During this season it’s hard for many residents of Austin to even pick up their phone without seeing a message from a Democrat vowing how he or she will “fight” against Donald Trump and the Trump agenda.
Then there’s the more traditional mailbox, the medium through which Reyna made his charge against Tovo. According to Reyna’s campaign website he is “Chief of Staff & General Counsel in the Texas Senate,” as an aide to State Senator César Blanco of El Paso. According to his mailer, this makes Reyna “the only candidate that has been in the fight.” Consequently, he doesn’t “need on-the-job training,” but is instead “ready now” to “fight” on “Day One.”
This message is delivered in a mailer which on one side is covered with a dark black and white version of Donald Trump’s famous scowling mugshot, with a red circle around Trump’s head and a red line drawn across his face. A similar Trump photo also makes the back of the mailer, squeezed into the bottom right-hand corner next to a dark black and white photo of former Austin Council Member/Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo.
“Kathie Tovo Calls Herself a Democrat,” screams a headline next to the photos of her and Trump, “But she’ll vote like MAGA Against Affordability.” Under that headline we learn that Tovo “repeatedly fought new housing and zoning reforms — driving up rents and shrinking options for renters and first-time buyers.” Reyna concludes that section of his mailer with this charge: “When it matters most, Kathie Tovo doesn’t govern like a Democrat. She votes like a Republican.”
Above: photo of part of Josh Reyna mailer – Image at top of page is a screenshot of Reyna from his campaign website
By that Reyna means that Tovo “opposed reforms that would help families and seniors stay in their homes.” This is Reyna’s way of saying that Tovo voted against specific efforts to change the Land Development Code (LDC) while she was a City Council Member. We have covered those disputes here before and won’t retread that territory now. (There are a few links at the bottom for those who might want to review.) The key point to make here is that characterizing those who opposed the Land Development Code changes — either the people on the Council or in the community — as MAGA is ludicrous and dishonest; a factual mangling of what actually occurred. A large number of Democrats, including numerous “seniors,” opposed those measures.
The key point to make here is that characterizing those who opposed the Land Development Code changes — either the people on the Council or in the community — as MAGA is ludicrous and dishonest; a factual mangling of what actually occurred.
For instance, the three Council Members who voted along with Tovo on the issue were Democrats, including Ann Kitchen, a widely respected former Democratic member of the Texas House.
When similar measures came before the legislature in 2023 even the current Democratic occupant of the seat Reyna is seeking, Gina Hinojosa, voted against some of the items. A particular flash point was a bill that would have allowed accessory dwelling units (ADUs) on any single family zoned lot in Texas, except those with homeowners associations with rules that prevent ADUs.
ADUs are a form of housing that people on all sides of housing and development battles tend to support. But, many Democrats were alarmed by measures in the bill at the legislature because it weakened various aspects of local control. The bill, by the way, was sponsored by Republican Senator Bryan Hughes of Mineola. Hughes is widely despised by Democrats because he was the lead sponsor of Texas’s notorious anti-abortion law which he steered to passage in the 2021 session. So, if anyone in this battle is voting with MAGA. . .
Hughes got his “ADU bill” through the Texas Senate (where Reyna’s boss voted in favor), but it ran into trouble in the House, where it ultimately failed narrowly. The Austin Independent reported at the time that the vote on the bill showed “a pattern of no votes among those representing the central areas of major cities with this pattern often extending to close-in suburbs. The yes votes were generally in exurban (further out areas, but largely urbanized) and rural areas.” Within Austin’s House delegation — all Democrats — the vote was split. Hinojosa, Donna Howard, Lulu Flores and Vikki Goodwin voted no. James Talarico, Sheryl Cole and John Bucy voted yes.
So, in the formula provided by Reyna in his mailer, Hinojosa and Goodwin (who is seeking the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor this year), as well as Donna Howard and Lulu Flores voted “like MAGA” on this one.
A Recurring Tactic
Of course Josh Reyna is not the first Democrat to try and brand a fellow Democrat as MAGA. As we have covered here before, Travis County District Attorney José Garza labeled his Democratic opponent “MAGA,” without citing a single example. This was during Garza’s successful 2024 reelection bid. Later in 2024 Mike Siegel successfully smeared longtime Texas NAACP head Gary Bledsoe as “MAGA” based on a few contributions from Republicans to a PAC which supported Bledsoe; although by law Bledsoe could not coordinate with that PAC. Siegel’s MAGA smear of Bledsoe helped him squeak to victory and take his current place on the Austin City Council.
While the MAGA smear worked for José Garza and Mike Siegel it didn’t work so well for the Prop Q tax increase campaign in November 2025. In that campaign backers, who included Siegel and a supermajority of the City Council, tried to maintain that Prop Q would “restore Trump cuts.” Voters didn’t buy it this time. One reason the tactic didn’t work in the Prop Q campaign was because that election was not a Democratic primary. It was though a City of Austin election. Prop Q lost by an almost two-to-one margin. Such a drubbing would not be remotely possible in Austin without a lot of Democrats seeing through the tie-it-to Trump ruse and voting no.
So we’ll have to wait and see if the “MAGA” tactic works for Josh Reyna. One thing that seems apparent already though is that if Reyna chose Tovo to attack, then she must be having some success in her campaign. That would not be totally surprising. Tovo represented a Council district that includes much of District 49 and, prior to that, she represented the entire City, before single member districts passed.
Kathie Tovo in a screenshot from her campaign website
Tovo was known, among other things, for being hard-working, paying attention to detail, listening to constituents, and having solid constituent service. Also, during her years on the Council Tovo participated in bringing forward ballot measures which resulted in large City investments in affordable housing. Many people probably remember some of this and might support her this time around.
Tovo’s most formidable opponent is likely Montserrat Garibay, the chosen “progressive” candidate in the race — at least in the current definition of the term. For example Garibay has the backing of Congressman Greg Casar and County Attorney Delia Garza, who were both on the opposite side of Land Development Code battles from Tovo when all three served on the Council.
Ironically, if Josh Reyna’s mailer convinces anyone that Tovo has gone MAGA those folks would be just as likely to end up voting for Garibay as for Reyna.
Also in the race is Robin Lerner, a seemingly new face in Austin politics who served in the Obama administration. Lerner has volunteers going door-to-door and has a number of yard signs around Austin. Only voting will tell whether she has developed a viable coalition or is just naively entering the cruel vortex of Austin politics.
Whatever happens, the betting line here is that Josh Reyna is going to have a hard time outpolling any of the candidates mentioned above. That’s why he is desperately resorting to claiming Kathie Tovo will “vote like MAGA.”
* As a small publication, with limited staffing and time, the Austin Independent was not able to provide coverage of all the candidates in the District 49 race. So below is a list of all the candidates, in alphabetical order, with a link to their websites. No Republican filed to fun.
Kimmie Ellison
Montserrat Garibay
Gigs Hodges
Robin Lerner
Josh Reyna
Sam Slade
Kathie Tovo
Daniel Wang
Election day is Tuesday March 3. Early voting begins February 17 and ends February 27.
* Speaking of more reading material, below are links to some articles that illustrate how the issue that Josh Reyna reduces to a MAGA slur is much more complicated and less clear than he pretends. The articles also discuss how Reyna’s preferred solution does not necessarily work.
Bloomberg: “Cities Keep Building Luxury Apartments Almost No One Can Afford”
A February 1 article from the Business section of the Washington Post titled “Are YIMBYs winning the housing wars? Not so fast, these people say.”
A recent report on the Austin housing market.
Two older articles from the Austin Independent that present data which refutes claims that Austin has refused to build apartments, in case just driving around town doesn’t prove that point. The first of these two articles features a link to Secretariat’s spectacular victory in the 1973 Belmont Stakes, as a way of illustrating the lengths by which Austin has led the nation in the issuance of building permits.
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