The District 9 race

There are three potentially interesting races for City Council this cycle: East Austin's District 1, South Austin's District 5 and Central Austin's District 9. Today we're going to take a look at D9, where incumbent Zo Qadri is fending off two challengers, Rich Heyman and Katie Kam.

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District 9 is by far the easiest district to describe because all of its neighborhoods have well-established names and identifies. D9 includes downtown, West Campus, Clarksville, Hyde Park, Cherrywood, Mueller, Bouldin Creek, Travis Heights and a sliver of Zilker.

I think Qadri's first term in office has aligned with my expectations. He's generally been a reliable vote for YIMBY policy and progressive positions but he's not shaping the agenda. He's a quiet presence on the dais, only speaking occasionally with prepared remarks or questions. He's had a few notable "no" votes, including the 2024 police contract and the Dog's Head TIRZ earlier this year, but in neither case did he offer a passionate rationale for his dissent. He didn't appear to have strong opinions on the issues besides recognizing that a no vote would play well with his electoral coalition.