Five months after losing April’s nonpartisan District 13 Supervisor election, Travis Austin stands by his allegations that incumbent District 13 County Supervisor Jay Brower suppressed student votes and did zero engagement or outreach to students.
Brower received 62.8% of the votes compared to Austin’s 36.2%, but Austin said he “won all the student areas.”
“Jay Brower won the election by basically not catering to students whatsoever,” Austin said.
Austin made similar claims when he spoke to the Cardinal in April but acknowledged the anecdotal nature of his evidence. He described Brower’s lack of student outreach as “an open secret.”
“I haven't been able to find any documented evidence… But I have yet to encounter basically a single student voter who had ever heard from him,” Austin said. “I did my best to knock every single door in the county.”
Austin also told the Cardinal he believes District 13 is a “student seat” and should be held by a student.
Brower told the Cardinal Austin’s claims are vexing, “especially being repeated outside the heat of a just-lost election contest.”
"Mr. Austin’s continued election denialism relies on factually incorrect allegations that are thoroughly disproven by the public record of my campaign’s activity,” Brower said. “His comments also marginalize the hard work of my campaign team, which was comprised primarily of UW-Madison students.”
Brower cited the substantial votes he received in student wards, student-run forums he participated in, the campus-area endorsements he gained and the many doors he knocked on throughout the district as evidence for his outreach to students.
Austin expressed frustration with the College Democrats’ endorsement process, which he previously claimed Brower unfairly influenced.
“It was less than a dozen people at the meeting… His campaign manager was one of the people there,” Austin said, alleging Brower’s campaign manager brought acquaintances to sway the vote. He admitted this claim remains unsubstantiated but described the process as “whipping votes.”
This “whipping-the-votes” tactic, where unions and organized groups vote in coordinated blocks, is something Austin claimed to have experienced within the Dane County Democrats.
“I worked for the athletic department. I was a member of AFSCME,” Austin said. “The County Board Chairman basically wanted them to vote against me.”
He argued Brower’s deeper connections to labor unions and political organizations, such as being a Service Employees International Union organizer, gave him a significant edge.
“That’s how politicking and whipping votes works, and that’s always been the part of politics I’ve liked the least,” Austin said.
Brower told the Cardinal Austin’s “adherence to denialist claims” damages youth voter mobilization “at a critical moment.”
“In a democratic society, admitting defeat in a fair contest is vitally important — no matter your level of campaign experience,” Brower said. “Making unfounded accusations of foul play hurts the public’s confidence in elections, serving only petty personal interests in explaining the loss of a hard-run election.”
Austin said he is unsure if he will be running for the Board of Supervisors during the next election cycle, but he encourages students to run for the District 13 seat.
