Austin Campaign Finance Rules Get Shaken Up

Jennifer Virden in 2022 (Photo by John Anderson)

Federal judge Robert Pitman has agreed with perennial conservative candidate Jennifer Virden that an Austin campaign finance rule controlling when candidates can start raising funds for city races is unconstitutional.

The now-invalidated rule required candidates to begin raising funds no earlier than a year before an election – now, they can start raising money as soon as they like.

Virden brought the challenge two years ago. A conservative candidate who ran losing campaigns for City Council in 2020 and for mayor in 2022, she is an ally of former Council Member Don Zimmerman, who filed a similar lawsuit in 2015 seeking to overthrow the same rule as well as others that still remain in force. Those still-enforced rules limit the amount that candidates can collect from individuals and corporations.

Those rules may now be on the chopping block, according to attorney Bill Aleshire, quoted in the Austin Bulldog. “I think the decision is the beginning of cracks in the City of Austin’s approach to campaign finance and disclosures,” Aleshire told the Bulldog’s Ken Martin.

Aleshire also commented on the effect that the “Death Star” bill, House Bill 2127, could have on local election ordinances. The law – passed by Texas Republicans in the most recent legislative session to diminish the power of the state’s large, majority-Democrat cities – has been ruled unconstitutional for the moment, but will almost certainly be the subject of future appeals. If it’s allowed to stand, it will overturn local ordinances throughout the state.

“I expect that if the ‘Death Star’ bill is finally upheld it may well result in ending restrictions on amounts that can be contributed,” Aleshire told the Bulldog (perhaps as an indication that he plans to sue over those restrictions). “It would also obliterate the requirement that officeholders and candidates have to disclose major sources of income in their Statements of Financial Information required by City Code.”