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Uber/Lyft PAC Spent More Than $5 Million to Campaign For Prop 1 Last Month

Miguel Gutierrez Jr.
/
KUT
Uber- and Lyft-funded PAC Ridesharing Works for Austin spent $6 million to aggressively push for Prop 1 in the month of April.

The political action committee that put Proposition 1 on the ballot and is campaigning for it received about $6 million from ride-sharing companies Uber and Lyft in the past month.

According to documents filed Friday with the Austin City Clerk’s office, Ridesharing Works for Austin raised that sum between March 29 and April 28. The campaign has spent the bulk of that money over the past month, in staff salaries, television advertising, direct mail and consulting work.

The spending includes $50,000 for former Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell, who has served as a pitch man for the campaign for the past few weeks.

It brings the pro-Prop 1 campaign’s total contributions from Uber and Lyft to around $8 million since the beginning of the year.  The PAC has not taken any donations from other sources.

The sum dwarfs the previous record for spending on a local election in Austin. Mayor Steve Adler spent a little over $1 million on his successful 2014 campaign.

In the meantime, the opposition to Prop 1 – Our City, Our Safety, Our Choice – raised about $90,000 over the past month, according to their filings. That brings their total fundraising to a little more than $100,000.

Matt Largey is the Projects Editor at KUT. That means doing a little bit of everything: editing reporters, producing podcasts, reporting, training, producing live events and always being on the lookout for things that make his ears perk up. Got a tip? Email him at mlargey@kut.org. Follow him on Twitter @mattlargey.
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