Friends - We've made a lot of change and a lot of progress at City Hall since last January. Most importantly, we've taken immediate action to help make Austin more affordable, to help solve our homelessness crisis, and to improve public safety. With a full four-year term, we can keep working together to get City Hall to do even better. I ask for your vote.
I'm honored to be endorsed for re-election by the following current and former local elected officials. I'm especially proud and grateful to be supported by eight of my colleagues on the Austin City Council. Click here to see other community leaders supporting our campaign.
Natasha Harper-Madison
City Council Place 1
LESLIE POOL
City Council Place 7
DONNA HOWARD
STATE REPRESENTATIVE
BRIGID SHEA
COUNTY COMMISSIONER
GEORGE MORALES III
CONSTABLE
CRAIG MORGAN
ROUND ROCK MAYOR
Dr. Christopher Harvey
MANOR MAYOR
Gavin Massingill
ROLLINGWOOD MAYOR
WENDY DAVIS
FORMER STATE SENATOR
KEN ODEN
FORMER COUNTY ATTORNEY
LEE COOKE
FORMER AUSTIN MAYOR
DANNY THOMAS
FORMER AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL
ALLAN KAPLAN
FORMER ACC TRUSTEE
VANESSA FUENTES
City Council Place 2
PAIGE ELLIS
City Council Place 8
JOHN BUCY
STATE REPRESENTATIVE
JEFF TRAVILLION
COUNTY COMMISSIONER
DR. BARBARA P. MINK
CHAIR, ACC BOARD OF TRUSTEES
José Velásquez
City Council Place 3
Zohaib “Zo” Qadri
City Council Place 9
JAMES TALARICO
STATE REPRESENTATIVE
ANN HOWARD
COUNTY COMMISSIONER
DR. MANUEL GONZALEZ
ACC BOARD OF TRUSTEES
José “Chito” Vela
City Council Place 4
SARAH ECKHARDT
STATE SENATOR
SHERYL COLE
STATE REPRESENTATIVE
SALLY HERNANDEZ
SHERIFF
DR. NAN MCRAVEN
ACC BOARD OF TRUSTEES
RYAN ALTER
City Council Place 5
JUDITH ZAFFIRINI
STATE SENATOR
ANDY BROWN
COUNTY JUDGE
ADAN BALLESTEROS
CONSTABLE
GIGI EDWARDS BRYANT
ACC BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Christine DeLisle
LEANDER MAYOR
Lee Urbanovsky
BUDA MAYOR
Gina Fulkerson
WIMBERLEY MAYOR
GLEN MAXEY
FORMER STATE REPRESENTATIVE
Jim Penniman-Morin
CEDAR PARK MAYOR
THERESA MCSHAN
ELGIN MAYOR
HECTOR GONZALES
WEBBERVILLE MAYOR
EDDIE RODRIGUEZ
FORMER STATE REPRESENTATIVE
Joshua Schroeder
GEORGETOWN MAYOR
TRAVIS MITCHELL
KYLE MAYOR
KEVIN SULLIVAN
LAGO VISTA MAYOR
PATRICK ROSE
FORMER STATE REPRESENTATIVE
VICTOR GONZALES
PFLUGERVILLE MAYOR
LINDA ANTHONY
WEST LAKE HILLS MAYOR
Rudy Metayer
PFLUGERVILLE CITY COUNCIL
JOHN DIETZ
FORMER DISTRICT JUDGE
DAVID ESCAMILLA
FORMER COUNTY ATTORNEY
RON MULLEN
FORMER AUSTIN MAYOR
KAREN SONLEITNER
FORMER COUNTY COMMISSIONER
LEE LEFFINGWELL
FORMER AUSTIN MAYOR
WILLIE LEWIS
FORMER AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL
BETTY DUNKERLEY
FORMER AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL
MIKE MARTINEZ
FORMER AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL
MARK WILLIAMS
FORMER PRESIDENT, AISD TRUSTEES
GERONIMO RODRIGUEZ
FORMER PRESIDENT, AISD TRUSTEES
RANDI SHADE
FORMER AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL
PAUL Saldaña
FORMER AISD TRUSTEE
WILL WYNN
FORMER AUSTIN MAYOR
BREWSTER MCCRACKEN
FORMER AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL
SABINO "PIO" RENTERIA
FORMER AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL
NYLE MAXWELL
FORMER ROUND ROCK MAYOR
A note about my supporter and friend Chris Riley, pictured above, who passed away on July 28th. As a City Council member and activist, Chris was an effective champion for policies that helped make our city, especially downtown Austin, more livable. He was a native Austinite and cared a lot about protecting what makes this place special. I'm choosing to leave Chris listed here as a supporter and acknowledge, with these words, his too-soon passing and his much-appreciated service to our community. Thank you, Chris.
I’m running for re-election based not only on City Hall’s improved performance on basic services, but also on the strength of the progress we’ve made on big issues. Since taking office last January, I’ve worked closely with the City Council and City Manager to help create affordability in Austin by delivering the most ambitious land use reforms in decades; to bring new investments and a new approach to helping people experiencing homelessness; and to launch the Austin Infrastructure Academy to train Austinites of all ages for the good jobs that future infrastructure projects will create. We also took important steps to help restore police staffing and improve emergency response, and to protect Project Connect from state lawmakers and others who hope to stop Austin’s voter-approved transit plans.
With a full term in office, my primary goals will be to create more affordability through additional housing reforms and other initiatives; to make further improvements to the city’s approach to fighting homelessness; to fill vacancies in the police department and continue to enhance emergency services; and to ensure that Project Connect and other big infrastructure investments, like the airport expansion, are executed with speed and efficiency. Another focus will be strategies to respond to climate change, including an effort to shut down the portion of the coal-powered Fayette Power Plant owned by Austin Energy by January of 2029. I believe climate change is our planet's biggest existential threat, which in my view means that Austin has a moral responsibility to get out of the coal business.
During my time in the mayor's office I've written extensively about the issues we're working on and shared my observations (and a few recipes) via the "Watson Wire" newsletter. To learn more about my issue priorities, I invite you to review this archive of newsletters, or please feel free to reach out to our campaign directly with any specific policy questions you may have.
PLEASE JOIN US.
Successful campaigns run on people power, so I hope you'll sign up here to let us know that we can list you as a supporter, that you'd like to display a yard sign, or that you can volunteer to help. Thanks!
Austin Mayor Kirk Watson is an attorney and 42-year resident of Austin. A native of North Texas, Watson attended Baylor University and Baylor Law School, where he graduated first in his class. He also proudly holds an honorary degree from Austin Community College. Watson won his first term as Austin mayor in 1997 and was re-elected with 84% of the vote. He returned to City Hall in January 2023 after serving more than 13 years in the Texas Senate. As a public servant, Watson is well-known as the driving force behind the revitalization of downtown Austin; the opening of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport; the preservation of thousands of acres of open space; the long-term protection of Austin’s water supply; the launch of the Office of the Police Monitor; the creation of the University of Texas at Austin medical school; and many other initiatives. He is the recipient of numerous honors, including Austinite of the Year and the prestigious President’s Citation from UT Austin. Upon returning to the mayor's office, Watson became part of the leadership team for the U.S. Conference of Mayors, serving as Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee on Transportation. He and his wife of 45 years, Liz, have two adult children and two perfect grandchildren. Watson is a grateful cancer survivor.