Doug Greco, Interfaith Organizer and LGBTQ Advocate, Announces Austin Mayoral Campaign
Doug Greco announced his bid for Austin Mayor today after stepping down last week as Lead Organizer & Executive Director with Central Texas Interfaith, a role which he held for a total of 12 years. Greco appointed his campaign Treasurer, Claudia Kramer Santamaria, at City Hall earlier this morning.
During Doug’s leadership, CTI won hundreds of millions in local and state dollars for addressing homelessness, workforce development, housing and rental assistance. In 2021, Greco played a lead role in CTI & the Texas IAF’s effort to kill Chapter 313, Texas largest corporate tax subsidy program, which took over $1Billion/year in potential school funding and gave it instead primarily to multinational oil and gas corporations. He also played a key role in substantially reforming Chapter 313’s replacement in 2023.
“I’m running for Mayor because Austin needs a leader who will stand up for working people and against big money at City Hall and unchecked corporate power in politics overall. Despite Austin’s wealth and unprecedented growth, working people continue to be pushed out of the city and out of the middle class,” said Greco. “As mayor I will address this by supporting unions, living wage jobs, public schools, and effective workforce development. This agenda includes solving homelessness, building affordable housing, investing in rental assistance, and ensuring any land-use code changes benefit working people and not private equity firms.”
Greco, who is openly gay, has been an advocate for LGBTQ rights and the rights of other marginalized communities as Chief of Staff for State Rep. Gina Hinojosa and Director of Programs for Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization. His 2023 book, “To Find a Killer” lays out an organizing vision for the next phase of the LGBTQ rights movement, and analyzes the 2011 anti-gay murder of one of his former high school students whom he taught several years earlier as a teacher in AISD at Johnston High in AISD (now Eastside Early College High School).
“Austin’s Mayor needs to be an effective and visible leader against continued efforts by state leaders to undo local decision-making and strip the basic rights of marginalized communities,” said Greco. “The days are gone when we judge mayors and elected officials by how well they narrowly tend to their own districts and their own futures. Anything we achieve at City Hall stands to be undone unless we build the power statewide to stand for working people and those in our community whose civil rights are being targeted at the state level and beyond.”
Greco has signed the City of Austin Campaign Contract and the State of Texas Pledge of Fair Campaign Practices, and calls on other Mayoral candidates to do the same. By signing the Austin Campaign Contract candidates agree to voluntary contribution and expenditure limits and become eligible for a share of public funding in a runoff. Through the Texas Pledge of Fair Campaign Practices candidates and PACs commit to honesty and integrity, reject defaming the character or personal life of opponents, and limit attacks to opponents’ record and stated positions on issues.
Doug Greco grew up in the Anthracite Coal Region of Eastern Pennsylvania and attended Brown University before moving to Austin in the late 1990’s. He first got involved in organizing as a teacher at Johnston High School (now Eastside Early College High School) where he taught for 5 years. He holds a Bachelors in Economics from Brown, a Masters in Public Policy from Princeton and a Masters in creative writing from USC. More information on the Doug Greco for Austin Mayor Campaign can be found at: grecoforaustin.com