Mike Siegelis committed to tackling affordability and making Austin a city where all our essential workers – nurses, teachers, electricians, and more – can live and thrive.
Mike knows Austin can do more to keep housing costs manageable, support deeply affordable housing, and ensure land use reforms create opportunities for everyone. Plus, he’s a champion for expanding and protecting Project Connect to improve public transportation, making it easier for all Austinites to get around affordably.
Vote for a brighter, more affordable future for Austin – vote Mike Siegel!
Early Voting starts December 2. Election Day is December 14.
Poll greeting is one of the most important things AURA does during the election season and has been a crucial part of our success in previous elections. Many voters are going in to vote for President and are not familiar with the City Council races. Handing out the AURA voter guide to voters as they go in to vote is easy and incredibly effective. In previous elections we’ve handed out thousands of guides and likely swayed hundreds of votes.
When?
Early Voting begins Monday, October 21st and ends Friday, November 1st. The last two days are generally the busiest but every weekday of early voting will be busy and will be important. Polls are open 7AM-7PM (Noon-6PM Sunday) but are generally busiest 9AM-5PM. Any time you can commit is helpful!
How do I get involved?
sign up for shifts at: https://signup.com/go/qnBbkLk – These shifts just help us know when you’ll be available so we can get in contact and help coordinate. You do not need to be available for the whole time slot. Even 30 minutes is extremely helpful.
We will follow up shortly after to help choose a location, coordinate literature drop off, training, and to answer any questions.
Will you help train me?
Yes! We have a number of members who have done this before who are happy to help train you.
Who do I talk to?
Zach Faddis: 210-264-1093
Timothy Bray: 512-744-3167
Please reach out if you have any questions!
What will I need?
City Council joint voter guide lit that highlights the slate of candidates that have been endorsed by AURA, Udems, and Austin Young Democrats. And a little about each org.
We will arrange a drop off of the lit once you fill out the form.
What do I do?
Find a good spot where you can engage people as they are walking up to vote and give as many voters as possible a copy of the voter guide. It’s simple!
Where do I go?
AURA will focus on a few locations. These locations are likely to be adjusted after early voting starts, but this is our initial priority list:
Austin Permitting and Development Center – 6310 Wilhelmina Delco Dr
Ben Hur Shrine Center – 7811 Rockwood Ln
Balcones Woods Shopping Center – 11150 Research Blvd
Disability Rights Texas – 2222 W Braker Ln
Northwest Recreation Center – 2913 Northland Dr
Shops at Arbor Walk – 10515 North Mopac Expy
Gus Garcia Recreation Center – 1201 E Rundberg Ln
What about Election Day?
We will also be out poll greeting on election day! However most voters vote during early voting and there are many more locations on election day than during early voting. Most early voting locations have more voters per day than polling locations on Election day, so we strongly encourage not waiting until Election Day to volunteer.
The Do’s And Don’ts of Poll Greeting
Do
Be aware of your surroundings. Observe the path that most people are taking to get into the building and put yourself in that path. Spacial awareness and positioning is key!
Find the right approach to engage people. In general, I have found that starting to engage people when they are about 10-15 ft in front of me is best. Put yourself in a place where they see you before you engage them and they don’t feel ambushed. The majority of the time, people will take the lit and nothing else.
Keep it short. I usually just say “Can I give you information about [candidate/cause/local elections]” and hold my hand out with the lit, and most people take it.
Hold the lit out as you start talking. If you time it right and do it in a way that makes it easy to take, most people will reflexively take it. Don’t expect people to ask.
Stand on the side of the path within 4-5 ft or so of where people walk. Find the right balance where they don’t have to come to you, but you aren’t blocking their way.
Don’t
Ask people if they know their district, unless they are already engaging with you. Many won’t know and it makes things awkward. It’s not worth trying to distinguish who lives where, just try to engage everyone.
Just hold a yard sign. Most voters are focused on getting inside to vote, they are unlikely to actually take notice, or focus enough on you to register who you are holding a sign for.
Set up a table or bring a chair to sit down in, except for breaks. You have to go to people, they are not going to come to you.
Go within the 100 ft barrier that restricts campaigning. The election workers will have orange cones set up marking the border.
Let anyone tell you can’t campaign outside of the 100 ft barrier. This is constitutionally protected freedom of speech!
Let one person distract you in a long conversation and keep you from engaging with other people going in. The point is to reach as many people as possible!
Be discouraged by people declining the lit. This is a numbers game. Even if you only manage to engage 10-20 people in an hour, that is a major win.
Stay at a location if the layout of the location means you can’t actually approach people.
This guide provides a clear overview of AURA’s endorsed candidates for Austin’s City Council elections.
AURA is a grassroots, all-volunteer organization dedicated to solving Austin’s housing crisis by promoting diverse, abundant housing and accessible transit for all.
Position
AURA’s Choice
Mayor of Austin
Kirk Watson
Austin City Council, District 2
Vanessa Fuentes
Austin City Council, District 4
José “Chito” Vela
Austin City Council, District 6
Krista Laine
Austin City Council, District 7
Adam Powell
Austin City Council, District 10
Ashika Ganguly
City Council races are non-partisan, meaning candidates will not have a party label. If no candidate secures 50% of the vote, a runoff election will occur on Saturday, December 14th.
In his first term, Mayor Kirk Watson has overseen the most progressive term on housing policy in Austin’s history, turning Austin into a national leader on housing policy. Using his connections as a former State Senator, he fought fiercely to protect Project Connect rail line against Ken Paxton and other anti-transit forces at the Texas State Legislature trying to kill it.
In addition to supporting all of the major pro-housing legislation passed by Council in the past two years, Council Member Vanessa Fuentes has led the charge in reducing costs for and increasing access to childcare through simplifying and removing unnecessary zoning barriers and regulations for providers.
Council Member Chito Vela has been a fierce advocate of housing reform and transit in his first term, fighting to keep Austin as a welcoming city for working class people. Vela led on efforts to strengthen tenant protections and to bring excessive “compatibility” standards in line with other cites. He also serves on the CapMetro board and has been a champion for Project Connect’s light rail project.
Krista Laine is running to bring better representation to District 6 than has been provided by her opponent, Mackenzie Kelly, who opposes transit and has voted against most of the recent housing reforms. Through her work with Round Rock ISD, Krista is intimately familiar with affordability challenges in her district and is enthusiastic about bringing District 6 better connectivity to the central city.
Adam Powell is a native Austinite and a passionate advocate for housing, transit, and his community. He has served as a Board Member for Austin’s SAFE Alliance, Vice President of the North Shoal Creek Neighborhood Association, and as a CapMetro committee member.
Ashika Ganguly grew up in Austin, is a former public school teacher, and currently serves as a Legislative Director at the State Capitol. Seeing firsthand the struggles her community faced with childcare, affordability, and reliable public transit compelled her to become an advocate for policy change at City Hall.
