A record-breaking 200 million Americans registered to vote this year. Starting today, the 15 million of them in Texas will have the opportunity to cast their ballots at their local polling stations. As you prepare to make your way there and do the second-most important social responsibility — only behind paying taxes — a citizen has, we encourage you to think about the principles you stand for, what you believe our country should value and where you hope we’ll be in two, four and twenty years down the road.
We endorsed Hillary Clinton in the presidential election weeks ago. Since that endorsement, more information about her opponent’s behavior toward women has become public, only affirming what we already stood for. While we did not expect Texas to go blue, recent polls have suggested that Texas doesn’t like orange. More than in any other election in recent memory, and certainly within our lifetimes, it is imperative that every eligible voter make their way to the polls this year.
But today, we offer our endorsements in a select few races we feel affect students and the Austin community substantially enough that to merit your individual turnout. Austin voters have decisions to make that will fundamentally protect or upend our city’s character, especially in the county sheriff race and on the city mobility bond initiative. We have also drawn focus to a select number of races where we expect our preferred candidate to lose because voting practices favor partisan candidates instead of the voters themselves.
To keep Austin weird, or whatever preferred descriptor you please, educate yourself on local positions, as they will affect you more than you realize. Early voting starts today and runs through Nov. 4. We encourage you to vote as early as you can.
Read our endorsement of Hillary Clinton for President here.
Read our endorsement of Sally Hernandez for Travis County Sheriff here.
Read our endorsement of Mark Miller for Railroad Commissioner here.
Read our endorsements of Tawana Cadien, Lloyd Doggett, Kathi Thomas and Tom Wakely for Congress here.
Read our endorsement of Austin's Proposition 1 here.
