Tovo enters a growing field of contenders looking to replace outgoing Rep. Gina Hinojosa, who is running for governor
By Austin Sanders, Chaya Tong, Staff Writer, Austin American Statesman
Former Austin City Council member and mayoral candidate Kathie Tovo on Monday announced she is running for the Texas House seat being vacated by Rep. Gina Hinojosa, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor.
In a news release, Tovo — who finished third in Austin’s 2024 mayoral race — said she is seeking the Democratic nomination to represent the solidly blue House District 49 seat because she believes state leaders are increasingly targeting their political opponents.
“The government of Texas is destroying our state’s quality of life by attacking our constitutionally protected public schools, banning books and applying political purity tests to professors and teachers, and attacking the personal rights of all Texans who don’t agree with the Republican Party,” Tovo said in a statement.
Tovo joins a crowded Democratic primary race to represent HD 49, which covers much of central Austin. At least six others are interested in the seat, according to campaign filings. They include:
- Lynn Boswell, president of the Austin school board
- Montserrat Garibay, a state labor leader who worked for the U.S. Department of Education under President Biden
- Arshia Papari, a University of Texas at Austin student
- Josh Reyna, chief of staff for Texas Sen. César Blanco, an El Paso Democrat
- Steven Rivas, a public policy consultant and activist who serves on the city’s LGBQIA+ Quality of Life Advisory Commission.
- Daniel Wang, a local Democratic activist who recently was elected to the Travis Central Appraisal District Board of Directors
Garibay, a former pre-K teacher who has centered her campaign on fully funding public schools, has received several endorsements from well-known Democratic officials, including Congressman Greg Casar; former State Senator Wendy Davis; state Rep. John Bucy; County Attorney Delia Garza; and Austin City Council members Mike Siegel and José Velázquez.
Tovo may be more familiar to HD 49 voters than other candidates. The City Council district she represented through 2022 mostly overlaps with the district.
Before representing District 9 on council, Tovo served in at-large positions. During her 11 years on council, she played a key role in some of the city’s most consequential and high-profile policy debates.
Throughout the city’s yearslong effort to rewrite its land development code, which sought to allow more housing construction, Tovo was a leading voice for neighborhood activists who argued the plan would unduly turbocharge development. Tovo also urged caution in 2019 when the council voted to lift the city’s public camping ban and effectively decriminalize homelessness — a policy Austin voters reinstated two years later.
Former colleagues have described Tovo as a deliberative and well-prepared policymaker — a reputation she alluded to in her Monday campaign announcement.
“Throughout my public service, I’ve demonstrated my ability to be thoughtful and prepared,” Tovo said. “I’m tough. I’m tested and I’m ready to get to work.”
Read the original article at the Austin American Statesman.
