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Kirk Watson lost Travis County, but won tightest Austin mayoral race in decades
KXAN ^ | Dec 14, 2022 | Grace Reader

Posted on 12/15/2022 1:01:17 AM PST by nickcarraway

Though Representative Celia Israel garnered the most votes in November, she fell to Senator Kirk Watson Tuesday night in the runoff election by just 886 votes. It’s the slimmest margin in an Austin mayoral race in decades.

“People will always say my vote doesn’t matter. But last night, it proved that your vote certainly matters because the gap between the candidates was so close,” Brian Smith, a political science professor at St. Edward’s University, said.

In the runoff, Watson won by a small margin — just 886 votes, or 0.78% of all votes. He did not, however, win Travis County.

Unofficial results show Israel got 17 more votes in Travis County than Watson. It was slivers of Williamson and Hays County that fall in Austin city limits that pushed Watson to a victory. Watson largely won both of those counties.

In Hays County, Watson claimed 84.38% of the vote, though only 31 people voted. In Williamson County, Watson got 62.30% of the vote with 2,231 votes.

Using elections data and looking all the way back to the early 70s, this margin of victory is the slimmest in an Austin mayoral race in decades.

The next closest were all dictated by more than 1,000 votes, including Bruce Todd’s victory in 1991 and Carole Keeton’s runoff against Jack McCreary in 1977.

“I deeply understand one of the key messages that those voters were looking for in that campaign, and that is that this town must focus on equity and inclusivity and diversity,” Watson said of representing Israel’s voters.


TOPICS: News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Texas
KEYWORDS:

1 posted on 12/15/2022 1:01:17 AM PST by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

That is ludicrous.
A continuing of the fine tuning of the steal.


2 posted on 12/15/2022 1:05:29 AM PST by Jonty30 (You can't spell liberal without the a-hole. )
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To: Jonty30

That is ludicrous.
A continuing of the fine tuning of the steal.


If one of them a conservative pub and one a Dei? WIth it being Austin, I’d expect RINO and Dem.

The smallest county, if my math is correct, had it 26-5, a 21 vote margin. Without it, the reace would have swung the other way by 4.

Two counties outvote one county. Works for me.


3 posted on 12/15/2022 1:35:07 AM PST by Hieronymus
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To: Hieronymus

Dei should have been Dem.

I looked it up, they are both Dems, and the loser looks ot be the worst of the two.

Here is her Wiki Page

Celia Marie Israel (born July 15, 1964)[1] is an American politician. She has represented the 50th district in the Texas House of Representatives since 2014. She is a member of the Democratic Party.[2]

Early life and career
Israel was raised in El Paso, Texas. She moved to the Austin area in 1982 to attend the University of Texas at Austin. After graduating with a degree in government, she served in Governor Ann Richards’ administration. Israel is a licensed Texas realtor.

Political career
Israel won a special election held on January 28, 2014, to represent the 50th district in the Texas House of Representatives to succeed Mark Strama.[3]

Israel is a member of the Legislative Study Group, the Women’s Health Caucus, the Mexican American Legislative Caucus, and is a founding member of the Texas House LGBTQ Caucus. She previously served as Vice Chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, overseeing the Steering and Policy Committee. She has proposed legislation to introduce online voter registration in Texas.[4] In September 2019, she was chosen to lead the Texas House Democratic Campaign Committee, a political action committee tasked with electing more Democrats to the Texas House.[5]

Israel has served on numerous boards and committees focused on multimodal transportation, food scarcity, and empowering the next generation of female leaders. During her first term in the legislature, she was named Freshman of the Year by the Legislative Study Group, a Champion of Equality by Equality Texas, and a Progressive Champion by Progress Texas. In 2018, Israel was inducted into the Austin Women’s Hall of Fame.[citation needed]

In January 2022, Israel announced that she would run for mayor of Austin in the 2022 Austin mayoral election.[6] In the November 8 general election, she advanced to a runoff election against Kirk Watson.[7]

Personal life
Israel lives with her wife, Celinda Garza,[8] and their dogs, Pippa and Libby, in northeastern Travis County.


4 posted on 12/15/2022 1:40:45 AM PST by Hieronymus
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To: Hieronymus

So maybe this is good news???


5 posted on 12/15/2022 3:32:44 AM PST by AZJeep
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To: AZJeep

Watson is the lesser of two evils.


6 posted on 12/15/2022 3:39:28 AM PST by texanyankee
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To: texanyankee

You misspelled “idiots”.


7 posted on 12/15/2022 4:45:47 AM PST by ExTxMarine (Diversity is necessary; diverse points of views will not be tolerated.)
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To: nickcarraway

The choices for Austin mayor were between two Demonicrat dung heaps.


8 posted on 12/15/2022 4:48:16 AM PST by Carl Vehse (A proud member of the LGBFJB community)
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To: Hieronymus

She can’t have a wife... They are playing house with the dogs (Who could be smarter than the two humans 🤓)


9 posted on 12/15/2022 5:32:46 AM PST by Deplorable American1776 (Defund the FBI, the American Stasi..)
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To: Deplorable American1776

........”Israel lives with her wife, Celinda Garza, and their dogs, Pippa and Libby, in northeastern Travis County.”

that tells me all I need to know about her....


10 posted on 12/15/2022 6:03:14 AM PST by TokarevM57
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To: texanyankee

True

Watson is a crooked democrat but not a complete idiot and might actually do a little cleanup in Austin, certainly more than that fruitcake he was up against

Glad I no longer live in their jurisdiction


11 posted on 12/15/2022 6:07:22 AM PST by Manuel OKelley
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To: Deplorable American1776

I just posted what Wiki said.


12 posted on 12/15/2022 7:24:52 AM PST by Hieronymus
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To: Hieronymus

Depending on how advanced their system is, they will let a controllable Republican win, just to make it seem like Republicans can win.


13 posted on 12/15/2022 8:53:38 AM PST by Jonty30 (You can't spell liberal without the a-hole. )
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To: Jonty30

COuld be in some cases, but not this one. As further posts note, the choice was between a San Francisco sort of Dem and someone along the lines of Bill Clinton or the sort of white Dem you might still find in Louisiana—and the San Francisco Dem lost.


14 posted on 12/15/2022 9:34:30 AM PST by Hieronymus
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To: Hieronymus

I know... However, I just said they are playing house. I wonder if the dogs are better looking than their owners! 🤓


15 posted on 12/15/2022 10:05:51 AM PST by Deplorable American1776 (Defund the FBI, the American Stasi..)
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