Ex-Austin Council Member Laura Morrison To Run For Mayor

AUSTIN, TX — Former Austin City Council member Laura Morrison on Monday announced her plans to run for mayor.

While the race isn't until November, Morrison will be running against a popular mayor in the person of Steve Adler, who drew a whopping 67 percent of the electorate in clinching the post during a December 2014 runoff election. The incumbent mayor previously announced his plans to run for another term.

Were she to win the mayoral race, Morrison would be the first woman elected to the office since Carole Keeton Rylander (then McClellan) ascended to the role in 1977 she held until 1983 — the only woman in the city's history to hold the position since Austin's 1839 founding.

Morrison served two terms on the Place 4 Austin City Council seat, elected in 2008 and again in 2011. Two terms is the maximum allowed for a council person in Austin. There was considerable speculation she might run for mayor after her second term expired, but a race never materialized.

"I’m running for mayor to reset that path that Austin is on, so that our future enhances the quality of life for the people who live here, rather than diminishes it," Morrison said in a statement. "I hear from anxious Austinites from every corner of town, from every income level, and across every walk of life. All of them are worried about Austin’s direction."

On the council dais, Morrison, 62, distinguished herself with issues centered on affordability and preservation of neighborhoods as top priorities. At the same time, she fostered the influx of high tech professionals while calling for greater municipal transparency. While on the dais, she also emerged as a critic of Austin's growth policies, earning disdain of some members of the electorate reducing her stance as anti-growth.

An engineer by trade, Morrison has remained active in civic affairs since leaving council, include her current board member position at HousingWorks Austin promoting affordable housing and the Ending Community Homelessness Coalition(ECHO). She also is a member of the Austin Film Society and the My Pool, My Park, My City advisory committee.

BookPeople CEO Steve Bercu, poised to serve as Morrison’s campaign treasurer, touted Morrison's platform in a news release: "I’m stepping up for Laura because she understands the importance of what makes Austin the special place it is, like our homegrown, locally owned businesses and our parkland.”

Added her campaign manager, Ruby Roaadded: “Laura’s demonstrated her dedication to affordable housing, displacement of lower income residents and her past voting record on issues concerning the common good, which gives me confidence she will be a good mayor for all Austinites.”

Morrison said she plans to kick off her campaign sometime next month, which includes her website lauraformayor.com. For his part, Adler (who previously announced his intention to run for re-election) has scheduled his own campaign kickoff for Sunday, Jan. 14, at 2 p.m. in the Saengerrunde Hall, 1607 San Jacinto Blvd.

On her Facebook page on Monday Morrison posted a copy of an article detailing her plans to run for mayor and added the caption "It's on!" She included the hashtag #AMayorForAllOfUs in her social media missive.

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