Mayor Pro Tem Chito Vela Says He Is Seriously Considering a Run for Sarah Eckhardt's Vacated Senate Seat
Eckhardt's election as comptroller opens her Austin Senate seat, and the first name is already up: Mayor Pro Tem Jose 'Chito' Vela says he is seriously considering the race — and will ask his community before he decides.
AUSTIN — The race to succeed State Sen. Sarah Eckhardt has its first serious name. Austin Mayor Pro Tem Jose “Chito” Vela, who represents District 4 on the City Council, has announced he is “seriously considering” a campaign for the Texas Senate seat Eckhardt vacates after her election as Texas Comptroller, according to Austin's council roundup reporting read by the desk this run.
Local community leaders have been encouraging an Austin City Council member to run for the newly vacant seat, the roundup reported, and Vela is the one who has stepped forward publicly. His stated next step is not an announcement but a listening pass: he plans to gather input from community members before making a final decision.
The seat matters beyond Austin's city limits. Eckhardt, a former Travis County judge, won the comptroller's office in Tuesday's Democratic sweep of statewide offices, and her Senate district — anchored in Austin — is one of the Legislature's most closely watched Democratic seats. A sitting mayor pro tem entering the race would make the special election to fill it an early test of the city's post-election pecking order.
No election date for the seat has been set in the reporting read this run, and Vela has set no deadline of his own beyond the community input he says comes first. The desk will follow the filing as it develops.
