Tonight, eight Austin-area Democratic clubs are holding an endorsement forum to hear from the candidates for Austin City Council. The forum is from 5:30 to 8:00 pm at the Texas AFL-CIO, 1106 Lavaca Street. Many of these organizations will endorse their chosen candidates at the forum or in the days immediately following.
In preparation for the forum, candidates were sent a questionnaire on their voting history and civic participation, as well as their positions on issues facing Austin. Questions were compiled from participating clubs. Note: Stonewall Democrats has a separate questionnaire.
What do candidates think about single member districts? Do they support increased density in the center city? Who was the first presidential candidate they cast their vote for? Find out in their questionnaires and come hear them in person tonight.
Organizations participating in the forum in some manner or another are: Austin Environmental Democrats, Capital Area Asian American Democrats, Capital Area Progressive Democrats, Capital City Young Democrats, Circle C Area Democrats, Liberal Austin Democrats, St. Edwards Democrats, and Stonewall Democrats
Candidates responding to the questionnaire are as follows: Mayor: Clay Dafoe, Lee Leffingwell, Brigid Shea
Place 2: Mike Martinez, Laura Pressley
Place 5: Tina Cannon, John Duffy, Robert "Bo" Prudente, Bill Spelman
Place 6: Sheryl Cole, Shaun Ireland
The Austin Neighborhoods Council has issued their endorsements in the 2012 municipal elections. The most notable change is that in every single race that was on both years' ballots, the ANC has switched their support away from the position they held 3 years ago.
2012 Austin City Council Endorsements
Organization
Mayor
Place 2
Place 5
Place 6
Austin Neighborhoods Council
Brigid Shea
Laura Pressley
No Endorsement
Sheryl Cole
2009 Austin City Council Endorsements
Austin Neighborhoods Council
Lee Leffingwell
Mike Martinez
Bill Spelman
No Endorsement
It should be noted that ANC's prior endorsement for both Lee Leffingwell and Bill Spelman was unanimous. Here's their statement from three years ago as written in the minutes from the March 25th, 2009 meeting.
Austin Neighborhoods Council 2009 Endorsement Statement
MAYOR - LEE LEFFINGWELL
ANC unanimously endorses Lee Leffingwell for Mayor of Austin. Of the 5 candidates, ANC believes that Councilmember Leffingwell is overwhelmingly the most qualified and has the best vision to lead Austin through these tough economic times. He is the mayoral candidate who cares most about issues critical to neighborhoods, as evidenced by his budget priorities and his commitment to planning and community participation. We call on Councilmember Leffingwell to step up his leadership on important community issues and look forward to working with him as Mayor of Austin.
PLACE 2 - MIKE MARTINEZ
Besides the strong commitment to planning, community participation, and budget priorities demonstrated by the other endorsed candidates, Councilmember Martinez has shown a political maturity and problem-solving skills that will serve Austin well throughout the broad range of challenges that face the community. The incumbent has provided leadership on many important issues over the last three years, showing an ability to work with neighborhoods even though his position may differ from ANC's.
PLACE 5 - BILL SPELMAN
Former Councilmember Spelman garnered a unanimous endorsement from ANC. His familiarity with the principles of the Austin Tomorrow plan and the community's environmental priorities will serve Austin well as we begin a new comprehensive plan. His commitment to sound planning practices, including community participation, appears to align with ANC's growth management resolution of 2008.
PLACE 6 - NO ENDORSEMENT
Neither candidate earned the ANC endorsement. We hope that both candidates will increase their interaction with and understanding of neighborhoods and the related planning, budget and quality of life issues crucial to Austin neighborhoods.
Sheryl Cole, who in the intervening three years has voted FOR the Water Treatment Plant 4, FOR Park PUD, FOR Grayco PUD, FOR F1 subsidies, and FOR convention center hotel fee waivers, went from "No Endorsement" to getting the ANC's seal of approval. That's rather curious, especially in light of the fact that Cole has the same voting record as Leffingwell and Martinez on these key issues. Spelman's is nearly identical other than his votes on the Water Treatment Plant, yet he lost the ANC's endorsement this year.
Ostensibly, the ANC supports candidates based upon their vision of city government and growth and how it impacts neighborhood quality of life. We have requested this year's endorsement statement and will post it as an update to this post as soon as it is available.
In a normal year, endorsements for city races in Austin would have come prior to those for the Democratic primary, but with redistricting the two swapped places. Even though the two elections are back to back, with early voting for the primary starting just 3 days after the municipal election, local clubs, PACs, and other organizations are shifting gears to weigh in on the races for mayor & city council.
First, it needs to be noted that confirming a number of these endorsements were difficult. Incumbents Bill Spelman and Sheryl Cole don't list any endorsements on their websites. A number of endorsing groups do not have websites, or have incomplete lists of endorsements. I don't know if this indicates a lack of energy in the municipal races where early voting begins in just six weeks or if this is a result of the toll taken by the rescheduled primary election.
As to the candidates, Mayor Leffingwell has the broadest coalition of support (among coalitions that participate in our low turnout city elections). That support is mirrored for Leffingwell ally Mike Martinez with the exception of the Central Labor Council, which declined to issue an endorsement; Martinez has received the public support of AFSCME Local 1624.
In Place 6, "no endorsement" is the winner so far as incumbent Sheryl Cole, yet again, is failing to inspire the electorate. This is nothing new, as the local media has editorialized its disappointment before with Cole. In 2009, the Austin Chronicle said "It's unfortunate Cole didn't draw a stronger opponent" and that she was "competent if not dazzling." The Statesman called her "quiet but effective" and our own publication wrote that Cole "could be more proactive, more aggressive, and more engaged on behalf of her constituents" in our 2009 endorsements. In three runs for council, Cole has failed to get the endorsement of the University Democrats each time. The saving grace for Cole, much like in 2009, is that her last minute opponent Shaun Ireland hasn't gained much traction.
The Place 5 race is the most curious as incumbent Bill Spelman appears to be worse than expected on the endorsement front. Unlike Cole, Spelman has six opponents, which could put him in a runoff. While Tina Cannon and Dominic Chavez are his most organized opposition, neither has been able to win any of the institutional support in their own right. Cannon did tie with Spelman in the University Democrats voting in both the first and second rounds, leading Spelman, a professor at UT, to not receive the endorsement of his "home" club. As a result, Spelman won't appear on the thousands of yellow doorhangers distributed by the Austin Progressive Coalition which certainly would have been a nice boost in his attempt to avoid a runoff. If Spelman had had any opponents 3 years ago when he returned to the city council, we'd have a basis of comparison for what this means, but going from zero to six opponents indicates some level of weakness being sensed. I suspect that having the lowest cash on hand and being the only Anglo among the council incumbents up for election may have also be a cause. Still, he is favored to win.
More organizations and Democratic clubs will issue their endorsements in the coming weeks, with at least six clubs participating in the multi-club forum on April 3rd.
All Filed Candidates, Listed Alphabetically, Incumbents in Italics: Mayor: Clay Dafoe, Lee Leffingwell, Brigid Shea
Place 2:Mike Martinez, Laura Pressley
Place 5: Tina Cannon, Dominic Chavez, David Conley, John Duffy, Robert "Bo" Prudente, John Rubine, Bill Spelman Place 6:Sheryl Cole, Shaun Ireland
The list below is of such relative lightweights, you'll have to excuse the near week delay in posting it. This year's municipal election season looks to be more tedious for local activists who just finish a month long slog of candidate forums and club endorsements. Just look at that list in Place 5 that Bill Spelman drew!
For the most part, the incumbents in all the races should be considered the favorites today, though Spelman will have to work to avoid an embarrassing runoff.
Update: The Austin AFL-CIO Central Labor Council held its candidates screenings this morning. They issued endorsements for Incumbent Mayor Leffingwell, Council members Spelman and Cole, but issued no endorsement in the Place 2 race.
We have a real opportunity to fix our broken health care system. Let's get the job done!
This Saturday afternoon, you're invited to a local health care rally featuring: Congressman Lloyd Doggett, Senator Kirk Watson, Mayor Lee Leffingwell, Council Member Sheryl Cole, Former State Rep. Ann Kitchen, TCDP Chair Andy Brown and others.
Our goal is to make Saturday's rally one of the biggest in the country. Spread the word!
Runoff is Saturday, June 13; Riley Defeats Cavazos Nearly 2:1 in Place 1
Mayoral candidates Lee Leffingwell and Brewster McCracken will be forced to go to a runoff to decide who will be the next Mayor of Austin. The runoff will be Saturday, June 13.
With 100% of precincts reporting, Lee Leffingwell finished with a commanding lead on the field of five candidates with 47.26% of the vote. He won almost the same percentage of votes through the early vote period as he did on election day. Full results can be found here:
Election results from the Travis County Elections Division were reported throughout the night here at Burnt Orange Report through our site's new @texaselections widget. The results tally 58,630 votes cast, representing 13.01% of registered voters.
For about twenty minutes in the evening it looked like Leffingwell may tick up fast enough to reach the 50% threshold. But as more boxes came in, the returns evened out, and it became clear that a highly anticipated runoff would soon become a reality. Behind Leffingwell, Brewster McCracken won 26.8% of the vote, which will be enough to send him into a runoff. Slightly behind McCracken, once-Austin mayor and former Texas State Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn finished has 21.43% of the vote, leaving her in a disappointing third place.
Burnt Orange Report writer David Mauro reported earlier in the night that in 1997, Ronney Reynolds conceded rather than face a runoff against Kirk Watson, who received 48.47% in his initial election. However, McCracken's campaign has clearly stated that McCracken will go forward for the runoff.
Rounding out the election returns for mayor, David Buttross won 3.84% of the vote, but may still be in for some exciting news. Earlier in the evening he went to the hospital for the possible birth of his second child. KXAN news is reporting Buttross and his wife were expecting a child before the night was over. Fourth place and a new child -- I'll bet he'll still be happy.
Josiah Ingalls, however, will have less to smile about. He finished in last place, with only 0.69% of the vote. Josiah has announced that he will be looking for a job on Monday -- he recently lost his position at the Hilton Hotel.
Riley Defeats Cavazos 65.52% - 34.48% in Place 1; Spellman, Martinez, & Cole Win Big
In the Austin City Council Place 1, which was expected to be the only other real contest on the ballot, Chris Riley defeated Perla Cavazos with over 65.52% of the vote. Cavazos thanked Riley for a hard-fought campaign, as Riley celebrated his victory with many supporters tonight, including Burnt Orange Report writer and Riley campaign manager, Katherine Haenschen.
In Place 2, Mike Martinez won a commanding 84.97% over Jose Quintero. Martinez' 43,630 votes were the most any candidate received in Saturday's election.
In Place 6, Sheryl Cole also won a decisive victory over Osemene Sam. Over 83.17% of voters chose Cole for the seat.
And finally, Bill Spellman won his unanimous election to Austin's Place 6 seat. Though he only needed his own, he did get 43,104 of the 58,630 voters to choose him, anyways.
To re-read Burnt Orange Report's all-night election coverage, scroll through our Twitter widget below for the recaps and updates we posted throughout the night.
Well produced, brings a bit more energy to Cole than you would probably see in a forum and highlights her main issues. The logo flying apart is kind of magical.
The Statesman's endorsement of McCracken praises him as a leader who has learned from his mistakes and is ready to lead Austin into the future by investing in clean energy, biotech and digital businesses.
McCracken has a broad view of what Austin needs and how City Hall should manage in a budget crunch. He can build alliances and should be a visible, active mayor. We have not always agreed with McCracken, and he has made his share of mistakes on the council, but he seems to learn from them.
The endorsement, although expected, gives a definite boost to McCracken's campaign, although it could be off set by what seems to be a likely upcoming endorsement by the Austin Chronicle of Lee Leffingwell.
Place 1: Chris Riley
Nearly everyone, including the Statesman, seems to think that both Chris Riley and Perla Cavazos are able candidates who would do a great job for Austin on the City Council.
While little separates Cavazos and Riley in their campaigns, Riley has more experience and we believe is ready for the City Council. Cavazos has a good career ahead of her and with a bit more seasoning will be an even better candidate.
No matter the result in Place 1, the consensus is that Austin will have elected a well-qualified and prepared council member.
The Statesman also endorsed incumbents Mike Martinez and Shery Cole along with Bill Spelman, a former council member who is running unopposed.
We have a solid consensus on our staff of two things in relation to the Place 6 race. The first is that Councilwoman Cole could be more proactive, more agressive, and more engaged on behalf of her constituants. Cole has worked on the Waller Creek Redevelopment project, an issue that needs leadership if the businesses and parkland along that zone are ever to become something of which our city can be proud. In its current state, Waller Creek is like a scar across downtown, one that needs tending to and we hope Cole will lead on the issue during her next term.
That said, we agree that the council will not be any better served by replacing Cole with her opponent Sam Osemene. Osemene has been agressive in pointing out faults with Cole's leadership and little else. Providing a contrast in politics is necessary but it is not enough to earn our votes.
As such, we endorse Sheryl Cole for re-election to Place 6.
