Austin City Council Candidates and PACs Spent More Than $2 Million: the Final Finance Reports Before Election Day
The candidates spent $965,000 and kept half a million for the last week. The PACs spent $1.2 million more - and the single biggest spender was an audit proposal.
Austin's city elections crossed the $2 million mark before a single Election Day ballot was cast. Candidates for City Council spent just over $965,000 combined in 2026 and still had over half a million dollars available for the final week of their campaigns, Community Impact reported from the final finance reporting ahead of the November 3 election. Political action committees favoring certain candidates and ballot measures spent roughly $1.2 million more. The reports, due October 26, offered the last look at local campaign money before voters decide.
The races themselves span five districts - District 1 in East Austin, District 3 covering parts of South and East Austin, District 5 and District 8 in South Austin, and Central Austin's District 9 - alongside a ballot that also carries two bond items, the $260 million Proposition A and the $35 million Proposition B for parks and library projects, and eight city charter amendments, Community Impact reported. In District 1, the six candidates running to succeed outgoing council member Natasha Harper-Madison drew more than $258,000 and spent over $223,000, with attorney Amber K. Goodwin leading the field in donations and spending. The South Austin District 5 race generated the most spending activity of any district, with incumbent Ryan Alter and challenger David Weinberg each still holding around $100,000 on hand as of October 24.
The biggest single spender in Austin's election was not running for anything. Spending centered on the bond measures and Proposition I, the charter update backed by Save Austin Now PAC that would require recurring city audits, Community Impact reported: the PAC's campaign for the proposal raised nearly $650,000 and spent almost $625,000 through 2026, leaving about $5,000 in the final week. A separate Parks, Pools, Trails & Books PAC spent nearly $90,000 supporting both bond propositions. On Tuesday, Austin voters get the final word on all of it.
