BG Reads 11.6.2024

BG Reads - November 6, 2024

November 06, 2024

Bingham Group Reads

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November 6, 2024  

➡️ Today's BG Reads include:

🟪 Kirk Watson appears to narrowly avoid runoff to win race for Austin mayor (KVUE)

🟪 Kelly appears headed for defeat, while Fuentes and Vela win Austin City Council races (KUT)

🟪 Siegel, Bledsoe headed for a runoff in District 7 (Austin Monitor)

🟪 Marc Duchen clinches narrow win in District 10 election (Austin Monitor)

🟪 Texas GOP poised to increase its majorities in the Legislature (Texas Tribune)

🟪 Trump wins the White House in political comeback rooted in appeals to frustrated voters (Associated Press)

Read On!

[CITY OF AUSTIN/TRAVIS COUNTY]

  • 💡Agenda Spotlight > Item 34 Approve a resolution to develop a pilot program for implementing a budget and framework for allocation of discretionary Council Member District Service Funds for use by Council offices to implement various projects within their districts to begin in the Fiscal Year 2025-2026 Budget. (Resolution Link)

In an October 30 memo, City Manager T.C. Broadnax announced several key additions to the city leadership team, effective November 4.

You can view the memo here: CITY OF AUSTIN MEMO: Executive Leadership Team and Organizational Announcements. An org chart is included on page 3.

We particularly wanted to flag the creation of a Grants Division within the Intergovernmental Relations Office to focus on creating a centralized grant funding strategy and governance for the City that advances City Council’s strategic priorities, leverages local resources, and targets investments for Austin. 

The memo notes “the City lacks a centralized grants function causing us to potentially leave federal and state funding on the table. Staff from across the organization are currently being identified for potential reassignment to the Grants Division.”

🟪 The Austin Council has three (3) regular meetings left in 2024:

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

➡️ Kirk Watson appears to narrowly avoid runoff to win race for Austin mayor (KVUE)

Current Mayor Kirk Watson appeared to narrowly avoid a runoff with 100% of precincts reporting holding 50.01% of the vote.

Watson delivered a speech on Tuesday night as he led the race against four challengers: former Austin City Council member Kathie Tovo, community organizer Carmen Llanes Pulido, interfaith organizer Doug Greco and construction company owner Jeff Bowen… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

➡️ Kelly appears headed for defeat, while Fuentes and Vela win Austin City Council races (KUT)

Council Member Vanessa Fuentes handily beat Robert Reynolds to hold on to her District 2 spot. Fuentes was first elected to council in 2020.

Fuentes had a staggering lead in District 2. Unofficial results showed Fuentes carried District 2 with 86% of the vote, compared to challenger Robert Reynolds’ 14%.

Jose "Chito" Vela faced four challengers in North Austin. Since taking over for Greg Casar in 2022, Vela has been hawkish on land-use issues. He was one of the most vocal supporters of the city's recent revisions to its land development code. His challengers seized on that record, arguing he's taken things in the wrong direction.

Vela commanded the crowded field of challengers in District 4 after early voting. Nearly 59% of voters supported the incumbent, with his nearest challenger, Monica Guzmán, getting 28% of votes, according to the Travis County Clerk.

The incumbent called his victory on election night "a validation of our housing policy.

Mackenzie Kelly appears to have been defeated by challenger Krista Laine, who received 51% of the vote, according to Travis and Williamson county numbers. Ahead of the election, Kelly garnered unlikely support from some Democrats in the reliably purple district (though, it's worth noting this a nonpartisan office).

Laine said she wants to be the voice of Northwest Austin at City Hall by focusing more on affordability issues in District 6, which straddles both Williamson and Travis counties.

Laine won the district by 704 votes, according to unofficial election results from Travis and Williamson counties… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

➡️ Siegel, Bledsoe headed for a runoff in District 7 (Austin Monitor)

In a crowded race to represent North Central District 7, none of the six contenders managed to snag 50 percent of the vote. As a result, Mike Siegel and Gary Bledsoe will face off in a runoff next month.

Siegel, who generated the most funding and endorsements during the general election, claimed about 40 percent of the vote.

Siegel’s opponent will be Bledsoe, a civil rights attorney and former president of the Texas NAACP, who snagged just over 19 percent of the vote. Bledsoe said he was feeling “ecstatic” about the results.

“Even though the other (candidates) have had much greater funding and much greater time in (the race), we seem to be … very competitive. There’s real hope for our vision of … making sure our community is governed by good, commonsense policies instead of backdoor politics,” he told the Monitor during his election night party at the Hideout Pub… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

➡️ Marc Duchen clinches narrow win in District 10 election (Austin Monitor)

Although the race was extremely close, at the end of Tuesday night Marc Duchen could claim victory in the District 10 City Council contest over his only opponent, Ashika Ganguly. Duchen finished with 20,731 votes to Ganguly’s 20,227, with only 504 votes separating the two… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

➡️ U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz defeats Democrat Colin Allred (Texas Tribune)

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz easily defeated U.S. Rep. Colin Allred on Tuesday, defying another spirited and well-funded effort to turn Texas blue and preserving his status as a leading conservative voice in American politics.

"The results tonight, this decisive victory, should shake the Democrat establishment to its core," he said in a speech to supporters at his campaign watch party in downtown Houston.

The Associated Press called his victory after 10 p.m. as Cruz was leading by more than double digits.

Shortly after, Allred told his supporters at his election night party in Dallas that he had conceded to Cruz… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

➡️ Texas GOP poised to increase its majorities in the Legislature (Texas Tribune)

Republicans were poised to expand their majority in the Texas House on Tuesday evening, and appeared on track to flip at least two seats in historically Democratic border districts as South Texas continued its dramatic shift to the right.

If those results hold, the GOP will control at least 88 of 150 seats in the lower chamber when the Legislature reconvenes in January.

That margin will give Gov. Greg Abbott “more than enough votes” to finally pass a school voucher bill, he said late Tuesday… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[US and World News]

➡️ Trump wins the White House in political comeback rooted in appeals to frustrated voters (Associated Press)

Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the United States on Wednesday, an extraordinary comeback for a former president who refused to accept defeat four years ago, sparked a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, was convicted of felony charges and survived two assassination attempts.

With a win in Wisconsin, Trump cleared the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency.

The victory validates his bare-knuckle approach to politics. He attacked his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris, in deeply personal – often misogynistic and racist – terms as he pushed an apocalyptic picture of a country overrun by violent migrants.

The coarse rhetoric, paired with an image of hypermasculinity, resonated with angry voters – particularly men – in a deeply polarized nation.

“We’ve been through so much together, and today you showed up in record numbers to deliver a victory,” Trump told throngs of his cheering supporters in Florida. “This was something special and we’re going to pay you back.”

As president, he’s vowed to pursue an agenda centered on dramatically reshaping the federal government and pursuing retribution against his perceived enemies.

Speaking to his supporters Wednesday morning, Trump claimed he had won “an unprecedented and powerful mandate.”… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

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