Former City Council Member Kathie Tovo announced Thursday that she is running for mayor this year, a move that will inject a little adrenaline into the race featuring incumbent Mayor Kirk Watson. Tovo served as an at-large council member from 2011 to 2015 and as a representative of District 9 from 2015 to 2023. She served as mayor pro tem starting in 2015 until she left Council last year.
In her announcement, Tovo’s campaign noted that if elected she would be only the second woman to serve as mayor. Tovo’s accomplishments on Council include a major role in creation of the Sobering Center, negotiations to bring professional soccer to the city and working with the Austin Independent School District and local restaurants to provide meals to families during the pandemic.
She also served as president of her local neighborhood group, as vice president of the Austin Neighborhoods Council and on the city’s Planning Commission. During her tenure on City Council, Tovo was known for her pro-neighborhood stance, particularly when it came to development regulations. Though she voted in favor of initiating the CodeNEXT process to revamp the city’s Land Development Code, she ultimately pushed back against the changes, instead supporting a failed proposal to put the changes before voters.
Tovo is currently an adjunct faculty member at the University of Texas, where she worked prior to her election to Council. According to UT’s website, Tovo is teaching a course in urban politics and planning this semester. Tovo has also worked at Humanities Texas, the state partner for the National Endowment for the Humanities.
She has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Carolina and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas.
In her announcement, Tovo said she was committed to be a voice “for progressive policies that would benefit all levels, not just those who want to use the city to make a profit.”
She also said she was committed to fighting against “bad plans like the I-35 expansion and the State’s attacks on our local freedoms.”
Joe Pinnelli, who has served as treasurer for the Tovo’s previous campaigns, is once again working as her treasurer.
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