Austin candidates fundraise more than $1.3M, Kirk Watson leads the pack

AUSTIN (KXAN) — After a significant campaign finance deadline passed Monday, some candidates for Austin City Council and mayor said they’re breaking fundraising records, while others lag behind.

In all, candidates for council and mayor have raised more than $1.3 million, with Mayor Kirk Watson bringing in more than half of that money.

So why should you care about how much candidates fundraised for an election that happens in November? Brian Smith, a political science professor at St. Edward’s University, put it this way:

“Money is the best metric of determining how serious a candidate is at the local level because in local races, just a little bit of money makes you a lot more competitive. And a lot of money makes you very competitive,” Smith said. “When we look at 2022, almost every single candidate who outspent their opponent won at the local level here in the city of Austin.”

Austin Mayor

Mayor Kirk Watson pulled in more than all of his opponents combined — and by a significant margin. This reporting period is from the first of the year until the end of June and represents a ramp up in candidates gathering funds heading into the November election.

During that period, Watson reported $710,580.84 in contributions. He has spent roughly $166,000 of those dollars, leaving him with $512,686, his filing shows.

His nearest opponent, in terms of financial contributions, is Doug Greco at $88,334.00 in contributions so far this year. Carmen Llanes Pulido gathered 71,007.00 and former Austin city council member Kathie Tovo fundraised $57,457.42.

District 6

Mackenzie Kelly , the incumbent for District 6, fundraised the most of any candidates for city council. According to her campaign, she has raised $163,712.30 during the reporting period.

“This is the largest amount ever raised by a political candidate in our district since the city charter changed to single-member representation in 2014,” her campaign wrote.

Krista Laine , who is challenging Kelly, also brought in a significant amount — the second most among council candidates — at $66,549.00, according to her filing.

District 7

Mike Siegel leads the pack on fundraising in District 7. He brought in $44,555.11 during the reporting period, his filing shows.

Adam Powell came in second, raising $31,785.18 overall, according to his campaign staff.

“We’ve been running the most grassroots City Council campaign in Austin for the past six months,” said Powell in a statement. “The combination of having the lowest average contribution amount of any Austin City Council candidate and the most unique donors in our race proves it.

Todd Shaw reported $15,620.00 in total contributions. Pierre Nguyen came in at $1,750.00 and Edwards Bautista brought in $240. NAACP Texas president Gary Bledsoe has also said he would run for the seat, but a filing was not available for him as of July 16.

District 10

Ashika Ganguly brought in $35,036.00 during the reporting period, her filing shows. Marc Duchen reported $12,430.00 in contributions.

District 2

Both District 2 and 4 also have incumbents running to keep their seats. The District 2 seat is currently held by Council Member Vanessa Fuentes who brought in $56,870.43 in contributions, according to her filing.

Nobody has officially declared they will challenge Fuentes as of July.

District 4

Incumbent Council Member Chito Vela reported $23,855.00 in contributions for the first part of the year.

Monica Guzmán has said she will challenge Vela for his seat, but so far an updated finance report for Guzmán is not available.

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