Brewster McCracken was Mayor pro tem of the Austin, Texas

Austin, Texas

Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...

 city council and was a candidate for the office of Mayor in Austin. McCracken is serving his second term on the Austin City Council after being re-elected with 72 percent of the vote in 2006.

Early life and career

Brewster grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas

Corpus Christi, Texas

Corpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. The MSA population in 2008 was 416,376. The population was 305,215 at the 2010 census making it the...

 and graduated from W. B. Ray High School

W. B. Ray High School

W. B. Ray High School is a secondary school centrally located in Corpus Christi, Texas and is part of the Corpus Christi Independent School District. The school is named in honor of the school board president, William Benton Ray. W. B...

. He went on to Princeton University

Princeton University

Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....

 for undergrad and paid his way through on an Army scholarship. He then earned a Masters in Public Affairs from the LBJ School of Public Affairs

Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs

The Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs is a graduate school at The University of Texas at Austin that was founded in 1970 to offer professional training in public policy analysis and administration for students interested in pursuing careers in government and public affairs-related areas...

 and a law degree from the University of Texas School of Law

University of Texas School of Law

The University of Texas School of Law, also known as UT Law, is an ABA-certified American law school located on the University of Texas at Austin campus. The law school has been in operation since the founding of the University in 1883. It was one of only two schools at the University when it was...

. He holds a mediation certification from the University of Texas Center for Public Policy Dispute Resolution.

He worked as a prosecutor in the Harris County

Harris County, Texas

As of the 2010 Census, the population of the county was 4,092,459, White Americans made up 56.6% of Harris County's population; non-Hispanic whites represented 33.0% of the population. Black Americans made up 18.9% of the population. Native Americans made up 0.7% of Harris County's population...

District Attorney's Office, where he tried his first jury trial on his sixth day of work. He rose to the level of felony prosecutor before he returned to Austin.