Politician/Cassandra Basri

Cassandra "Cassie" Basri (born April 3, 2001) is an American-Indian politician, currently serving as a member of the Austin, Texas city council. A member of the Democratic Party, Basri is currently serving out her first term in City Council, as the representative for Austin's 1st City District.

Early Life, Education, and Early Political Career

Cassandra was born in 2001 to General Tamia Basri and Amar Basri in Austin, Texas, the youngest of four children. During her adolescence, Cassandra worked hard in high school, becoming the Student Council President in Junior Year, continuing in Senior. She became the Class Salutatorian of her graduating class, finishing 2nd in a class of 2,038 students. She received a full-ride scholarship to American University to participate in their Academic Quiz Team, graduating with a Bachelor of American History in 2020 at the age of 21.

In 2021, Lois was offered an internship to work for her Senator Jack Colfax (R-TX), however declined to run for City Council.

Austin City Council (2020-2024)

In 2020, incumbent state representative Joe Morris retired to run for the Governor of Texas. On January 8th, Trismegistus Haro and Doug Ludwig, both newcomers in the political landscape announced their candidacy, followed by Basri. Bruce Eisenhauer was the only Republican seeking candidacy. The Democratic primary ended up with Basri receiving 44.4% of the vote, 31.2% going to Haro, and 24.7% to Ludwig. Basri went on to beat Eisenhauer by 18 points, 59% to 41%, becoming the council member for Austin's 1st city council district.

Tenure

During her term, Basri worked to create a progressive tax system in the city, eliminating the income tax entirely and replacing it with a 1.5% flat tax and a 10% cooperation tax. Her legislation passed 12-1, however, further efforts by Basri to increase the cooperate tax were vetoed by Mayor Dalton Blumberg, the two term incumbent.