Central Labor Council endorses Vela, Shea, Limon-Mercado

On the first day of early voting for City Council’s District 4 seat, the Austin Central Labor Council endorsed Chito Vela, a former labor leader. CLC also endorsed Travis County Precinct 2 Commissioner Brigid Shea for reelection and Dyana Limon-Mercado for Travis County Clerk. Shea and Limon-Mercado will be on the Democratic primary ballot along with their opponents on March 1. The Central Labor Council recommended a number of candidates whose districts stretch beyond Austin, including Greg Casar, Lloyd Doggett and Claudia Zapata for Congress. The group recommended Erin Zwiener in Texas House District 45 and Lulu Flores in House District 51. (Here is the entire list of endorsements.)

Austin Environmental Democrats also announced the outcome of their online vote, noting that only candidates receiving 60 percent of the group’s vote would be endorsed. While Vela came close to the 60 percent threshold required, he fell short at 58.5 percent. The runner-up in that race was Monica Guzmán with 36.9 percent of the vote. The same was true of the race for Texas House District 51. Although Lulu Flores garnered 58.6 percent of the vote, it was not quite enough for the endorsement. The group did endorse longtime U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, who easily bested two opponents in the primary race for Congressional District 37, winning 93.4 percent of the vote. Casar, who is stepping down from his City Council seat to run for Congressional District 35, won 40.6 percent of the AED votes, while state Rep. Eddie Rodriguez received 31.3 percent and Rebecca Viagran of San Antonio came in third with 26.6 percent of the vote. The group also endorsed state Rep. James Talarico, who has been redistricted out of his home district and is running for the seat being vacated by Rep. Celia Israel in Texas House District 50. The group also unanimously endorsed John Bucy, the incumbent in Texas House District 136. Members also endorsed Travis County Commissioner Brigid Shea for reelection, but split their votes between longtime Precinct 4 Commissioner Margaret Gómez and her opponent, Susanna Ledesma-Woody, giving the pair a rare dual endorsement. Rebecca Bell-Metereau, the incumbent for the State Board of Education Place 5, also received the group’s endorsement.