Offices set to appear on the city ballot this November include mayor and council members for districts 1, 3, 5, 8 and 9. Mayor Steve Adler, District 3's Pio Renteria, District 5's Ann Kitchen and District 9's Kathie Tovo are all reaching their term limits and cannot run for re-election in their roles unless at least 5% of their constituency backs them via petition. District 1's Natasha Harper-Madison and District 8's Paige Ellis are in their first terms on council and eligible to run again. Tovo is exploring a mayoral run.
The official filing period for candidates seeking to enter Austin's November election races will not open until July 23. However, several candidates have submitted both campaign treasurer appointment forms and semiannual campaign finance reports due mid-January highlighting recent activity or interest in a seat on the council dais.
The Jan. 15 finance reports cover the back half of 2021 from July through December. Candidates are next required to report their spending and donations in a semiannual report July 15 covering January through June of this year.
Candidate, committee activity
The race for Adler's successor formally included three candidates as of January: state Rep. Celia Israel, D-Austin; Jennifer Virden, a businesswoman and former City Council candidate; and body positivity ambassador Erica Nix. Alongside Tovo, former mayor and state Sen. Kirk Watson is also reportedly considering a run.
In her Jan. 15 semiannual filing, Virden reported raising over $346,000 for her mayoral campaign, including a $300,000 loan from herself and nearly $47,000 raised from hundreds of individual donations. Tovo did not report any donations in the second half of 2021 on her District 9 report, and no other mayoral candidate reported campaign finance activity in that time.
Harper-Madison, the incumbent and lone filer from District 1, and José Velásquez, the sole filer from District 3, both reported no spending or contributions in late 2021. Stephanie Bazan was the only filer for District 5 and reported nearly $20,500 in contributions and $1,500 in spending as of Dec. 31.
In District 8, Ellis reported more than $56,000 raised, around $3,000 spent and $55,762 in cash on hand as of Dec. 31. Her potential challenger, Richard J. Smith, reported around $11,200 in contributions and $23,800 in spending with $12,219 on hand.
Four candidates for District 9, the most crowded field so far, submitted campaign finance reports showing more than $115,00 in combined contributions and $23,000 in combined spending as of December. Among the four, Benjamin Leffler led in donations and cash on hand with nearly $55,000 raised and $46,309 in maintained funds, while Zohaib Qadri reported just over $35,700 raised and $20,700 on hand. Joah Spearman raised more than $24,300 and reported $17,857 on hand, and Jason Hyde did not report any donations or spending.
While it did not report any financial activity for 2021, the SAN Candidate Support political action committee appointed a treasurer in January. The group is linked to the Save Austin Now PAC, which successfully petitioned for homeless ordinances and a police staffing measure to be added to two election ballots last year with the former passing and the latter failing at the polls. SAN Candidate Support backed District 4 candidate Amanda Rios in Austin's January special election but has not yet taken a stance in any November contest.
The City Accountability Project committee also named a treasurer and filed a Jan. 15 finance report for this November's election, showing nearly $46,000 raised and $43,438 cash on hand through the second half of 2021. Donations ranged from $500 to $5,000 and came from more than a dozen mainly West Austinites and a Leander resident. The group also has yet to formally back a candidate in the upcoming City Hall races but said it intends to later this year.
