Austin Mayor-elect Kirk Watson officially wins Travis County, final election results show

Mayor-elect Kirk Watson can now officially claim victory in all three Austin-area counties, flipping the majority vote in Travis County, according to final election tallies.

The results were made official Wednesday in a five-minute special called meeting of the Austin City Council at which Council Members Leslie Pool, Ann Kitchen and Mackenzie Kelly canvassed the votes.

Watson and opponent Celia Israel faced off in a runoff election Dec. 13, and Watson took a narrow win over Israel, even though he finished 17 votes behind Israel in Travis County that evening. He won in Hays and Williamson counties, each of which contain some Austin residents.

But after provisional ballots were counted in Travis County, Watson gained enough votes to finish ahead of Israel by just 30 votes, 55,292 to 55,262, in the county where most Austin residents live.

According to final tallies, Watson finished with 57,565 total votes and Israel finished with 56,623.

Some local political researchers told the American-Statesman that the runoff election might have been the smallest margin in a mayoral election in recent memory.

“We all know what a close election it was last week, and am happy that with provisional ballots now counted, our campaign prevailed in Travis County, as well as Williamson and Hays Counties,” Watson said in a statement. “Nevertheless, the narrow margin obviously emphasizes the urgency of bringing our community together around new ways to solve old problems. I am ready to get to work with the City Council, city staff and community leaders to start making real progress in the new year.”

Results for the City Council races did not change. José Velásquez, Ryan Alter and Zohaib “Zo” Qadri maintained their leads and were all declared elected, representing Districts 3, 5 and 9, respectively.

More:With new faces, will Austin City Council shift policies on housing, homelessness?

Velásquez finished with 4,181 votes to Daniela Silva’s 3,649 votes. Alter garnered 7,931 votes to beat Stephanie Bazan, who had 5,369. Qadri had 7,293 votes to top Linda Guerrero's 6,950.

The newly elected officials could shift the dynamic of the council to a more progressive outlook, some experts told the American-Statesman.

All four council members, while campaigning, said they planned to tackle affordability, transportation and homelessness issues head on. Alter and Qadri in some ways differ from their predecessors, and their decisions could change how the council approaches these issues. Watson, however, has been deemed a little more moderate than Adler.

How the new council will govern on the issues remains to be seen, Sherri Greenberg, a professor of practice for the University of Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs, said in an interview with the American-Statesman last week.

“Will there be differences? Will we see pushes for changes in Project Connect and the I-35 expansion?" Greenberg said. "Affordable housing was a big issue for all the candidates. I think there will be a lot of discussion around what could be done to increase the supply for affordable housing in Austin and building those houses in places where people have access to public transportation.”

Watson, Velásquez, Alter and Qadri will be sworn in for their new roles Jan. 6. Their first City Council meeting of the year is slated for Jan. 26, with a work session just two days before.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Kirk Watson wins Travis County in final election tallies, results show