(Randi Shade is running for Austin City Council Place 3 against incumbent Jennifer Kim. I'll try to get up a post later today with all the candidates' finance reports. - promoted by Karl-Thomas Musselman)
Hello BOR Community:
Judging by the posts on today's open thread "What Races Are You Watching?" there weren't many of you anxiously waiting in front of your computers this afternoon for the Austin City Council fundraising reports to come out, but it was a big day for those of us in the running. It turned out to be an especially big day for our campaign, as we found ourselves with a $30,000 lead in cash-on-hand over our opponent, Place 3 incumbent Jennifer Kim.
Between January 1 and April 1, our campaign raised $95,987, making our total amount raised since the beginning of the race in November $158,184. We've spent just over $63,000 in that time, and I loaned myself $10,000 for the race, so we've now got $103,175 in the bank for the last 30 days of the race. Jennifer Kim raised $84,284 in this reporting period, making her total raised since the start of the campaign $143,485. She's reported spending just over $74,000 and has a $7,700 loan, making her current cash balance $74,088.
A $30,000 cash lead (ok, $29,087) is - with all due humility - no small feat in a race against a well-known, well-financed incumbent where the maximum individual contribution is $300, but the numbers alone aren't the best part of the story. The best part is the fact that more than half of our 713 donors, 53% of them to be exact, have never contributed to any candidate for Austin City Council before. These are mostly friends and associates who have worked with me in every venture and organization of which I've ever been a part. That gives me confidence that our campaign can and will continue to bring new people in the process - people who I hope and believe will show up at the polls on Election Day.
At the same time, I'm proud to have the financial support and endorsement of a lot of Austin's most familiar faces, too. Our donors during this reporting period included some of our community's best-known non-profit executives, business leaders, philanthropists, Democratic and pro-choice activists, developers (yes, developers!), educators, neighborhood leaders, environmental and transit advocates, former City Council members and state legislators, former UT student body presidents, and leaders from the Hispanic, African-American, Asian-American, Jewish and gay communities. |
| You can find both of my finance reports here, so you can look through the names for yourself, but here's a quick sample of some of the folks you might know who I'm proud to call supporters:
• Tom & Robbie Ausley - Planned Parenthood Activists
• Betty Baker - Chair, Austin Zoning and Platting Commission
• Charlie Betts - Executive Director, Downtown Austin Alliance
• Paul Bury - President, Bury + Partners Engineers
• Roy Butler - Former Austin Mayor, President of Capitol Beverage
• Marcus Ceniceros - Past President, University Democrats
• Brandi Clark - Chief Sustainability Officer, One Earth Bank
• Andrew Clements - Secretary, Alliance For Public Transportation
• Rick Cofer - Democratic Activist, Founder of "Bag the Bags" Coalition
• Katrina Daniel - Highland Neighborhood Association President, Past ANC Secretary
• Chris Elliott - Past Chair, Travis County Democratic Party
• Mary Margaret Farabee - Chair Emeritus, Texas Book Festival
• Joene Grissom - Campaign Manager, Rosemary Lehmberg for D.A
• Pat Hayes - Past President and CEO, Seton Healthcare Network
• Cloteal Davis Haynes - Contractor, Board Chair of PeopleFund
• Charles Heimsath - President, Capitol Market Research
• Tim Hendricks - Developer, Cousins Properties (Frost Bank Tower)
• Jane Hickie - Attorney, Former Aide to Gov. Ann Richards
• John Hildreth - Board Chair, Center For Public Policy Priorities
• Keith Jackson - Parliamentarian, Austin Zoning and Platting Commission
• Katherine Jones - President, Milkshake Media
• Gregg Knaupe - 2005 Candidate For City Council Place 3
• Claire Korioth - Democratic Activist
• Greg & Cindy Kozmetsky - Austin Philanthropists
• Lowell Lebermann - Former UT Regent, former Austin City Council Member
• Jan Lindelow - Former Chairman and CEO, Tivoli Systems
• Emily Little - Austin Architect
• Lane Luskey - Former Deputy Finance Director, Democratic National Committee
• Patsy Martin - Director, I Live Here, I Give Here Campaign
• Chris Mattson & John McHale - Austin Philanthropists
• Jack McDonald - Chairman and CEO, Perficient
• Bill McLellan - Founder and Chairman, One Earth Bank
• Larry Peel - Builder, Austin Philanthropist
• MariBen Ramsey - Austin Community Foundation
• Bev Reeves - Austin Attorney, Democratic Activist
• Susan Rieff - Executive Director, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
• Brad Schlosser - Developer, Schlosser Development (Whole Foods, Market District)
• Paul Scott - Executive Director, Equality Texas
• Max Sherman - Former Dean of LBJ School, Former State Legislator
• Lynne Skinner - President, Read-Poland Public Relations
• Dave Steakley - Creative Director, Zach Scott Theatre
• Evan Taniguchi - Board Member, Asian American Resource Center
• Kerry Tate - TateAustinHahn Public Relations
• Steven Tomlinson - Entrepreneur-Teacher at Acton School of Business, theatre artist
• Jim Vick - Former Vice President of Student Affairs, UT
• Margo Weisz - Executive Director, PeopleFund
• Jerry Winetroub - Commercial Real Estate Broker
• Kelly White - Democratic Activist, Past Director of Annie's List
In addition to this great list of individual supporters, I'm also incredibly gratified by the endorsements we've earned so far from Austin Democratic clubs and progressive groups. Just last night, our campaign was endorsed by the West Austin Democrats and the Austin Women's Political Caucus (both dual endorsements). I'm proud to add these two to our endorser list, which also includes the South Austin Democrats, North-By-Northwest Democrats, University Democrats, Stonewall Democrats, Austin Lesbian Gay Political Caucus, The Victory Fund, and the Police, Firefighters and EMS Employee Unions.
All in all, I think our diverse donor base and our growing list of endorsements shows that we have a great shot at pulling off an upset victory over the incumbent on May 10th. But I've been a part of enough campaigns over the years to know that money and endorsements ain't the whole shebang. In my experience, what matters more than anything is good old fashioned grassroots organizing, and that's why I want to ask you now to please consider helping us out over the last 30 days in one of these 15 ways (I would have tried to come up with 30, but it's late):
1. Put a yard sign in your yard
2. Give us a location where we can put up a big sign (we have 25 left)
3. Put a bumper sticker on your car or bike (or Segway)
4. Volunteer for a block walk (every weekend from now through Election Day)
5. Volunteer for a phone bank (every night from now through Election Day)
6. Volunteer in our campaign office (free pizza!)
7. Send a letter or email to a friend to generate support for our campaign
8. Add your name to my supporter list
9. Work a poll on Election Day (Saturday, May 10)
10. Work a poll during early voting (April 28 - May 6)
11. Invite me to speak to your group
12. Call a talk radio station and tell them about our campaign
13. Write a letter to the editor and tell them about our campaign
14. Sign up to receive our campaign email updates
15. And yeah, gimmie some money (Hey Laura, how do I get Ed Begley, Jr. to endorse me, too?)
Please just go over to our website and click on "volunteer" to let us know how you can help.
Finally, lest you think I'm only focused on tactics on not on the issues that are REALLY at the heart of this campaign, I invite you here to spend a leisurely evening reading through questionnaire responses and position papers.
That's all for now, folks. Thanks much, and I'll see you on the campaign trail...
All the best,
Randi |
