Mayor Kirk Watson announced his bid to run for re-election on April 10, making him the fourth candidate to enter the race. The other candidates are Carmen Llanes Pulido, Doug Greco and Kathie Tovo.
Kirk Watson
Watson’s goals center on housing reform, filling police department vacancies and making further improvements to the city’s approach to fighting homelessness. Watson also promised that as mayor, Project Connect and the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport expansions will be executed with ‘speed and efficiency.’
He previously served as Mayor from 1997 to 2001 and served in the Texas Senate.
“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,” Watson said in a statement released on his campaign’s website.
Kathie Tovo
Kathie Tovo served as District 9 city council member from 2011 to 2023. She currently lectures at UT Austin. She announced her campaign on Jan. 18.
“(Tovo) believes in an Austin where every person has the right to succeed,” her campaign website states. “She knows that Austin can be a city where the workers and families who have built this community … can remain and thrive.”
Tovo’s campaign focuses on affordability and sustainability given Austin’s rising housing prices and widening pay gap, according to her website. She’s also calling for the continued implementation of recommendations from the Climate Equity Plan.
Doug Greco
Doug Greco announced he was running for Mayor on Feb. 5, 2024, after stepping down as lead organizer and executive director of Central Texas Interfaith. He served as lead organizer for 12 years and touted his accomplishment in winning hundreds of millions in local and state dollars for combating homelessness, workforce development and housing assistance.
Greco, in a Feb. 21 press release, also called on the city to provide resources to LGBTQIA+ identifying UT students who have lost resources due to the passage of Senate Bill 17.
“I would convene community leaders, non-profit organizations, UT Students and other public entities to decide on which are the most essential programs for our community to replace,” Greco said in an email. “For example, the loss of UT’s Gender and Sexuality Center should be incorporated into a current discussion our community is having about creating an LGBTQ center in Austin.”
Carmen Llanes Pulido
Carmen Llanes Pulido’s campaign, which she announced on Jan. 23, focuses on affordability, climate-proofing the city, preserving what makes Austin unique, reinvesting in the community and spending resources equitably.
She hopes to achieve these goals by allocating resources for more affordable housing, limiting ‘no-strings giveaways,’ expanding protections for renters and tax incentives to negotiate more investments in anti-displacement.
“We have given billions of dollars in entitlements away to large investors while working and middle-class households have been priced out with rising rents and taxes,” Pulido’s website says. “It’s time we ensure that we get our fair share from these deals.”
The election will occur on Nov. 5, 2024. Filing must be completed by Aug. 19. If no candidate reaches the 50% threshold, a runoff will be held.
