All About the November 2024 Election - Austin

October 20, 2024

Election season is here,

and there is SO MUCH on the ballot! Yes, there's a massive presidential election sucking most of everyone's political energy. But! We're also electing more than half of a new city council, representatives for AISD and ACC, and so much more. These local officials make decisions that affect your day to day life and have the potential to drastically shift the local political scene.

Below is all the information you need to ensure you're prepared to vote as well as some progressive (ish) candidate recommendations.

Voting Dates and Information

Monday, October 21: Early Voting Begins

Friday, November 1: Early Voting Ends

Tuesday, November 5: Election Day

Visit votetravis.gov to find your nearest polling location, check your registration status, and view your personalized ballot.

Candidate Recommendations

Please note that this list includes all Austin area districts. Your ballot will be smaller. You can find your specific ballot at votetravis.gov.

Not all of the below candidates are progressive. Some are just more progressive than their opponents. If you have the space and energy, please take time to research these candidates for yourself - each will have a link to their website for your convenience.

Federal Offices

President: no endorsement

US Senator: Collin Allred

District 10: Theresa Boisseau

District 17: Mark Lorenzen

District 21: Kristin Hook

District 35: Greg Casar

District 37: Lloyd Doggett

State Offices

Railroad Commissioner: Eddie Espinoza

Justice, Supreme Court, Place 2: Dasean Jones

Justice, Supreme Court, Place 4: Christine Vinh Weems

Justice, Supreme Court, Place 6: Bonnie Lee Goldstein

Presiding Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 1: Holly Taylor

Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 7: Nancy Mulder

Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 8: Chika Anyiam

State Senator, District 25: Merrie Fox

State Representative, District 19: Dwain Handley

State Representative, District 46: Sheryl Cole

State Representative, District 47: Vikki Goodwin

State Representative, District 48: Donna Howard

Justice, 3rd Court of Appeals, Place 2: Maggie Ellis

District Attorney 53rd Judicial District: José Garza

City Offices

Mayor: no endorsement

District 2: Vanessa Fuentes

District 4: José “Chito” Vela

District 6: Krista Laine

District 7: Mike Siegel

District 10: Ashika Ganguly

ACC:

Place 7: Cole Wilson

Place 9: Julie Ann Nitsch

AISD:

District 2: Laressa Quintana

Position 8: Fernando Lucas de Urioste

County Prop:

Prop A: Yes

"Approving the ad valorem tax rate of $0.344445 per $100 valuation in County of Travis for the current year, a rate that is $0.025 higher per $100 valuation than the voter-approval tax rate of County of Travis, for the purpose of increasing access to affordable and high-quality child care and afterschool/summer programming and related services for low-income families and developing and administering related workforce and economic development programs. Last year, the ad valorem tax rate in County of Travis was $0.304655 per $100 valuation."

ballot language source.

AISD Prop:

Prop A: Yes

“Ratifying the ad valorem tax rate of $0.9505 per $100 valuation in the Austin Independent School District for the current year, a rate that will result in an increase of 8.3 percent in maintenance and operations tax revenue for the district for the current year as compared to the preceding year, which is an additional $184,628,049.”

ballot language source.

Voting Reminders

You only vote in the districts you live in. This means that your ballot will be smaller than the previous list. You can find your personalized ballot at votetravis.gov.

Phones are not permitted at the polls. Be sure to print or write your chosen candidates down before heading to the voting booth.

You will need to bring a photo ID to vote. View accepted forms of ID here.

You can check your voter registration status, find your nearest polling location, and check wait times at votetravis.gov.

View voting tips and tricks here.

National Offices

Travis County is divided into five congressional districts: D10, D17, D21, D35, and D37.
You can visit votetravis.gov to learn what district you’re in.
Despite Austin being overwhelmingly left-leaning, D35 and D37 are currently the only congressional districts in Austin held by democrats.

President: responsible for enforcing the laws written by congress, appointing heads of federal agencies, etc.

Senator: upper chamber of congress, two senators per state, six year terms. proposes legislation, amends bills, etc.

Representative: number of representatives dependent on state population, two year terms. introduces bills, serves on committees, etc.

State Offices

While federal offices can dictate what's happening in the country as a whole, state offices operate only within the state. This is why different states have vastly different policies. Some of the offices on the ballot are lesser known than others. The following will give very brief overviews into what some of these officials do for the state.

Railroad Commissioner: Regulates the oil and gas industry, pipeline transporters, natural gas utilities, and more. Not actually about railroads.

Supreme Court Justice: This is the court of last resort for civil matters in Texas. There's eight justices and one chief justice.

Court of Criminal Appeals Judge: This is the court of last resort for all criminal matters in Texas. It’s comprised of one presiding judge and eight judges.

State Senator: This is the upper house of the Texas legislature. Senators enact laws, pass the state budget, adjust taxes, etc.

State Representative: Member of the Texas House of Representatives. Makes laws & approves budgets with the Texas Senate. There’s 150 districts, and one representative per district.

Court of Appeals Justice - Cases that are appealed by city & district courts go to one of these courts. There's 14 courts of appeals in Texas. Each court is presided over by at least 3 justices. The 3rd court of appeals is the Austin one & has 6 justices.

District Judge - These are trial courts. There’s around 477 district courts in Texas. Judicial Districts are determined by state legislature. There’s 11 district courts in Travis County. Each court has a judge.

District Attorney - Represents all criminal cases in district courts in their district and in appeals from those districts, decides how and if cases are prosecuted

ACC/AISD Trustees

ACC Trustee: an Austin Community College Trustee sits on the ACC Board of Trustees and is responsible for creating policies which govern educational programs, providing guidance and leadership, and ensuring ACC meets community needs. There are nine members on the board.

AISD Trustee: an Austin Independent School District Trustee sits on the AISD Board of Trustees and is responsible for employing the superintendent, passing the budget, setting the tax rate, creates policies for the district, and more. There are nine members on the board.

Local Propositions

Travis County Proposition A

“Approving the ad valorem tax rate of $0.344445 per $100 valuation in County of Travis for the current year, a rate that is $0.025 higher per $100 valuation than the voter-approval tax rate of County of Travis, for the purpose of increasing access to affordable and high-quality child care and afterschool/summer programming and related services for low-income families and developing and administering related workforce and economic development programs. Last year, the ad valorem tax rate in County of Travis was $0.304655 per $100 valuation.”

This proposition would address childcare issues in Travis County by increasing the number of low-income families who are able to access child-care subsidies, expanding child care hours, and more. If prop A passes, it would increase the average homeowner’s property taxes by about $126 per year.

ballot language here

more tax information here

very informative austin common breakdown here

kvue article about prop a

community impact article about prop a

reddit thread with lots of opinions

AISD Proposition A

This proposition would increase teacher and school staff salaries, address some of AISD’s budget deficit, provide direct support to AISD campuses, and more. To do this, it would raise the average Austin homeowner’s property taxes by about $412 per year.

ballot language here

aisd flyer about prop a

chamber of commerce endorsement

all about prop a from aisd

Vote!

While the presidential race can take up everyone's mental space, there's so much more on the ballot that will affect your every day life. Take some time out of your day to make sure you and yours are aware of everything on the ballot and are prepared for the ballot box!