Austin’s mayoral race heads to December runoff election

Austin still doesn’t know who its new mayor will be.

No candidate won more than 50 percent of the votes Tuesday, meaning Austin voters will choose between Celia Israel and Kirk Watson in a December runoff, the Austin-American Statesman reported.

With 304,000 votes cast, Israel had 40 percent, and Watson took 35 percent. None of four other candidates cracked the 20 percent needed to make the runoff.

“We made it to a runoff, and we made it to a runoff against the most powerful interests in Austin, Texas,” Israel told supporters at an election party. “They are not happy tonight. We are happy tonight.”

Political insiders had expected the race to go to a runoff, the newspaper reports.

Watson, who served as Austin’s mayor from 1997-2001, raised $1.3 million, compared to Israel’s $409,000, heading into the election, but Israel recently secured the endorsements of the Austin American-Statesman and the Austin Chronicle.

While Watson had more money for his campaign, Israel gathered the support of the city’s young liberals. In July, Israel criticized a proposed housing policy from Watson that recommended rules against adding multifamily housing, calling it “racist.”

While both candidates campaigned on platforms that called for more affordable housing, Israel brought out more of the liberal and minority votes.

The runoff election will be held Dec. 13. Voter turnout will likely be below the earlier voting stages when Travis County had 52 percent of registered voters submit ballots.

The new mayor will serve for the next two years, instead of the usual four, as voters approved changing the city’s charter last year so that mayoral elections occurred in the same years as presidential elections.

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