Judge dismisses mayoral candidate's lawsuit over fundraising, city process still to play out
AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Friday, United States District Judge Robert Pitman dismissed a lawsuit filed by Austin mayoral candidate Doug Greco over a 1997 rule that limits the amount of money local candidates can take from people outside of city limits.
That rule -- approved by voters in the late 90s -- caps city council and mayoral candidates to an aggregate $47,000 from donors in zip codes outside city limits. The dismissal means the rule stands.
"We thank the court for its consideration and time," a city of Austin spokesperson said.
"Our interpretation of the rule is the judge has said, 'not yet.' They did not rule on the constitutionality," Greco said Monday. "There's a city process that's playing out right now, so if the city does any type of action we could bring the case back."
Austin’s Ethics Review Commission is right now considering complaints filed against Greco—and Austin Mayor Kirk Watson -- which claim the two candidates broke that rule. Both have denied those claims.
Both Watson and Greco will have a final hearing on that on Oct. 23.
"We're in this to win it regardless, but we showed a good faith effort in sequestering those funds and not accepting new donations since then," Greco said.
Other candidates respond to the lawsuit
Candidate Kathie Tovo reached out to KXAN in support of the campaign finance rule.
“Austin voters passed this campaign reform rule overwhelmingly because they didn’t want our city politics dominated by outside special interests,” Tovo -- a former Austin City Council member -- said. “Austin’s campaign rules were passed to protect the power of voters. I support the law. We need reform to give Austinites more of a voice, not to open the doors to outside money.”
Watson’s campaign team declined to comment on Greco's lawsuit as did Carmen Llanes-Pulido.
“As someone that has been a plaintiff against the city and served this country to protect our rights, if Mr. Greco wants to take his issue to the courts, he is within his right to do just that,” Jeffery Bowen said. “Hopefully, he realizes this also favors Mr. Watson in regards to how much he collected outside the city limits. I have questions about who set the limit and who determined the limit amount.”