Early voting in Texas began Monday and will run through Oct. 30. Texans can also vote on Election Day, Nov. 3. To help UT students prepare to vote, the Texan explained some of the local Travis County and Austin elections on students’ ballots.
Texas House District 49 Representative
After winning the Democratic primary runoff in May, Montserrat Garibay is running against Green Party candidate Arshia Papari to represent Texas House District 49, which includes UT and West Campus.
Garibay is a UT alumna who previously worked in the U.S. Department of Education as the assistant deputy secretary for the Office of English Language Acquisition. Her campaign focuses on academic freedom, affordable healthcare and labor rights. She also hopes to end local collaborations with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and legalize cannabis use for adults 21 and older.
Papari, a government junior, is running on a platform of affordability, community safety, criminal justice reform and free speech.
District 9 Representative
Incumbent Zohaib “Zo” Qadri is running against Katie Kam, Rich Heyman, Dave Thadani and Kai Huang. Qadri focuses on supporting small businesses, affordable housing through the University Neighborhood Overlay, a program that promotes high-density development in West Campus, and Project Connect, a plan to expand public transportation.
Heyman, a former UT professor arrested at a pro-Palestine protest, has supported expanding affordable housing options, such as co-ops. He has also raised concerns about the city’s economy and tax policies.
Kam’s platform includes providing on-demand transit, prioritizing maintenance and critical infrastructure, greater oversight of the city budget and using Austin’s hotel occupancy tax to support culture and the arts.
Thadani, a UT student, supports greater transparency for landlords, increasing walkability and ensuring working-class students and families own and live in affordable housing.
Huang has no publicly listed platform.
State Board of Education member, District 5
The State Board of Education District 5 seat is up for election. The State Board of Education sets policies for Texas public schools, including setting curriculum standards and establishing graduation requirements. This does not include colleges and universities. Republican candidate Mica Arellano is running against Democratic candidate Allison Bush.
Judges
The Chief Justice seat on the 3rd Court of Appeals is contested between Republican Cory Liu and Democrat Darlene Byrne.
Ten District Judge elections are uncontested. Some of these judges are Criminal Court judges, who preside over felony cases, and some are Civil Court judges, who preside over civil cases, such as divorces and election contest cases.
Travis County Court of Law judges No. 1 through No. 7 are uncontested. These judges hear bench and jury trials.
The probate court election, which rules on wills, is also uncontested.
Other Elections
Other uncontested county elections include district clerk, county clerk, county treasurer and justice of the peace.
Also up for election are the Travis Central Appraisal District board positions, which determine property values in Travis County. Places 1 and 2 are uncontested, while Place 3 is a contested race between Yvonne Muñoz and Phil Gorman.
Voters will also choose representatives for the Austin Community College District Board of Trustees and the Austin Independent School District School Board Trustee Election.
