Austin mayor Kirk Watson wins re-election; results will be made official next week

AUSTIN, Texas - It appears Kirk Watson is set to keep his seat at Austin City Hall. However, it will not be made official until next week. 

Austin City Mayor Kirk Watson declared victory for his reelection on X on Thursday night. 

"Well, it feels great," said Watson. "I mean, this is the fourth time that I've been elected mayor by Austinites, and I couldn't be more grateful. I'm very happy about it." 

He served his first term as city mayor in 1997 and was reelected with a sweeping majority vote. Then, he spent 13 years working in the Texas Senate. In 2023, Mayor Watson returned to Austin City Hall to take his third term. 

"It was cut short in part because we often move the Mayor's election or the presidential election," said Mayor Watson. "I only had two years, and a full term is four years." 

Watson said that while he is proud of what he has accomplished, he is not ready to leave his position at City Hall because there is still work to be done. 

"When I came in, I felt like and said that how we were addressing people living homeless was a broken system, and we've made enormous progress in that regard," said Watson. "But there's still a lot to do to make sure we implement that well." 

The mayoral and council member spots are given to the majority vote. Watson said he won by a margin of more than 104,000 votes and narrowly avoided a runoff with more than 50% of the vote. 

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While the runner-up in the election, Carmen Llanes-Pulido, said it is still not official yet. 

"I have not determined whether I will seek a recount, but this is such a slim margin between a clear win and a recount," said Llanes-Pulido. 

"Anybody has a right to ask for a recount if that's what they want to do," said Watson. "But when the votes are when the votes are in, the votes are in, and I hope nobody denies the outcome of that." 

The early voting ballot boards in Travis, Williamson, and Hays counties have until Monday to count those provisional and mail-in ballots. 

"We're waiting for more official results and also gathering some more information before we before I decide how to proceed," said Llanes-Pulido. 

The city must have those results ready by Tuesday, which is when they become official. The council will then order those runoff elections if necessary. It does not appear that there will be a runoff. However, if that were to happen, it would be between the top two candidates.