Montserrat Garibay and Kathie Tovo emerged out of a crowded field in Texas House District 49’s Democratic primary in March to force a runoff. Gina Hinojosa, who was first elected to the Central Austin district a decade ago, is vacating the seat to run against Gov. Greg Abbott in November.
Republicans did not field a candidate, so the winner of the runoff will take the seat.
More than 13,000 voters cast their ballot for Garibay in the March primary, while Tovo earned more than 11,000, according to the Travis County Clerk.
Garibay worked as a teacher and an organizer with Education Austin, the city’s teacher union, before working in Washington under the Biden administration. Garibay says she would change the so-called recapture process, which sends billions of dollars out of property-rich districts like Austin ISD every year. She’s also concerned about how state-backed private school vouchers could further erode Austin ISD’s already-lagging enrollment.
“The number one issue has been education,” she said
Tovo is also focused on public education in her campaign. The former Austin City Council member said she wants to bring her experience at City Hall to the Texas Capitol. Tovo said Austin ISD’s closures, potential layoffs and declining enrollment are the product of years of mismanagement at the state level.
“The heart of that really lies directly at the Republican legislature that refuses to fund to fully fund our public education,” she said. “So that is definitely one threat.”
As an educator, Garibay says she’s more uniquely positioned to tackle public education issues at the Capitol. She points to her efforts to lobby for pre-K at the Legislature in 2011 when she first joined Education Austin. It was a balance of both stubborn advocacy and knowing how to curry favors with lawmakers across the aisle to get things done, she said. That will be helpful in the overwhelmingly Republican Texas House.
“We can kill points of orders and do big speeches…, but we really need more than that,” she said. “We need someone that can work in collaboration with others, that can build bridges and really bring the people together.”
Tovo says as a former Austin City Council member, she’s used to operating in opposition to the Legislature, but that experience also gave her a broader skillset that she thinks will be useful for District 49 — everything from Austin Energy rate negotiations, to affordable housing bonds to paid sick-leave.
“The legislature very often takes aim at Austin. And so having having somebody in the seat who has been on the other side of that issue and really is fully prepared to stand up for Austin policies, to stand up for our city and defend it when necessary is important.”
Early voting runs from May 18–22. Election Day is May 26.