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 Histo

ry 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.

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.

Mayor of Austin Campaign (2023-2024)
After her frusturation with incumbent Mayor Dalton Blumberg after her time in city council, Basri announced her intent to primary him on January 8th, 2023, confirming that she will not seek re-election to city council. She performed well in beginning polls, and on election day won the Democratic primary against the incumbent 57.7% to Dalton's 43.3%. Fred Heinkel, a probation officer, was selected as her Republican opponent unopposed in the primary process. She was officially elected with 67% of the vote in November, against Heinkel's 33%. Her term began on Jan. 1st of the following year.

Mayor of Austin, Texas (2024-2032)
In her first three years as Mayor, Basri had dangerously low approval ratings, a total of 44% approving, the lowest rate by democrats. However, her choice to completely fund the city using a coorperation tax, completely removing all taxes on all cities gained her popularity, along with her signage of the $12 minimum wage bill. This lead her to an increase to 63% approving of her in office. She announced her candidacy for re-election late in the process, unsure of her desires for further pursuits. She confirmed she would seek a second term in late february, and won the nomination unopposed. She then won the general with 74% of the vote, against Police Capitan Joe Shipps 26%, setting in stone Basri's second term as mayor. During her term, Basri struggled with her approval rating, despite her continued success in office her approval rating plummeted down to 30% every year. This officially caused her to choose not to seek re-election as Mayor, opening the race for the new democratic nominee. After continued struggle with approval, she formally asked the City Council to repeal her corporate tax rate, and reverted to the old system of city tax. She left the office with a 40% approval rating.

Campaign for Texas 25th Campaign District (2032)
Several months after her tenture as Mayor, she announced her intent to run to become the U.S. Rep. for Texas' 25th Congressional District, a safe republican district. She won the democratic primary unopposed, leaving her and the republican candidate State Senator Collin Levitt to fight for the district. She lost in the general by 6,327 votes, winning 47.7% to Levitt's 49.7% percentage of the vote.