by Daryl Slusher | Nov 23, 2020 | Austin Elections
It has been a few weeks since the City Council and rail elections, but the Independent has been busy covering other issues. So here we will give a quick review of the Council election results followed by a look at the two upcoming runoffs. We’ll discuss the rail...
by Daryl Slusher | Nov 23, 2020 | Austin Elections, Land Development Code/Zoning
In election contests between a Democrat and a Republican it is usually a given that the Democrat has the stronger social justice position. It is very arguable, however, which candidate in the District 6 City Council runoff occupies the social justice high ground when...
by Daryl Slusher | Nov 2, 2020 | Austin Elections
Here in Austin, we have a number of local races on the ballot. As covered here extensively, five City Council races are on the ballot. Four feature incumbents running for reelection and District 2 in southeast and south Austin is an open seat. Also on the City ballot...
by Daryl Slusher | Oct 30, 2020 | Austin Elections
Today, we continue our coverage of campaign financing in the City Council races. We focus both on the total amount candidates raised and in particular on the amount candidates raised from development and real estate interests. Before moving into the numbers though,...
by Daryl Slusher | Oct 27, 2020 | Austin Elections
District 6 in Northwest Austin is one of the most hotly contested of the five City Council elections. Local media have tended to portray the District 6 race as dark forces of the right wing seeking to unseat “progressive” Jimmy Flannigan. As the Austin...
by Daryl Slusher | Oct 27, 2020 | Austin Elections, True Stories
Those of us who focus on and care about government generally do so because we want the government to do a good job. Especially on the Democratic side, we want government to work. And, when we see it working well, the view here is that we should say so. With that...
by Daryl Slusher | Oct 21, 2020 | Austin Elections
Like its neighbor, District 6, the District 10 race is a humdinger. Incumbent Alison Alter drew six challengers. The bevy of candidates may more reflect overall discontent with Council policies as a whole than with Alter herself; although, like in other races, some of...
by Daryl Slusher | Oct 21, 2020 | Austin Elections
In District 7 Leslie Pool drew only one opponent, Morgan Witt, a self described “newcomer to the Austin political scene.” According to her campaign website, Witt is an educator whose career and philosophy flowed from “a life-changing class called ‘Educational...
by Daryl Slusher | Oct 20, 2020 | Austin Elections
Spoiler alert: the most likely outcome from Austin’s City Council elections is that nothing much will change. Five of the ten Council seats are on the ballot. Four incumbents are seeking reelection and all of them, to varying degrees, stand a good chance of winning...
by Daryl Slusher | Oct 20, 2020 | Austin Elections
Leave it to those West Austin residents to really stir things up. Readers may recall a recent Austin Independent article on the race for the open District 2 Council seat in mostly Southeast Austin. There, candidates shared many positions on issues and were extremely...