Shade, Tovo Run It Off

With early voting for the City Council Place 3 run-off beginning next week (June 6-14), the campaigns returned to exchanging salvos and dueling endorsements. Incumbent Randi Shade's emails and fliers hit challenger Kathie Tovo on resources, infrastructure, and land-use issues – arguing that the front-runner will likely try to stop or slow down work on Water Treatment Plant No. 4 – and Tovo returned to her thus far winning drumbeat of stopping "big development deals" (e.g., the Formula One racetrack) and returning the council to "listening to and respecting" Austin citizens. Both campaigns issued new lists of supporters, with an emphasis on Hispanics. Tovo cited some 50 names, including former Mayor Pro Tem John Treviño, Martha and Juan Cotera, and publicist Paul Saldaña; Shade countered with a list including Mayor Pro Tem Mike Martinez, state Rep. Eddie Rodriguez, publicist Trey Salinas, and former Mayor Gus Garcia – though Garcia then told the Statesman and In Fact Daily that, while he had endorsed Shade in the general, he was not endorsing in the run-off because, in light of Shade's poor showing, he thought she should not put the city through the expense. Garcia also said he was not supporting Tovo, referring the States­man to some unspecified dissatisfaction with the front-runner.