During the 1970s, Austinâthe state capital and home to the flagship campus of the University of Texasâwas an affordable haven for the stateâs assorted hippies, aspiring musicians, and itinerant bohemians. The cityâs motto was âKeep Austin Weird,â a conscious departure from the Lone Star Stateâs conservative stereotype.
A half-century later, Austinâs slogan remains popular, and with Texasâs rapid population growth and urbanization, the cityâs progressive politics now enjoy statewide appeal. The city is less âweirdâ today than âwoke,â and the tendency is becoming contagious.
Austinâs mayor, Steve Adler, personifies the cityâs evolution. A Washington, D.C.-area native, Adler attended Princeton, earned a law degree, and became wealthy representing Austin landowners in eminent domain disputes. He was elected mayor in 2015 when, as a political novice, he defeated an incumbent councilman, Mike Martinez, a progressive activist who formerly led the Austin Firefighters Association.
In that race, Adler positioned himself as a moderate, but his centrism has since disappeared. Adler now presides over a 10-person city councilâall Democratsâelected from single-member districts. He is the only sitting official elected citywide by voters, and the first mayor to govern since a city charter amendment, passed in 2012, eliminated at-large voting for council members. Last year, Adler was handily re-elected in a well-funded campaignâa tribute to his political prowess.
The charter amendment, which also expanded the councilâs size, was intended to make city government less monolithic and more representative of Austinâs diverse voters. For decades, the council had been dominated by mainstream Democrats from Austinâs influential west side. Even the local Republican organization supported the amendment, hoping that the cityâs GOP voters might finally get a seat or two at the table.
Instead, single-member districts merely strengthened the cityâs minority factions and leftist special interests, making the council even more progressive. In recent votes, council members unanimously declared Austin a âfreedom cityâ for illegal immigrants and embraced the so-called Green New Deal.
As the city councilâs political direction veers leftward, so have Adlerâs public positions. His latest stunt occurred at an Iftar event featuring Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar as the keynote speaker. The annual dinner, celebrating the end of the Ramadan fast, was hosted by Emgage, a nonprofit group that recruits Muslims to run for office. Texas agricultural commissioner Sid Miller called for Adler to skip the event, noting Omarâs record of anti-Semitic statements and dismissive remarks of the 9/11 attacks.
âItâs not inclusive to have a keynote speaker at a dinner who has repeatedly attacked the Jewish faith and its adherents,â Miller said. He added: âMayor Adler should help Austin stay true to its roots and use this opportunity as a teaching moment for Muslims, Jews, Christians and those of other faiths to come and break bread together in the spirit of unity and love, not hate.â
Emgage denounced Millerâs criticism of Omar as âimmoral and racist.â Adler, only the second Jewish mayor in Austinâs history, insisted on attending, saying that âevery year, this event is a special opportunity for people of many faiths to grow together. As mayor, it is my privilege and responsibility to lean into such learning moments with my communityânot to back away from them.â
He went ahead and appeared at the event with Omar, ignoring the opposition and protests of other critics, including the Zionist Organization of America, various Jewish leaders, Jihad Watch, and ACT for America. In his dinner remarks, Adler praised Omar as an âinspiring and wonderful symbol of our countryâs progress toward real and meaningful representation in government for people who have not previously seen themselves reflected in our democratic institutionsââan unusual tribute to someone repeatedly, and credibly, accused of anti-Semitism.
Alas, defending the interests of Jews and their homeland, Israel, is not considered fashionable in progressive circlesâunlike, say, pushing costly mass transit and âaffordable-housingâ projects, catering to homeless activists, promoting renewable energy boondoggles, ignoring public-order offenses, and protecting illegal immigrants.
Accordingly, Adler faced no political repercussions for sharing the dais with Omar. Indeed, a liberal press corps rallied to Adlerâs defense. Millerâs rebuke only emboldened Adler because Austin voters reflexively reject Republicans.
In the 2018 election, Texas Gov. Greg Abbottâmore popular statewide than Millerâlost Travis County by more than a 2-1 margin. In Austin, Adlerâs GOP opponent drew only 6.33 percent of the voteâfar less than the percentage of registered Republican voters. When Republicans are considered unelectable in local races, even GOP voters will choose the most palatable Democratic candidate.
Austin aspires to be, in the words of the Wall Street Journal, âthe San Francisco of the South,â spending profligately on âdubious social programs and utopian schemes.â For a citywide official, the sweet spot is to be âwokeâ enough to appeal to progressive voters without being so radical as to scare the business community. Adler, whose law practice involved lucrative dealings with real estate developers, knows that being a âcentristâ in Austin, where the Democratic Socialists of America regularly endorse successful candidates, gives him leeway to tack leftwardâand he has.
Austinâs march leftward may, unfortunately, predict the eventual political fortunes of the Lone Star State as the suburbs and major cities increasingly trend blue. Adler, now in his second term, cannot run for re-election. Perhaps he will follow the path of South Bendâs Pete Buttigieg, whom he endorsed for president. If the fast-growing Austin is a harbinger for the rest of the state, Texas has weirdness in its future.
This is a commentary submitted and published with the authorâs permission. If you wish to submit a commentary to Texas Scorecard, please submit your article to submission@texasscorecard.com.