by Daryl Slusher | May 5, 2021 | Austin Elections
Here is a short summary of the verdict from Austin voters in Austin’s May 1 municipal election. Prop A. Voters overwhelmingly (81%) approved a measure empowering the Austin firefighters union to force the City into binding arbitration when negotiations deadlock. Prop...
by Daryl Slusher | Apr 18, 2021 | Austin Elections
Monday April 19 marks the beginning of early voting in the City of Austin’s May 1 election. Early voting ends Tuesday, April 27, 2021. Election Day is of course, May 1. The two marquee items are the proposed rollback of the Council’s June 2019 repeal of the homeless...
by Daryl Slusher | Apr 18, 2021 | Austin Elections, City Council 2021
In any other election season a proposal to change Austin’s form of City government would likely gather the most attention. Not so this year as the tents of homeless people line Austin roadways, sidewalks and parks. This situation results from a City Council decision...
by Daryl Slusher | Apr 18, 2021 | Austin Elections, Strong Mayor Initiative
This story marks the Austin Independent’s final pre-early voting coverage of the strong mayor proposal. Early voting starts Monday April 19 and ends Tuesday April 27. Election day is Saturday May 1. To review, in earlier coverage we laid out the principle that...
by Daryl Slusher | Jan 5, 2021 | Austin Elections
Let’s take a quick beginning of the year look at the Austin City Council where the Council seems to have started the term by hoisting themselves on their own identity politics petard. The two new members, Vanessa Fuentes and Mackenzie Kelly, get sworn in Wednesday...
by Daryl Slusher | Dec 17, 2020 | Austin Elections
As previously reported incumbent Alison Alter won reelection in a contest against challenger Jennifer Virden while challenger Mackenzie Kelly ousted incumbent Jimmy Flannigan. Both races were close with Alter winning 51% of the vote in West Austin District 10 and...
by Daryl Slusher | Dec 15, 2020 | Austin Elections
Alison Alter maintained her lead throughout the night as did Mackenzie Kelly. The Austin Council will now feature two new members, Kelly in District 6 and Vanessa Fuentes in District 2. We’ll have more analysis in coming days.
by Daryl Slusher | Dec 15, 2020 | Austin Elections
In the Austin City Council races, District 10 incumbent Alison Alter has a narrow lead in the early vote: 51% to 49% for challenger Jennifer Virden. Jennifer Virden Meanwhile in District 6 in northwest Austin, incumbent Jimmy Flannigan trails challenger...
by Daryl Slusher | Dec 11, 2020 | Austin Elections
As the Austin Independent and several other local media outlets have reported, the two City Council runoffs are breaking down along partisan lines. In the latest from that front, a coalition of Young Republican groups is calling for a “Statewide Deployment” of...
by Daryl Slusher | Dec 10, 2020 | Austin Elections
The District 6 City Council race has taken a particularly ugly turn in recent weeks. That peaked in a Saturday November 21 altercation in northwest Austin after a Jimmy Flannigan campaign volunteer event at an Anderson Mill park. For the record, it was a volunteer...