Kirk Watson Wins Austin’s Mayoral Race By Fewer Than 900 Votes

New Council comes into focus in run-off election

Former mayor Kirk Watson will take office again after winning with fewer than 900 votes over Celia Israel Tuesday night, according to final, unofficial results from Travis, Williamson, and Hays County elections officials.

The race was so tight that Israel won 17 more votes than Watson in Travis County. Strong support for Watson in Williamson County (62%) was enough to tip the scale in his favor.

In District 3, José Velásquez won with 4,165 votes (53.3%) to Daniela Silva‘s 3,646. In District 5, Ryan Alter had the easiest win of any candidate Tuesday, with 59.6% of the vote – 2,500 more votes than Stephanie Bazan. In District 9, Zohaib “Zo” Qadri narrowly won against Linda Guerrero with 51.2% of the vote.

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