Stephen Adler

This page was current at the end of the official's last term in office covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Stephen Adler

Nonpartisan

Prior offices

Mayor of Austin

Successor: Kirk Watson

Predecessor: Lee Leffingwell

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Report an officeholder change

Education

Law

University of Texas

Contact

Official Facebook

Official Instagram

Personal website

Stephen Adler was the Mayor of Austin in Texas. Adler assumed office on January 6, 2015. Adler left office on January 6, 2023.

Adler ran for re-election for Mayor of Austin in Texas. Adler won in the general election on November 6, 2018.

Adler faced six challengers in his 2018 re-election bid. A major topic of debate in the race was land-use zoning codes. In August 2018, Adler called for an end to a six-year project to rewrite the city's zoning codes, saying communication around the project had broken down, and called for a new method to rewrite the codes. Adler won the Nov. 6 election with 59 percent of the vote.

Mayoral elections in Austin are nonpartisan. Media outlets have reported that Adler is affiliated with the Democratic Party.

Biography

Email editor@ballotpedia.org to notify us of updates to this biography.

Adler was born in Washington, D.C. He holds a J.D. from the University of Texas.

Elections

2022

See also: Mayoral election in Austin, Texas (2022)

Stephen Adler did not file to run for re-election.

2018

See also: Mayoral election in Austin, Texas (2018)

General election

General election for Mayor of Austin

The following candidates ran in the general election for Mayor of Austin on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Stephen Adler (Nonpartisan)	59.1	178,980
		Laura Morrison (Nonpartisan)	19.2	58,321
	Submit photo	Gustavo Peña (Nonpartisan)	11.2	34,082
		Todd Phelps (Nonpartisan)	6.5	19,614
		Travis Duncan (Nonpartisan)	2.3	6,999
		Alexander Strenger (Nonpartisan)	1.0	3,033
	Submit photo	Alan Pease (Nonpartisan)	0.7	2,052

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 303,081 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2014

See also: Austin, Texas municipal elections, 2014.

The city of Austin held elections for mayor on November 4, 2014. The candidate filing deadline was August 18, 2014. Incumbent Lee Leffingwell was ineligible to run for re-election due to term limits.

The candidates included Stephen Adler, Sheryl Cole, Mike Martinez, Ronald J. Culver, Mary Krenek, David M. Orshalick, Todd H. Phelps and Randall F. Stephens.

In the general election, Adler and Martinez received the most votes, but neither won a majority. They faced each other in a runoff election on December 16, 2014. Adler was the winner.

Mayor of Austin Runoff Election, 2014
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Stephen Adler	67%	52,159
Mike Martinez	33%	25,639
Total Votes		77,798
Source: Travis County Clerk - 2014 Official Election Results

Mayor of Austin General Election, 2014
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Mike Martinez	29.6%	51,892
Stephen Adler	36.8%	64,416
Sheryl Cole	14.8%	25,846
Ronald J. Culver	0.8%	1,358
Mary Krenek	4.2%	7,370
David M. Orshalick	2.1%	3,746
Todd H. Phelps	9.9%	17,333
Randall F. Stephens	1.8%	3,204
Total Votes		150,882
Source: Travis County Clerk - 2014 Official Election Results

Campaign themes

2018

Campaign website

Adler's website stated the following. Click the links to watch Adler's videos and see his statements on the issues.

“	Affordability Audit and Finance Economic Opportunity Education Health and Human Service Housing and Community Development Mobility Open Space and Environment Planning and Neighborhoods Public Safety Public Utilities Social Innovation Council	”
—Stephen Adler’s campaign website (2018)

2014

Campaign website

On his campaign website, Adler highlighted the following issues:

Affordable Housing

• Excerpt: "There is no opportunity without affordability. We need to make sure that our families that want to keep living here can afford to do so. Austin is a great place to live and is powered by a vibrant creative community consisting of diverse ethnicities and cultures."

Education

• Excerpt: "Education is the key to Austin’s continued success. We have a moral imperative to give our children the tools they need to succeed."

Traffic

• Excerpt: "It’s time to get Austin moving. It’s time to stop talking and start acting. We have nearly two million people in the Austin metropolitan area and we will have four million people in 25 to 30 years. When that day comes, I can’t imagine an Austin without an integrated transportation plan that reaches all across the city and includes urban rail, roads, transit, bikes and sidewalks. But we need to do more because the studies say that we can’t build our way out of congestion. We need to focus on where and how we’re going to live in 30 years. We must encourage more opportunities for folks to live closer to where they work, learn and play. Right now, there are things we can do to provide immediate relief like redesigning intersections for continuous traffic flow. We also must widely implement staggered work hours, car-pooling, telecommuting and other alternatives."

Noteworthy events

Events and activity following the death of George Floyd

See also: Events following the death of George Floyd and responses in select cities from May 29-31, 2020

Adler was mayor of Austin during the weekend of May 29-31, 2020, when events and activity took place in cities across the U.S. following the death of George Floyd. Events in Austin, Texas, began on Friday, May 29, 2020, with an unplanned gathering outside of the Austin Police Department headquarters. On May 30, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) announced that he had sent state resources to Austin, though it is unclear whether or not the Texas National Guard was deployed. No curfews were issued.

To read more about the death of George Floyd and subsequent events, click [show] to the right.

On May 25, 2020, Minneapolis police officers arrested Floyd, a Black man, after receiving a call that he had made a purchase with a counterfeit $20 bill. Floyd died after Derek Chauvin, a white officer, arrived at the scene and pressed his knee onto Floyd's neck as Floyd laid face-down on the street in handcuffs. Both the Hennepin County Medical Examiner and an independent autopsy conducted by Floyd's family ruled Floyd's death as a homicide stemming from the incident. The medical examiner's report, prepared by Dr. Michael Baden and Dr. Allecia Wilson, said that it was "not a legal determination of culpability or intent, and should not be used to usurp the judicial process." On April 20, 2021, Chauvin was found guilty of murder and manslaughter in relation to Floyd's death. Floyd's death was filmed and shared widely, leading to activity regarding racism, civil rights, and police use of force. The first events took place in Minneapolis-St. Paul on May 26. An event in Chicago organized by Chance the Rapper and Rev. Michael Pfleger took place the same day, making it the first major city outside of Minneapolis to host an event in response to Floyd's death.

Notable endorsements

See also: Ballotpedia: Our approach to covering endorsements

This section displays endorsements this individual made in elections within Ballotpedia's coverage scope.

Notable candidate endorsements by Stephen Adler

Endorsee	Election	Stage	Outcome
Joe Biden  source  (D, Working Families Party)	President of the United States (2020)	Primary	Won General
Pete Buttigieg  source	President of the United States (2020)		Withdrew in Convention
Hillary Clinton  source  (D)	President of the United States (2016)	Primary	Lost General

Notable ballot measure endorsements by Stephen Adler

Measure	Position	Outcome
Austin, Texas, Proposition A, Police Policies on Minimum Number of Officers, Training Requirements, and Demographic Representation Initiative (November 2021)  source	Oppose	Defeated

See also

• Austin, Texas
• Austin, Texas mayoral election, 2014
• United States municipal elections, 2014
• Mayoral election in Austin, Texas (2018)

External links

Search Google News for this topic

Personal

Website

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Lee Leffingwell	Mayor of Austin 2015-2023	Succeeded by Kirk Watson