Leander ISD board of trustees
Three Leander ISD trustee positions are up for election, and each incumbent will face a challenger on Nov. 8. Campaign finance reports released Oct. 11 showed every challenger out-raising their opposing incumbent in political contributions. But the latest round of reports, released Oct. 31, showed all three incumbents raising more in contributions than their challengers. Place 3 Trustee Pamela Waggoner is a former insurance agent who served on the LISD board from 2002-08 and again from 2010-16. Challenger Chris Remy is in the software sales industry and has never served on the LISD board. In a Q&A with Community Impact Newspaper, Waggoner said if re-elected she would focus on improving schools in the district that are struggling due to socioeconomic factors or the percent of students for whom English is a second language. Remy said if elected to Place 3, he would be a service-oriented leader and guide the district to its fullest potential. Place 4 Trustee Grace Barber-Jordan is a adjunct professor of student development and a licensed professional counselor. She has served on the LISD board for 15 years. Challenger Scott Rowe recently moved to the district from Eastvale, California, where he was a board member of the Eastvale Community Foundation. In a Q&A with Community Impact Newspaper, Barber-Jordan said if re-elected she would works to maintain the district’s “culture of excellence” as its population continues to grow. Rowe said if elected he would work to build consensus among the concerns of parents, administrators, teachers and taxpayers. Place 5 Trustee Russell Bundy has served on the LISD board for nine years and has a background in law enforcement. Challenger James MacKay is a military training instructor with the U.S. Air Force and has served on the School Health Advisory Committee, and the campus site-based planning committee for Vista Ridge High School. In a Q&A with Community Impact Newspaper, Bundy said if re-elected, he would work with LISD’s new superintendent, Dan Troxell, to develop strategies for the district. MacKay said he would work to restore local control of our children’s education, fight to put an end to high-stakes testing, and support and protect our teachers by rejecting any attempts to tie assessments of educators to student performance on standardized tests.Round Rock ISD board of trustees, Place 7
Round Rock ISD’s board of trustees has one contested race with investment associate Mason Moses and lawyer Tony Pitts running for Place 7 to replace Trustee Pauline Law, who chose not to seek re-election. Neither candidate has held elected office in the past. RRISD trustees Nikki Gonzales, elected in 2014, and Charles “Chad” Chadwell, who has served on the board since 2008, are running unopposed Nov. 8.Austin Community College board of trustees
Place 4 Three candidates are vying for a spot on Austin City Council’s board of trustees. One of George Robinson, Sean Hassan or Michael J. Lewis will replace outgoing trustee Jeffrey Richard, who decided not to seek re-election after serving for 12 years. The seat is one of four open positions on the nine-member board. Community Impact Newspaper interviewed the candidates in this Q&A. Place 5 The seat is being contested by three candidates, Thomas Miranda, Nicole Eversmann and Anthony Schoggins. Currently held by Victor H.P. Villarreal, the board’s president, the seat is being vacated after a six-year stint. Villarreal decided against seeking re-election. Community Impact Newspaper interviewed the candidates in this Q&A. Place 6 Douglas Gibbins and Nora De Hoyos Comstock are seeking the position. Current Place 6 trustee Guadalupe Sosa is leaving her post to run for longtime trustee Allen Kaplan’s Place 9 seat. Kaplan, who served on the board since 1994, announced his retirement this year. His term was set to end in 2018. Gibbons and Comstock answered Community Impact Newspaper’s questions in this Q&A. Place 9 Sosa entered a crowded field of contestants for the seat, with Mitch Fuller, Julie Ann Kitsch and Jeremy Story all vying to replace Kaplan. Because his term was unexpired, the seat will be up for re-election again in two years. Candidates spoke about their policy priorities in this Q&A, published in September.Austin Mobility Bond
Voters will decide whether to approve the city of Austin's $720 million mobility bond, which includes three project categories. Most funding—$482 million—would go toward implementing parts of the city’s seven completed corridor plans as well as studying a new corridor plan in South Austin. Another $101 million would go toward regional mobility projects, and the remaining $137 million would be spent on local road projects and implementing parts of the city’s sidewalk, bicycle, urban trails and fatality-reduction plans. The city of Austin could issue $250 million in bonds without raising the debt service tax rate and would issue the remaining $470 million by raising that tax rate by an estimated 2.25 cents per $100 taxable valuation.Austin City Council, District 6
In a rematch of their 2014 runoff election, the District 6 race features incumbent Don Zimmerman and challenger Jimmy Flannigan. Both have highlighted relieving traffic congestion as a top campaign issue. Zimmerman founded the Travis County Taxpayers Special Political Action Committee to fight local tax proposals and is one of four Northwest Austin council members back on the ballot two years after Austin voters elected 10 members from newly drawn geographical districts. He has said he supports cooperating with the Texas Department of Transportation and Williamson County to acquire a right of way for a new west Austin expressway from Lakeway Mall to I-35 south in order to relieve traffic. He is neutral on Proposition 1, the city of Austin’s $720 mobility bond on the Nov. 8 ballot. Flannigan co-founded the Northwest Austin Coalition, is a member of the Austin Chamber of Commerce Transportation Committee and a past president of the Austin Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. He has said he wants to focus on relieving congestion and improving pedestrian safety on Anderson Mill Road, Duval Road, McNeil Road and near Lakeline Boulevard and Neenah Avenue. Flannigan supports Proposition 1.Travis County Sheriff
Sheriff Greg Hamilton is stepping down after 12 years of service. Republican Joe G. Martinez and Democrat Sally Hernandez will look to fill the office. Libertarian Eric Guerra and Debbie Russell, a Green Party candidate, also appear on the ballot. Hernandez garnered more political contributions than Martinez, with $26,531 in campaign funds raised compared to Martinez’s $8,950.Travis County District Attorney
Democrat Margaret Moore and Republican Maura Phelan are vying to replace outgoing DA Rosemary Lehmberg, who was arrested in 2013 in connection with driving while intoxicated. Lemberg is stepping down after nearly eight years in office.Travis County Commissioners Court, Pct. 3
Travis County Precinct 3 Commissioner Gerald Daugherty, a Republican, is seeking re-election and faces Democrat David Holmes in the race for the seat. Daugherty was first elected to the seat in 2002, was re-elected in 2004, lost the 2008 election and was elected again in 2012. Both candidates answered questions in a Q&A for Community Impact Newspaper. Daugherty outpaced Holmes in terms of funds raised, according to campaign finance reports.Williamson County Commissioners Court, Pct. 1
Two candidates are vying for the seat that will replace Commissioner Lisa Birkman, who decided not to seek re-election after serving three terms and 12 years. Republican Landy Warren, a banking executive, and Democrat Terry Cook, a small business owner, are facing off in the election today. In a Q&A with Community Impact Newspaper, Warren said if elected his top priority would be to diversify the county’s long-term water supplies to ensure that Williamson County residents will always have affordable water for their homes and businesses. Cook said she would work to ensure any contracts signed by the county would be for necessary work or needs at a fair price and with contractors who have a record of quality work that is completed on time and within budget.U.S. House District 31
Incumbent Rep. John Carter is running against Democrat Mike Clark and Libertarian Scott Ballard. Carter has served Texas' 31st congressional district in 2003. U.S. representatives are elected to serve two-year terms.