| A topic that has come up among locals in Austin has been a rumor about Mayoral aspirant Brewster McCracken having other aspirations already- namely that of State Senator Kirk Watson's seat in the case that it is vacated for a statewide run of some sort. While this has very inside baseball, such a rumor is relevant to those Democratic partisans that overlap with the municipal players here.
It's a topic that myself and other BOR staff addressed in a meeting with McCracken's communications staff on Wednesday. We had a great conversation with Colin Rowan who has sent along to me an official statement on the matter from Brewster himself.
"I have my eyes on City Hall. Period. I will serve as Austin's mayor for the full duration of any term to which I am elected. I hope that's two terms, but it seems a bit presumptuous to be talking about running again for an office I don't yet hold. My intent is to lead Austin into the future, and I wouldn't be running if I planned to seek another elected office before my term was completed. I think each candidate should be willing to commit to the possibility of two terms, and I am more than happy to make that commitment to anyone who will listen."
-Brewster
The rumor apparently was born out of a response to a question as to whether he would run against Mark Strama in a primary if Watson's Senate seat came open. Brewster noted he was friends with Strama and wouldn't run against him for that seat, which probably sparked the rumor of "well, that means he'd run if Strama wasn't" and from there things spiraled into the realm of imagination.
Personally, I don't mind having city leaders being open to running for other offices. They are part of the farm team: think Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk, Houston Mayor Bill White, and Austin Mayor Kirk Watson. What about Julian Castro if he becomes Mayor of San Antonio or Anise Parker as Mayor of Houston? Who knows, and who knows where they will go next.
The main thing is that candidates are focused on the office they are running for now and if they do a great job at that, then they will earn themselves the opportunity to make decisions about other offices. All signs point to McCracken being focused on being Mayor of Austin and I for one, take him at his word. |
