City Councilman Mike Martinez launched his campaign for Austin mayor Saturday.

The news comes after Councilwoman Laura Morrison announced she would not run for mayor on March 18. Martinez, who previously served as an Austin firefighter for 13 years, joined the council in 2006. He currently serves as Capital Metro board chairman, Minority-Owned and Women-Owned Business Enterprise chairman and on the Small Business Council Subcommittee. He is also a member of the City Council’s Judicial Committee and Public Health and Human Services Subcommittee.  

If elected, Martinez will serve as the first mayor of a 10-1 system, which voters approved in 2012. The new system will consist of 10 districts, each represented by a city council member, for a total of 11 members including the mayor. The council will consist mostly of new members because only council members Katy Tovo and Chris Riley are eligible to run for re-election. Riley, who announced his plans to run for re-election as District 9 representative on Monday, was chair of Austin’s Planning Commission for two years and co-founded CarShare and Alliance for Public Transportation. District 9 consists of parts of the University, West Campus and North Campus, and District 1 accounts for the rest of the University and East Campus.