Multiple candidates across Austin’s five City Council races failed to meet deadlines for filing required financial disclosures this year, violations of local and state ethics rules that can be punishable as misdemeanor offenses.
The big picture
Candidates seeking office must submit two separate financial reports in the lead-up to an election:
A statement of financial information, or SFI, covering personal financial details from the previous year as required by Austin city code
A personal financial statement, or PFS, accounting for financial activity in the previous year as required by Texas Local Government Code
Candidates seeking office in November 2026 contests had to file their SFIs by Aug. 24 and PFSs by Sept. 8. Incumbent officeholders must also submit those forms under earlier deadlines.
Informational materials for candidates published by the city and state reference election requirements and deadlines, including the financial disclosure requirements.
Weeks after Austin's SFI and PFS deadlines in late September, some candidates across all five Austin races on the ballot—in council districts 1, 3, 5, 8 and 9—had yet to file their forms. Candidates’ compliance with filing deadlines, and links to their individual disclosures obtained through public information requests or provided by their campaigns, can be viewed below.
Local candidates’ SFI and PFS filing statuses are also tracked by the city.
A closer look
Failure to file an SFI with the city is a Class C misdemeanor punishable by a fine up to $500. Failure to file a PFS can also mean candidates are liable for civil penalties starting at $500, and fines can reach up to $10,000 if late filings aren’t addressed after formal warnings.
This year's missed deadlines follow 2024 council elections that also involved multiple failures to submit financial disclosures on time.
In two 2024 cases brought to the Ethics Review Commission, candidates were found to have violated disclosure rules but weren't referred for formal penalties. Several more candidates during that election cycle also failed to file disclosures on time, or at all, but were never referred for ethics proceedings.
The city declined to comment on Austin council candidates’ typical compliance with the financial disclosure rules, or its engagement with 2026 candidates who didn’t submit the required documentation this summer. Following the 2024 election cycle, a city spokesperson had said Austin's law department aims to "ensure transparency through voluntary compliance" rather than prosecution.
What they're saying
After being contacted about their missing filings in September, several candidates said they would submit the forms or already had.
District 1 candidate Steven Brown's campaign said his PFS had been filed with the city clerk and provided a copy to Community Impact Sept. 23
District 1 candidate Alexandria Anderson's campaign said both of her missing disclosures had been uploaded Sept. 23. The clerk's office confirmed the submissions Sept. 24, although the city noted her PFS covered the incorrect year.
District 1 candidate Portia Riggins said she wasn't aware she'd missed SFI and PFS filing deadlines, and would work to comply with the requirements. "I take my responsibilities seriously and intend to address this matter promptly," she said in an email.
District 1 candidate Misael Ramos' campaign said it was aware of the filing requirements and missed deadlines, and planned to submit his SFI and PFS "as soon as possible to ensure compliance"
District 5 candidate Liz Brink said she was made aware of her missed PFS deadline and provided a copy filed with the city Sept. 24. The clerk's office confirmed the submission, although the city noted the form covered the incorrect year.
District 5 candidate Farrah Abraham, who has not filed an SFI or PFS, said she was compliant and cited technology issues for her missing forms. "All doc deadlines are met unless tech issues," she said in an email.
After being contacted about his outstanding SFI, District 8 candidate Jeffery Bowen said he'd refiled it with the city Sept. 23 which the clerk's office confirmed
District 9 candidate Kai Huang didn't respond to a request for comment about his missing SFI as of press time
District 3 candidates Gavin Fernandez Jr. and Neha Shah and District 5 candidate David Weinberg also missed filing deadlines this summer, but their forms were filed with the city by early September
Looking ahead
The council-appointed Ethics Review Commission discussed the trend of late candidate financial filings at its Sept. 23 meeting. With the aim of increasing compliance, commissioners unanimously voted to begin a practice of messaging all Austin City Council candidates about campaign deadlines in the future.
“The process is complicated, and so people forget to file. Not on purpose, they just forget because it’s a complicated process," Chair William Ross Pumfrey said. "We’re trying to address the cause, and if we address the cause maybe we reduce the number of complaints of alleged violations.”
Pumfrey also noted that while multiple 2024 candidates had missed deadlines, only two faced sanctions due to formal complaints their opponents referred to the ethics commission. He said that situation raised questions of fairness and whether it was "wise or prudent" to only penalize candidates who had complaints lodged against them, even as others apparently committed the same violations. Commissioner Haksoon Andrea Low also said sending reminders to candidates could help with compliance and avoid lengthy ethics proceedings.
“This was true the last couple election cycles: We have gotten a lot of complaints when people are a day late, three days late, something like that," she said. "They are late, it is a violation. But it is something that I think is easily avoidable and we do not need to have outside counsel and all these other expenses for us to incur.”
