In a battle that had Austin voters on edge, incumbent Kirk Watson narrowly avoided a runoff by as few as twelve votes, securing another term as mayor. According to the Austin Chronicle, Watson, who is currently serving his fourth term as mayor, garnered almost 104,000 more votes than Carmen Llanes Pulido, his nearest rival. After a stressful wait for the counting of provisional and late mail-in ballots in Travis and Williamson counties, the final vote counts were announced.
Given the remote possibility of a different result and the necessity of continuing on, Llanes-Pulido gave up the race. She said, “I have decided to lay down the pursuit of a recount and bring a close to my mayoral campaign,” according to a statement from FOX 7 Austin. Despite the compromise, her campaign made a significant impact on Austin politics by advocating for a grassroots strategy and promoting conversations about housing affordability, safety, and open government. The formal canvass for the election took place on November 19, and Llanes-Pulido had until November 21 to submit any recount requests. However, as the Austin Chronicle reported on November 20, none were submitted.
The outcome of the election not only confirms Watson’s candidacy for mayor, but it also strengthens the City Council’s pro-housing attitude, which has been crucial in enacting important land use reforms during his first term. As the Austin Chronicle noted, Watson was upbeat about the future in his victory email to supporters, saying, “We’ve made a lot of progress.” I believe we’re at last ready to set Austin’s future on a different path.
Given the possibility of a larger turnout of young, varied voters who typically could fit into other demographics than Watson’s, this election cycle attracted special attention. This element could have had a substantial impact on the election’s outcome. Watson can move forward without resuming his campaign activities after Donald Trump won a “commanding” victory in the presidential election. This could be a challenging situation for Watson if he were forced to runoff, as the Austin Chronicle describes. What appeared to be a political battle concluded with Llanes-Pulido bowing out to regroup and carry on her work from the beginning in a show of calm respect for the democratic process.
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