It’s said that the journey of 1,000 miles starts with a first step; in that spirit, beleaguered Austin taxpayers have reason for cautious optimism.
After Tuesday’s election results, local pro-public safety, pro-taxpayer candidates for the Austin City Council have advanced to December runoffs in two contested council districts.
In northwest Austin’s District 6, public safety advocate Mackenzie Kelly secured over 36 percent of the vote against Democrat incumbent Jimmy Flannigan. Texas Scorecard has previously detailed Flannigan’s fiscal duplicity and contempt for basic Texas values.
In west-central Austin’s District 10, entrepreneur Jennifer Virden consolidated conservative support to score just over 25 percent against Democrat incumbent Alison Alter.
Incumbents Flannigan and Alter, along with their colleagues on the all-Democrat city council, have voted to repeatedly raise taxes on citizens, defund the local police (Flannigan even suggested demolishing their downtown headquarters), funnel citizens’ money toward killing preborn children, and allow lawlessness among the city’s homeless individuals, which has increased violent crime in the city.
Texas Scorecard has documented how Austinites are faltering under the harmful decisions of the all-Democrat council. Among numerous issues, the median homeowner is now having to pay over 100 percent more in taxes to the city compared to 12 years ago. According to a United Way report, 42 percent of area families are struggling to make ends meet.
Elsewhere in Austin’s election results, socialist incumbent Councilmember Greg Casar and Vanessa Fuentes won outright. Neither outcome is surprising, but Casar—known for his crusades against working-class citizens—is now term-limited.
Election Day for the runoffs is December 15.
