Democrats Lose Big on Affordability in Deep-Blue Austin

The failure of a property tax ballot initiative in Austin, Texas, earlier this month proves that affordability and low taxes can be a winning issue for conservatives in even the deepest blue enclaves.

In the presidential election last year, Kamala Harris won Austin’s Travis County 68.7 percent to 29.4 percent. The city is home to the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. The mayor is a Democrat, and so is every single member of the city council – except for Mike Siegel, who is affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America. It is by all accounts a liberal stronghold in a red state.

Despite that, however, 63 percent of Austin voters cast their ballots against a Democrat-backed effort to increase property taxes on November 4. The proposal would have hiked property taxes an astonishing 20 percent, siphoning an extra $110 million away from taxpayers annually.

Mayor Kirk Watson and the rest of the city council campaigned for the increase, claiming that it was necessary to maintain city services. But after a decade of mounting tax pressure, even progressive voters appear to have reached their limit. The city notably passed a 20 percent property tax increase just five years ago – yet is still facing a $33 million deficit going into 2026.

For many homeowners, the math no longer checked out. Annual city taxes now average more than $2,000, up from less than $1,000 a decade ago, and school-district taxes add roughly $4,000 more. The pressure made voters skeptical that the city had exhausted other options before seeking another increase.

Following high-profile Democrat victories in Virginia and New Jersey earlier this month, liberal pundits and the corporate media were quick to cite the “affordability” issue and claim that Democrats had the upper hand on it. But that narrative has conveniently avoided what happened in places like Austin – and elsewhere in Texas, where Republicans won up and down the ballot on overwhelmingly popular tax cut measures.

As The Wall Street Journal noted, in the Lone Star State, “voters rejected 25 of at least 44 proposals to raise school-district taxes” – a marked shift from 2006 to 2019, when voters approved 80 percent of such tax hikes. Additionally, “voters passed the three antitax constitutional amendments… no new taxes on estates, no new taxes on securities transactions, and no state tax on realized or unrealized capital gains.”

Those amendments not only passed, but passed with overwhelming support. The prohibition on taxing unrealized capital gains passed with 65.6 percent of the vote. The prohibition on new taxes on estates (the “death tax”) passed with 72.2 percent support. It also won majority support in every Texas county except, ironically, Travis, where it narrowly failed 49 percent to 51 percent.

As AMAC Newsline reported before the election, the three major tax amendments passed the Texas Legislature earlier this year with solid Democrat support, reflecting rare bipartisan agreement that lower taxes are good for everyone. The success of the amendments in Texas could now spread elsewhere, as Democrats who oppose tax cuts find themselves at odds with a vast majority of the voting public.

The Texas tax cut model could accordingly become a powerful tool for Republicans nationwide as they make the case to voters about why the GOP is better suited to deliver a more affordable American Dream. As cities in states like California continue to raise taxes and drive the cost of living even higher, Republicans are leading successful efforts to reduce tax burdens and put more money back in the pockets of working families.

Property taxes in particular are a hot button issue. Property taxes function as a levy on “paper gains,” as they are calculated using estimated home values long without an owner realizing any profit from selling. The dynamic is the same as taxing unrealized capital gains on investment portfolios – something most Americans agree is wrong.

Younger buyers are particularly hard hit by property taxes, which add thousands to the annual cost of homeownership at a time when home prices and mortgage rates are already near record highs. The median first-time buyer is almost 40, and researchers link rising housing costs to falling birth rates.

Over the past two years, many states, including Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wyoming have cut or capped property taxes. Voters in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, and New Mexico also approved tax-relief measures in 2024, as AMAC has reported.

Meanwhile, blue states like New Jersey, Illinois, Connecticut, and New York now carry some of the nation’s highest property-tax burdens, yet give residents no way to place tax-limit measures directly on the ballot. With no relief mechanism, the pressure has created sustained outmigration.

The result in Austin should be a warning for Democrats and a sign of opportunity for Republicans: when conservatives propose real solutions to make life more affordable, voters are prone to abandon party loyalty and vote for whatever – or whomever – will bring the most relief to their aching wallets.

Sarah Katherine Sisk is a proud Hillsdale College alumna and a master’s student in economics at George Mason University. You can follow her on X @SKSisk76.