Your phone should be on silent or turned off and put away. Pflugerville ISD has eight props on the ballot. HD49: Gina Hinojosa The Austin Chronicle only endorses in contested races. Theofanis impressed us particularly with not only her command of, but her love for, the quirky world of appellate law, the things that make serving on this intermediate bench such an important role as a bulwark for Central Texans and their values against the hostile state government and its compliant high courts. Support the Chronicle, One click gets you all the newsletters listed below, Breaking news, arts coverage, and daily events. Heres what you need to know to vote in Travis County. I just wish to clear some things that have been weighing heavily off my chest. We can help. Polling is open until February 1st and can be done via their official website. Talarico, elected at the same time as Zwiener, has impressed the heck out of everybody as the House's youngest (32) member, including Republicans who the Capitol crew thought would treat him better in redistricting. District 4: Kathryn Whitley Chu Following months of discussion from Republican Gov. Can't keep up with happenings around town? Her opponent Tanisa Jeffers is also right that we could restore CCL5 to its former status as a mental-health-focused court (which doesn't exclude DWIs for those with substance use disorders), but we think Espiritu is better prepared to do that than Jeffers is to reform DWI adjudication. Heres what we learned. We normally just say, "Vote for the Democrats," when, as has been the case for the last 25 years, there has not been a Republican worth voting for, or a Dem who needed voting against. Please contact Elections@austintexas.gov for any election related questions. Council District 3: Jos Velsquez Sunday, January 30, 2022 Last Day to Register to Vote in Primary Election. This seven-candidate field (we talked to six) to succeed retiring Rep. Eddie Rodriguez, now running for Congress, is amazingly qualified, and we thought this would be for sure a double or even triple endorsement. Support the Chronicle, One click gets you all the newsletters listed below, Breaking news, arts coverage, and daily events. For more information, including polling locations, visit the Travis County Clerk's website. Georgia senators opposed a bill to allow Buckhead to break off from Atlanta, a controversial effort that top business . We also took notice when Guerrero told us shes not Tovos clone and about her pretty good ideas for soft density that she thinks are common sense, but which some D9 homeowners clearly dont like. Information is power. Curbside voting is available for people with disabilities including hearing, vision and mobility impairments. Not all of the bills are bad! Supreme Court, P5: Amanda Reichek But there are many more! We hope that facing a legit primary challenge from Bob Libal former head of Grassroots Leadership, running to Shea's left on criminal justice, economic development, and the built environment will help Shea take her service to the next level. In a perfect world they'd also share space on the dais, but we must choose. State Constitutional Amendments Proposition 1: FOR Proposition 2: AGAINST We have often urged readers to vote against all constitutional. There is absolutely no reason to replace him. The governor is up for election, Austinites are choosing a new mayor, and there are some notable bonds on the ballot, including one to fund affordable housing projects in Austin. Voters must have a certified doctor's note confirming the illness. Of the four urbanists in the first round, Qadri seemed to us to be the least knowledgeable and engaged with actual land use politics, let alone the broader spectrum of City Hall business. land swap proposed by Oracle, A "bad law that will actually hurt public safety overall", Ballot initiative centered on APD staffing finds friends and foes, One click gets you all the newsletters listed below, Breaking news, arts coverage, and daily events. It's Election Day. ACC Reopens Historic Campus Ahead of Bond Election, Book Bans Take Center Stage in Leander ISD, Election Ticker: The Ups and Downs of Watson's Ad and More, Ken Paxtons Lawyers Keep Flubbing, but He Might Not Appear Anyway, Election Ticker: Southwest Council Races Illuminate Dual Political Divides, Unions Bet on Mayoral Candidate Kirk Watson, Election Ticker: Erica Nix Drops Out, Poll Watchers Get Trained and More, Local Elections Herald Epic Changes in the Capital City, Kirk Watson and Celia Israel Lead Pack for the Next Mayor of Crisis City, Gentrification and Affordability Shapes the District 1 and 3 Races, Homelessness and Mobility Top District 5 and 8 Issues, Urbanists Challenge Linda Guerrero for District 9 Hot Seat, Solid Candidates Find Their Way to AISD Board Races, Wingnut Crusaders Want All of Round Rock ISD, AISD's Largest Bond Ever to Fix Infrastructure Comes to the Polls, Back on the Ballot: More Subsidized Housing, A Primer on the Political Landscape in Central Texas, Everything You Need to Know About Your First Austin Election, "Can I Get an Abortion in Austin?" Combined with the 2,471 mail-in ballots received, that makes . In a Feb. 20 post on the Council message board, Watson wrote, "I . Many counties have voting centers that allow early in-person voting, and ballot drop-off, in the month before election day. Copyright 1981-2023 Austin Chronicle Corp. All rights reserved. We might end up endorsing GOP incumbent Glenn Hegar in November, since he's the only competent statewide elected official. Strategic Planning and Decision-Making for Public and. Our land use policy and practice is still weak, obsolete, and broken, not just creating suboptimal outcomes as in the Nineties but imposing immediate and grievous costs on people who literally cannot find a place to live. Got a tip? In-person early voting: Thursday, December 1, through Friday, December 9 In November, a blue-wave election in Hays County swept out the prosecutors who had tried to convict Gray. 2023 ELECTION Mayoral candidates Paul Vallas, former Chicago Public Schools CEO, and Brandon Johnson, Cook County commissioner, will be facing each other in a runoff election scheduled for April 4. Current board secretary. We all will have to show Israel what to do during a brief two-year term, barely enough time to reorient City Hall, let alone go somewhere new. Copyright 1981-2023 Austin Chronicle Corp. All rights reserved. Friday, Feb. 18 will be the last day to apply for mail-in ballots. If you don't find your districts listed below, that means they're not up for election in 2022. We backed Ben Leffler (who has endorsed Qadri) because we felt hed be the best all-around council member of the original eight. The most important reason to vote, however, is the protection of the Constitution of the United States. The filing location is the Office of the City Clerk, 301 W. Second St., Suite 2030, Austin, Texas 78701; Fax number (512) 974-2374. (Despite some misleading literature from her campaign, we did not endorse her before.) It was held on June 7, 2022, concurrent with the 2022 statewide primary elections. All rights reserved. Please contact Elections@austintexas.gov with any election related questions. How is our attorney general being a dick this time? We can help. In order to be a candidate a person must: Be a U.S. Citizen; The Nov. 8 election is a big one. HD47: Vikki Goodwin That wasnt true for the candidates in the three district run-offs, each for an open seat, who crowded into our conference room with all four, or five, or six of their fellow candidates. As a self-described urbanist, he represents a real change in direction after eight years of Kathie Tovo, and Linda Guerrero entered this race to provide a more status-quo alternative. Just scroll down and enter your name and birthday. In Austin, voters will also elect a new mayor, choose candidates for five City Council and four Austin school board seats and consider three bond proposals. Information is power. STAND ALONE NARRATIVE. District 6: Andrew Gonzales. Yet Alter also has years of experience as Kirk Watsons aide in the Lege, so he knows how to negotiate and play hardball, which we generally like to hear. Our progressive community has never really had this much power to lift the SBOE's heavily conservative (racist, homophobic) hand from the necks of Texas children, and we think the incumbent is best positioned to use it. 2021 May Election Calendar / Calendario Electoral de Mayo 2021 This is where some of you may have wanted us to make a change, but weve now met twice with Zohaib Qadri and still arent convinced. Eric Goodman's Austin FC column, other soccer news, All questions answered (satisfaction not guaranteed). Find the Chronicles endorsements (with detailed explanations) here. Wilco County Clerk: Erica Smith We trust their judgment regarding Eldridge, who deserves to serve despite attempts in two cycles now to use one of the minor contretemps that gets blown into scandal in this town to take her out. Support the free press, so we can support Austin. Filing in the Republican or Democratic 2020 primary. We blew this call four years ago, thinking Ellis couldn't possibly go the distance against the seasoned Southwest activists in the race. Texas 2022 Primary Voter Guide: May 24 runoff election Texas Runoff Election Voter Guide A roundup of the candidates and key state and local primary races that your vote will decide in. Daily News. Lots of action this cycle, as redistricting has changed the political map in ways that mostly work to Austin progressives' benefit. Leffler grew up working-class in Central Austin neighborhoods of the kind that now make D9 living so desirably out of reach; he has worked within the city bureaucracy and in a Council office; and he offers a compelling vision on how to ease Austin's housing crisis. Coupled with the long, hard hours he has put in meeting with organizers, business owners, and advocates inside and outside the district, we feel Velsquez is best positioned to navigate the complex challenges facing D3, the vanguard of gentrification in Austin both north and south of the river. Heres how it would impact schools if voters approve it. District 9: Linda Guerrero. If you have not mailed your ballot by election day, we recommend that you hand-deliver it to the clerks office. Ag Commissioner: Susan Hays Candidates to participate in election forum at Kalahari Resorts, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Here is his Q&A with Jacob Bartelson. Abbott Says Hell Yes to Probably Violating More Peoples Civil Rights, This Week in Ken Paxtons Brain: Sodomy, Austin at Large: Housing and the Mayors Race. State Board of Education, District 5: Rebecca Bell-Metereau, 3rd Court of Appeals, P4: Rosa Lopez Theofanis, Travis County Justice of the Peace, Precinct 2: Randall Slagle, Hays Commissioner Pct. Speaking of local legends, this is the race to succeed Dana DeBeauvoir, who may be Texas' most famous election official and thus a target of state leadership. Submit yours now at austinchronicle.com/opinion. Legal documents to use in absence of an ID, Any other device that can record sound or capture images. News Sports Hookem.com Austin360 Opinion Advertise Obituaries eNewspaper Legals Subscribe Support the free press, so we can support Austin. The 2022 San Francisco District Attorney recall election was a successful special recall election to remove San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin from office. Six candidates are vying for this seat representing South Austin on the City Council. Is he still the favorite? Day one of early voting in Travis County was quite impressive. To find voting locations and sample ballots, visitvotetravis.com(Travis County),wilco.org/elections(Williamson County),hayscountytx.com/departments/elections(Hays County) orbastropvotes.org(Bastrop County). Austin American-Statesman is the number one source for Austin and Texas breaking news, politics and business. Both candidates would be fine judges, but we think the shoes of Lora Livingston, the county's longest-serving civil judge and administrator for that side of the docket, would be best filled by Lyttle, whose diverse background in medicine as well as law, and in immigration and business matters as well as family law, make her an asset to the bench. The city also held a special general election for the District 4 seat on the city council on January 25, 2022. It may indeed take two A.G.s to undo all the damage done by the worst villain in Texas state government, incumbent Ken Paxton, and either of these two super-lawyers former ACLU legal champion Garza or former Galveston Mayor Jaworski would be our pick for first chair. Got something to say? The Chronicle Editorial Board makes these recommendations. AUSTIN, Texas. The latest proposed legislation on higher education in Florida is causing outrage among local students. Williams got some bad press in the national media regarding the latter, but she convinced us that she views housing as a civil rights issue and has acted carefully in that role. Who Will Be the New Council Voice for District 9? Chronicle Endorsements for the Propositions on the November Ballot November 2021 Statewide General Election and City of Austin Special Election Oct. 14, 2021 What You Need and Where to. Go check yourselves and let Malhotra use her actual expertise on this bench. Supreme Court, Place 3: Erin Nowell Day one of early voting in Travis County was quite impressive. A Special Session on Guns? Video! Eight candidates vie for Austin's most powerful YIMBYs and NIMBYs, Get your vote on in this week's "Election Ticker", Candidates talk climate, cops, and city employees, All our endorsements collected on one easy-to-print page, Austin FC advances in the MLS Cup Playoffs, and our endorsements signal the approach of the midterms, Cash, beer, and Beto rule everything around us, District 3 candidate forum keeps it quick and Celia gets a PAC, Climate change forum focuses on young voters, ACC shows what it can do with less than $50 million, Look at the first ad of the mayoral campaign and more, Leaving the state for an abortion is on the line, Things get partisan in this week's election news, Celia Israel and Kirk Watson answer urbanists, Israel lays out repro rights plan, and more, Endorsements flow in, though his proposals may leave some Austinites wanting more, The biggest news in local races this week, State Rep. Celia Israel on being herself on the mayoral trail, Duo leads in funds, reputations, and housing plans, Filling Kathie Tovo's shoes (with houses? There is no currently active politician whose career has been more interwoven with the Chronicle's advocacy journalism than Brigid Shea, the hero of the Save Our Springs movement and a highly productive disruptor at City Hall in the 1990s. How much money can he spend, how fast? An Old Austin survivor who's also lived in D9 her whole life, Guerrero has put in decades of volunteer service in leadership roles on city boards and commissions and with a broad array of community causes, and would walk into City Hall with all that knowledge and a powerful coalition already behind her. Starting near the top is the marquee race of this election cycle: Republican Gov. Council District 9: Linda Guerrero. Follow her on Twitter @marisacharp. Watson was mayor of the city from 1997 to 2001 and is focused on tackling the rising cost of living, homelessness, public safety and transportation. The Chronicle welcomes opinion pieces on any topic from the community. Information is power. Email her at mcharpentier@kut.org. Leander Voted to Keep Cap Metro, but Will Manor and Lago Vista? The top four vote-getters citywide win the seats. Guerrero may be the better all-around option of these two. Voters can ask an election officer to bring a ballot to their parked car in the designated curbside voting location. All five of the other seats on the board are now up for election, and Weston and Bones allies the Round Rock One Family slate, including former Austin CM Don Zimmerman are truly steeped in evil as they try to QAnon their way into office. In the mayors race, that reconsideration was internal and brief; nothing about how the Nov. 8 election turned out, nor about the campaign thats unfolded since, made us rethink our support for Israel and for the reasons we laid out before. As we told readers then, it was not to shame him but to goad him to do better as the leader and defender of a big and diverse community, not a superhero who all by himself would build a political house big enough to hold the new Austin. Email address is elections@austintexas.gov. TX-35: Greg Casar Austin Chronicle Voting Guide Recommendations Austin Chronicle Voting Guide Recommendations For sale Marketplace classified ad of the Austin Chronicle Classifieds Austin TX. We're talking to dozens of Hispanic voters before the November midterms about the top issues on their mind including what they want from candidates and their state government. A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin's independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community's political and environmental concerns and. Born and raised in East Austin, Velsquez's pride in his community has shone throughout his campaign. Early Voting Is Off and Running. 2023 www.statesman.com. But thats not because we didnt reconsider them. We can help. Grumet:Grumet: Here's what Austin got from the 2018 affordable housing bond. Can't keep up with happenings around town? It's a shame that common-sense solutions to longstanding problems have been deferred to exactly when land and labor are most expensive, but students in Austin's aging and economically fragile outer-ring neighborhoods really will need these things. 1: KT Musselman The $350 million bond would go to acquiring land and building new homes, as well as repairing existing homes that would likely be demolished but for the bond's assistance.