Austin mayor's race: Kirk Watson claims narrow win over Celia Israel

In Austin's mayoral runoff election, Kirk Watson held off a late surge from Celia Israel to narrowly win the race to be the city's next mayor.

Watson topped Israel by 886 votes, according to final Travis County, Williamson County and Hays County elections officials. The results are unofficial.

Israel has conceded the race to Watson, according to Rich Thuma, her campaign manager, and will not pursue a recount.

In Travis County, Israel actually topped Watson by 17 votes — but Austin precincts in Williamson County delivered the win for Watson, as he earned 62% of those votes. Watson also received the most votes in Hays County, which includes a very small slice of Austin.

The term is for two years, not the usual four, after Austin voters approved a change last year to align mayoral elections with presidential elections.

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Watson, who was Austin's mayor from 1997 to 2001 and who more recently served in the Texas Senate, had long been the favorite. A fundraising powerhouse, he pulled in $1.8 million — the most ever in an Austin election — and outraised Israel 3 to 1. However, he faced a tougher battle than expected as Israel tried to cast Watson, 64, as past his political prime and not in step with Austin's current values.

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Though in many ways overmatched, Israel, a state representative, ran a scrappy campaign that revolved around Austin's housing affordability issues. In contrast to Watson, who appealed to longtime residents who knew him from his days as mayor, Israel targeted younger Austinites and working class residents who are struggling to pay bills. Both gay and Hispanic, Israel also appealed to voters of color and the LGBTQ community.

Unofficially, Watson received 50.3% of the vote compared to 49.6% for Israel. Overall, there were 113,000 votes cast. As in the general election on Nov. 8, Watson dominated the vote in west Austin, and Israel did the same in east Austin, according to a voter map from the Travis County clerk's office.

More:Austin mayor's race: Will Israel's younger voters outmatch Watson's established base?

The runoff was needed after none of the six original mayoral candidates received a majority of votes in the general election. Israel was closest, with 40%, and Watson followed with 35%.

More:Austin mayor, council runoffs may dictate future of city's housing policies

A key discussion was whether voters who supported Jennifer Virden, a conservative who finished third in November, would return for the runoff. In an appeal to those voters, Watson, a liberal who ran to the right of Israel, began emphasizing tax cuts and public safety — two key pieces of Virden's platform.

Virden, who received 18% of the vote in November, posted tweets favorable to Watson but stopped short of announcing a true endorsement for him. Israel blasted Watson for receiving support and money from conservatives and Republican leaders. In response, Watson supporters said the partisan attack contradicted Israel's campaign slogan: "A Mayor for All of Austin."

The runoff drew limited interest in Austin, the nation's 11th-largest city. During early voting, only 11% of registered voters in Travis County cast a ballot. That came out to 72,000 voters.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin mayor's race: Kirk Watson claims narrow win over Celia Israel