9 Reasons to Vote for Mike

1. Mike helped lower rents. He has a Master's in Economics and used that knowledge to study Austin's housing and reports from top economists. He and his YIMBY allies pushed City Council to pass laws, like smaller minimum lot sizes. City Council passed those laws and, since 2018, rents are down $150. (Source: Zillow, adjusted for inflation). He will pass laws that continue to lower rents.
2. Those who know Mike, elect Mike. He was elected by his housemates to the Board of CHEA, a low-income housing cooperative. He was elected by his political allies to the Board of AURA, an organization fighting for lower rents and greener transportation. He was elected by his fellow commissioners to lead Austin's Economic Prosperity Commission.
3. Mike volunteers. His toolbox is covered in nametags that he wore as a volunteer with Habitat for Humanity. He has helped clean parks. He mapped trails in Little Walnut Creek Greenbelt.
4. Mike helps large numbers of people. During Austin's freeze, with an ally, he texted thousands of apartment residents to find which complexes were out of water. He then made a Google Map to guide Austin Firefighter Association volunteers delivering thousands of gallons to those in need. He designed the free file format ".par2" used by millions. When trying to lower rents, he helped change Austin's laws which helped over 250,000 renting families.
5. Mike is politically sharp. While on the board of CHEA, he recruited a lawyer to the board and nominated him to lead it. This got the organization a free lawyer, kept the lawyer around longer (because he had a nice title), and got the organization a neutral leader, who was not strongly aligned with any of the buildings of the housing co-op.
6. Mike has useful experience. The most important duty of City Council is to hire a good City Manager, who runs the City. Mike has interviewed candidates for a high-tech startup and other companies. He was the primary interviewer for the board of CHEA. When recommending who CHEA should hire, he passed over his friend and recommended the board hire the more qualified candidate.
7. Mike understands cities. A duty of City Council is to give the City Manager a plan for Austin. Mike has studied the economics of housing and read multiple books on city transportation. He has read the infamous 1928 Austin City Plan and the current one, called Imagine Austin.
8. Mike understands finance. A duty of City Council is to pass an annual budget. Mike has worked in finance, predicting stock and futures prices. On the Economic Prosperity Commission, he gave up the leadership position to do a deep dive into Austin's pension funds. After 100 hours of work, he found that Austin had borrowed $3.1 billion from the pension funds and the interest cost Austin families $450 each year. He decided to run for City Council to fix that.
9. Mike is self-funding his campaign. It means no yard signs, but he is not beholden to rich donors. Nor is he beholden to donors who live outside the district. In the October 5, 2026 reported contributions, every other candidate raised more money outside District 1 than in it.

What will he do? → Issues & Plans