Maybe someone read our Open Letter? Oak Hill resident Sandy Baldridge has confirmed that she's not running for the Austin City Council Place 5 seat against UT Professor Bill Spelman. While word of this was circulating as early as last Friday, it's not official that she's not getting in.
I've heard no other rumors of other candidates at this time. From the Statesman...
"While I'm confident that I would have had the strong support of voters in Austin," Baldridge wrote in a press release, "it became clear to me that winning a citywide election would require more resources than I believed I could raise under Austin's current campaign limits, and more support than I believed I had from the city's most active voters in central Austin."
Baldridge had been considering a run against Bill Spelman, a professor at the University of Texas' Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. In the merry-go-round of Austin politics, Spelman was seeking the council seat of Brewster McCracken, who is running for mayor. Spelman has previously served on the council, and the central-city favorite was considered to have an excellent chance of beating Baldwin.
...
"One of my top priorities will be to give Austin citizens another chance to vote on adopting a mix of single-member district seats with at-large seats to make for a better system of truly geographical representation," Baldridge said.
All the more reason to head over to BillSpelman.org and sign up for the campaign.
TO: Sandy Baldridge; Mike Levy
CC: Sandra Ramos
SUBJ: We're Waiting...
Dear Mike & Sandy,
So you've either filed a treasurer report that specifically notes you are not a candidate for Mayor, or you keep promising that you are going to run but don't actually do anything.
What gives?
Rumored candidates don't win elections, just real ones. Yeah, we know filing day isn't even technically here yet but it's hard to take y'all seriously. If you are going to grace the city ballot with your presence, would you kindly let us know?
