Background

Zo Qadri ran to represent Austin’s City Council District 9 in 2022 using Universe’s texting and canvassing tools to reach this central district’s voters.

The first-born child of immigrants, Zo witnessed first-hand the impact of the growing cost of living crisis on Austin’s most vulnerable residents while attending the University of Texas. After receiving a Masters of Public Administration from Texas State University and a second graduate degree from Rice University in Global Affairs, Zo went on to work on various political and community advocacy campaigns before deciding to run for City Council.

Mobilizing Young Voters with Universe

Zo ran on a platform to tackle Austin’s housing crisis, fight for an expanded and equitable transit system, and protect and uplift Austin’s most vulnerable citizens. In his campaign, he mobilized students and young Austin residents to canvas for his candidacy.

Zo’s campaign signed up with Universe in June 2022, and, leading up to November, the campaign used Universe to send over 10,000 text messages and knock on doors over 15,000 doors in the district, reaching out to every precinct, neighborhood and constituency.

Big Impact

In the November general election, Zo won the majority with +8 points. Austin requires a majority of more than 50% to win a city position, so a runoff was held in December where Zo won by +2 points and became the first Muslim, South Asian, and Pakistani person to serve on Austin City Council!