TDH: 5/16/11

Gathering all our election night coverage for print later this week meant a late start for the Hustle today – not because we're mulling anything else, seriously! Follow us after the jump for all the Monday morning quarterbacking and link swapping you can stand!

Unsurprisingly, the Kathie Tovo campaign was quick out the gate today with a new fundraising e-mail, writing “We were outspent by 2 to 1 in the first election, and I expect to be outspent again. That’s why I need your most generous donation to afford mail and TV commercials and to compete in every way it will take to win. … I know this success wouldn’t have been possible without your support, from your generous financial contributions to your help making phone calls, emailing friends, and walking in your neighborhood.”

For the Hustle's money, the quote of this election cycle may come from Bruce Elfant, via the ACC Center for Public Policy and Political Studies Facebook page: "Voter turnout of 7.4% in the Austin City Council election narrowly avoided the distinction of being the lowest turnout in Austin's history which was 7% set in 2000. Way to go Austin!" Yikes!

… Elsewhere, Karie Meltzer at Austin Post points to the decent showing of place 1 challenger Roger Chan, who, for the Hustle's money, finished slightly higher than expectations. (Not that anything was ever in doubt, however, despite Chan having the most Republican-friendly branding of the campaign – purple, anyone?). But we both like social networking Chan's Facebook farewell:

"We took on an incumbent with a well established base and had less than 2 months to come together and challenge him and challenge we did with a very respectable 25% of the votes. I give a heartfelt thank you to all who followed us, supported us, and voted for us."

Also at the Post, Jackie Stone collects more commentary.

HEY! Sign up for the Hustle's weekly e-mail newsletter, recapping news, politics and more every Friday. Don't worry, we'll never spam or sell your address. Visit here, enter your info, and click 'City Hall Hustle.'

Got something you wanna show the Hustle? Email it to wells [at] austinchronicle.com, tweet it @CityHallHustle, drop by the Hustle's Facebook or Tumblr page, or leave a comment in the section below.