I agree that many Austinites were turned off by the sheer amount of spam sent by the Uber&#x2F;Lyft-backed campaign. Others, I believe, were simply angry about the cost of a single-issue special election. [1]<p>Yet others, I believe, were furious that those two generously funded companies were attempting to insert themselves into local politics and override a regulatory scheme enacted by the local elected government. And if Uber and Lyft could buy this election, what next? It&#x27;s been said that Uber and Lyft needed to make an example out of Austin, but the reverse is true, too: Austin needed to make an example out of Uber and Lyft.<p>[1] - $500,000. Source: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.texastribune.org&#x2F;2016&#x2F;05&#x2F;07&#x2F;early-voting-austin-proposition-against&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.texastribune.org&#x2F;2016&#x2F;05&#x2F;07&#x2F;early-voting-austin-...</a>