Hey y’all -

I’m running for Travis County commissioner to lower the skyrocketing cost of living in Travis County, and it’s going to be an uphill battle the whole way.

We’re fighting the Democratic Party establishment on their home turf - the county commission. They’ve had a firm grip on the commission for nearly 30 years, and my opponent, Brigid Shea, has had her seat for nearly 15 years. This has lead to stagnant, conservative government at the county that doesn’t put their working class constituents first.

However, I believe we can win with a campaign that energizes the working class of Travis County. As a young progressive that can shake up this race, we can attract earned media and capture the attention of voters in a down ballot race usually dominated by status quo picks like Brigid Shea. We must recommit to this fight deeply if we are going to win, agitate constituents day in, day out, but our neighbors are too important to only put up a token challenge that won’t energize voters and raise awareness about the conservative governance of Travis County the way I can.

We can’t afford this governance anymore when the cost of living in Travis County is skyrocketing. We need to make critical investments in housing, mobility and food to lower the cost of living and make Travis County accessible once again to everyone, not just the wealthy. We can’t afford to keep giving millions in free tax giveaways to Elon Musk and waste nearly half our budget entirely on incarceration. We have access to direct property taxes, the ability to form improvement districts, control over the Housing Authority of Travis County and much more - yet we continue to refuse to take the bold action necessary.

This is the core of why I’m running.

I’m running to use every tool in the toolbox to lower the cost of living for the working class of Travis County. We need to make major investments in building social housing through the Housing Authority of Travis County, and cap the rents at 25% of the occupant’s income which will ease burdens on tenants and lower the rent for everyone in Travis County. We need to end free tax giveaways for companies, including Tesla, who refuse to respect workers’ right to organize for control over wages & working conditions and dignity in their lives. We need to fund Central Health and Integral Care fully to allow Travis County to support our constituents right to healthcare and give workers the pay & benefits they deserve - not 80 cent wage increases while the executives make out like bandits.

We need your support in order to make this happen.

We are over halfway to hitting our fundraising goal, which will allow us to gain access to NGP VAN software to be able to activate voters and knock doors. Can you contribute $25 today at https://secure.actblue.com/donate/reese to allow this to happen?

You might also involved in progressive organizations in Austin which could support this campaign. We need you to step up and organize within these institutions to build support for the campaign to allow us to fully take on the establishment. Please be willing to talk to your friends, neighbors and comrades about this effort.

I hope you’ll join me in this fight to build a Travis County for the working class.

—reese