FYI-There Was An Election Today
Leffingwell Beats Meeker, Looks Ahead To McCracken
Lee Leffingwell handily defeated challenger Jason Meeker, setting the stage for the Austin city council member’s expected race against colleague Brewster McCracken in next year’s mayoral race.
Leffingwell needed a big win to position himself for his next campaign — and got it. He swamped Meeker in the fundraising sweepstakes and fended off both the RG4N spokesman and a third-party TV campaign by Discount Electronics honcho Rick Culleton without breaking a sweat — except on the jogging trail in his TV spots.
Shade Victory May Not End Kim’s Political Career
Challenger Randi Shade beat incumbent Jennifer Kim by a comfortable margin after back-and-forth allegations of ethics violations and anonymous robo calls. Neither campaign rose much above mediocrity, but Shade’s win should at least give her a big enough mandate hit the dais running.
So is Kim’s career over? Don’t count on it. She may have developed a reputation on the council for diva-like diversions and an unwillingness to play well with others. But underestimating her political future in the changing Texas landscape is probably a bad idea.
Galindo, Morrison Make A Date For June 14
Cid Galindo and Laura Morrison will face each other in the June 14 runoff in a campaign that could struggle to remain civil now that the field has been reduced from six to two.
Galindo, a Barack Obama supporter, talked about moving beyond “the old Austin politics” in the first round. Morrison, many of whose supporters were steeped in those “old Austin politics,” managed to make sure her whisper campaign against Galindo never got attached to her official campaign.
Posted on May 10, 2008 – 6:32 pm by APR
9 Responses to “FYI-There Was An Election Today”
It doesn’t look good for Cid Galindo in the run-off.
By Pol Pot on May 10, 2008
Downtown developers gave birth to twins today. Their names are Randi and Lee.
By Mr. Big on May 10, 2008
Let’s see if their third child, Cid, is still born next month.
By Mr. Not-so-big on May 11, 2008
Mr. McMeeker, I mean Mr. Big, it’s called “democracy.” At least you won your own precinct! Only by twenty votes and it was the only one, but beggars can’t be choosers can they?
By BeatrixKiddo on May 11, 2008
Word is that Bill Spellman is going to give it a run for mayor next year, too. If true, that stands to be the most interesting mayoral race Austin has seen in a very long time.
By trza on May 11, 2008
I know Spellman is dropping hints but I bet he will not run in the end. Unless someone with personal money or access to it decides to get in the race, Austin voters will be faced with a choice between Leffingwell and McCracken. How sad.
By The Chief on May 12, 2008
Martinez for Mayor!
By agar on May 12, 2008
its not that surprising, but meeker endorsed laura mcmorrison. this chick has a mcmansion, and won’t let me add on to my house? fascist. those neighborhood associations are starting to remind me of houston.
By austindownthedrain on May 13, 2008
Galindo should not spend a lot of money because he is going to get steamrolled. TV won’t help him because he comes across as the phoney pretty boy, Republican, urban planner, family man and the voters are not buying it.
Kim would have to leave Austin to run again. She is toast her, burned toast. She just needs to understand that the voters have rejected her in an unprecendented manner because THEY DID NOT LIKE OR BELIEVE HER.
By The Lone Gunman on May 21, 2008