Austin Mayor Kirk Watson has once again outraised his opponents in the race to be the city’s next mayor, adding another $216,000 to his campaign coffers.
In total, Watson has raised nearly $1 million since January, which is almost nine times the second highest-earning candidate, according to campaign finance reports filed Monday. This includes cash and non-cash contributions, such as food provided for a campaign event.
The current mayor, who is seeking reelection against four challengers, heads into the last month of campaigning with $266,891 on hand. Doug Greco, former director of Central Texas Interfaith, has $45,218 still to spend, while former City Council member Kathie Tovo has $31,713.
Carmen Llanes Pulido, who runs the nonprofit Go Austin/Vamos Austin, has spent nearly all of the $104,679 she has raised thus far. She has just $4,661 on hand. Jeffery Bowen, a construction company owner who entered the race later than the others, has spent roughly $3,600 and has nearly $10,000 left.
Candidates in Texas running for office are required to file campaign finance reports in the months leading up to an election. The reports detail how much money a candidate has raised, who has contributed and what that money is being spent on, including advertising, labor and office supplies.
Campaign finance reports are just one measure of voters’ support of a candidate. More money means more resources – the ability to buy items such as campaign signs, flyers and T-shirts.
“Without money you're not competitive and it's very hard to run an effective campaign,” said Kirby Goidel, a professor of political science at Texas A&M who spoke with KUT in July about campaign finance.
But Goidel also noted the limitations of campaign money in swaying elections. In 2022, Watson ran for mayor against Celia Israel. Watson raised more than three times as much money as Israel, yet got fewer votes than her in the general election. Watson eventually squeaked out a win in a runoff, winning the race by just 933 votes.
“There comes a point where more money isn't necessarily helpful,” Goidel said. “You spend enough to get your name out there and for voters to know who you are, but no one really knows when you spend enough money to make sure you are competitive.”
Campaign finance reports also give the public a sense of the kind of support candidates are receiving. For example, nearly half of Watson’s cash donations came from residents living within three city ZIP codes, according to a data analysis by KUT.
Roughly $420,000 in campaign contributions to the current mayor came from 78703, 78731 and 78746, ZIP codes that include neighborhoods such as Tarrytown, Northwest Hills and West Lake Hills. (West Lake Hills, while geographically within Austin, is its own city with its own mayor.) People living in these ZIP codes earn well above the city’s median family income, according to census data.
Donations to candidates, including Watson, came largely from people who listed their occupation as retired. But Watson also received a large portion of funds from people involved in property development.
Among the contributors who were not retired, self-employed or unemployed, the largest pot of money came from people working for Endeavor Real Estate Group. This developer most recently vied for council approval to redevelop the former Austin American-Statesman offices along the shores of Lady Bird Lake.
Other candidates raised cash donations from wider swaths of the city. For example, about half of Llanes Pulido’s contributions came from 10 ZIP codes, and included neighborhoods in South and East Austin where residents earn less than the median income.
While many of the donations to Greco, for instance, came from those who said they were retired or self-employed, he raised at least several thousand dollars from people working in government and education.
Candidates have to file another campaign finance report eight days before the election.
Pili Saravia contributed to this report.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misreported the amount of money Bowen had spent thus far on his campaign.
