Austin mayor's race: Celia Israel and Kirk Watson headed to a runoff

Austin's next mayor was not decided Tuesday, as a tight race between Celia Israel and Kirk Watson will continue into a runoff in December.

To win the race outright, a candidate would have had to earn more than half of all votes as of Tuesday. Israel took 40% and Watson 35% of the vote, according to final but unofficial results. They were separated by more than 15,000 votes.

Jennifer Virden, the only other candidate who conducted a significant campaign, earned 18%.

Three other candidates received limited support. Phil Brual received 2%, and Gary Spellman and Anthony Bradshaw each received 1%.

In total, 304,000 votes were recorded.

Heading into the day, political insiders who analyzed the election said they expected the race to go to a runoff, as voters seemed split between Watson, the former Austin mayor and state senator, and Israel, a sitting state representative. Although Watson outraised Israel $1.3 million to $409,000, it was Israel who enjoyed momentum heading into Tuesday with recent endorsements from the American-Statesman and the Austin Chronicle.

Israel said she was pleased with the results.

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

Watson has long been the favorite based on his advantage over Israel in money and name identification, but he had missteps that soured him to young voters and voters of color. Specifically, Watson in July released a housing policy that Israel called racist because it would have empowered council districts to recommend rules against adding multi-family housing. Still, Watson was expected to gain support from longtime residents, including those who first voted for him as mayor back in 1997.

He is facing a tough challenge from Israel, who appeals to many liberal Austin voters as a gay woman of color. She, like Watson, campaigned on affordability and increasing housing inventory.

In October, the American-Statesman reported that Israel had perhaps misled voters in saying she had personally experienced their pain because the rent on her home was set to go up last summer. Israel owns two homes. She rented another so she could establish residency in Austin's city limits in order to run for mayor while maintaining residency in her Texas House district.

Virden, a real estate broker, was back on the ballot after running unsuccessfully for the Austin City Council in 2020. She again campaigned as a conservative and disavowed the city's more liberal policies, a strategy that nearly worked two years ago when she advanced to a runoff in City Council District 10, a moderate area in west Austin. But that same platform did not have broad appeal in the mayor's race, which draws voters from the entire city.

The runoff is scheduled for Dec. 13, six weeks from now. Voter participation is likely to drop off from the election's first stage, when Travis County received ballots from 52% of registered voters.

The winner will serve a two-year term, not the usual four, after voters last year approved a change to the city's charter to align mayoral elections to presidential year elections.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin mayor's race: Celia Israel and Kirk Watson headed to a runoff