Austin voters, your work for this year is not over.
Candidates in two races will advance to the Dec. 14 runoff after no one received more than 50% of the vote for those seats in the general election. Early in-person voting begins on Monday, December 2 and ends on Tuesday, December 10.
If you’re not sure which borough you live in, this map is helpful: https://maps.austintexas.gov/GIS/CouncilDistrictMap/
Below you will find our recommendations for the second election.
Austin City Council District 7: Gary Bledsoe
With Councilmember Leslie Pool not seeking another term, the race for North Austin’s District 7 drew six contenders. The top winners on November 5 were two civil rights attorneys: Mike Siegel, who earned nearly 40% of the vote, and Gary Bledsoe, who received 19%.
We encourage voters to elect Bledsoe, the president of the Texas NAACP who spent much of his life fighting for social justice and equality at the local and state levels.
At our meeting earlier this fall, Bledsoe rattled off a list of achievements, including advocating for bills at the Legislature in 2001 to ban racial profiling by police officers and leading efforts to create single-member districts on the City Council. He said addressing the need for more affordable housing would be his top priority.
Bledsoe noted that the council has credibility issues, citing a district judge’s ruling that council members violated the Texas Open Meetings Act when they attempted to include 13 amendments to the city charter in the Nov. 5 general election. (These proposed changes will be decided at future elections.)
“Austin needs someone to try to rebuild trust,” Bledsoe said. “As we move forward, we need someone who has respect on both sides to try to bring the city together.”
We believe Bledsoe has earned that respect with his experience and his passion for fighting for equality. We recommend that District 7 voters elect him to council.
Austin School Board, District 8, at-large seat: Lindsey Stringer
The race to succeed outgoing Trustee Noelita Lugo in the District 8 seat drew a crowded field of six. Heading into the runoff is Fernando Lucas de Urioste, an advocate for students seeking disability services, who led on November 5 with 32% of the vote; and Lindsey Stringer, an education expert at the National Math and Science Initiative, who received nearly 26% of the vote.
We saw a lot from both of these candidates, but we recommend Stringer, who impressed us with her pragmatic, problem-solving mentality.
In the candidates’ panel discussion with the Statesman Editorial Board earlier this fall, Stringer called the district’s poor results with economically disadvantaged students “a moral problem that it has been that way for so long.”
“There’s a lot of bridge building to be done again and trust to be built,” Stringer said.
For students who need special education services, Stringer emphasized the importance of not only following the supports provided, but also tracking the outcomes. “Are we actually seeing progress and is the needle moving? And if not, why not? And what else are you going to do?” she asked.
De Urioste also has an impressive track record of helping students access the support they need. Either candidate would serve Austin families well, but we believe Stringer’s results-oriented focus gives her the edge.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin election recommendations: Bledsoe and Stringer best fit
