Final Runoff Update – 1:35 p.m. June 14
SAN ANTONIO
Mayor: Taylor 51.7%, Van de Putte 48.3% — Taylor ends up winning Election Day (50.1%) voters to go with Early Voting (52.5%)
P7: Medina 54, Aguirre-Rodriguez 46
We will need to see the precinct-level data after the canvass to confirm our theory, but it appears that, for the second straight marquee election, Republicans tipped the balance away from a highly partisan Democrat (Martinez Fischer) and an individual whose recent race for LTGOV was defined by largely Democratic issues (Van de Putte). We expect to find that turnout was several percentage points higher in precincts won by Taylor than those won by Van de Putte, a result that would mirror the first round. We also expect to see drop-off in turnout in precincts won originally by Mike Villarreal, who declined to endorse a runoff candidate.
DALLAS
Council D3: Thomas 53, Tave 47
D7: Young 55, Felder 45
D8: Wilson 60, Gibson 40
D10: McGough 50.3, Reyes 49.7 — 35-vote win for McGough after Reyes led for most of the night.
Reyes received 55% of the in-person early vote (319-vote margin), and McGough received 64% of the ballot-by-mail early vote (144-vote margin), giving Reyes a 175-vote lead in early voting. McGough received 54% of the Election Day vote (210-vote margin), and that was just enough to flip the early vote result.
EL PASO
Council D1: Svarzbein 55, Weisenberger 45
The two candidates were almost dead even in early voting. Svarzbein received 41 more votes than Weisenberger from people voting early in person, and Weisenberger had a 22-vote advantage in ballots-by-mail. On Election Day, Svarzbein received 61% of the vote, adding 412 net votes to his 19-vote lead in early voting.
IRVING
Council D4: Riddle 57, Putnam 43
Incumbent Joe Putnam was the target of a significant amount of “dark money” advertising expenditures made by the Irving Opportunity Council. Phil Riddle, a retired firefighter, disavowed the group, saying “These ads do not reflect my opinion of my opponent.” The Irving Opportunity Council was organized a month ahead of the May 9 primary, according to paperwork filed with the Secretary of State, and the registered agent on file is an Austin-based attorney.
McKINNEY
Council AL: Rath 60, Campbell 40
D4: Branch 53, Ruiz 47
BROWNSVILLE
Mayor: Martinez 63, Ahumada 37 — current mayor wins re-election over former mayor
Commission D1: Longoria 58, Perez 42 — incumbent re-elected
AMARILLO
Council P4: Nair 73, Rogers 27 — Nair becomes third new council member elected by Amarillo voters
9:35 p.m. June 13
SA Mayor: Van de Putte has conceded, congratulating Taylor on winning “really tough race.”
Taylor 51.6, Van de Putte 48.4 (95% reporting)
Dallas Council D3: Thomas 53, Tave 47 (100% reporting)
D7: Young 55, Felder 45 (100%)
D8: Wilson 60, Gibson 40 (100%)
D10: McGough 50.3, Reyes 49.7 (100%) — 35 vote win
This is our last real-timer report of the evening. We’ll send a follow-up later covering any remaining races (such as in El Paso, where no precincts have been reported).
9:20 p.m.
SA Mayor: With 96% reporting, Taylor has increased her lead over Van de Putte to nearly 3,000 votes
9 p.m.
San Antonio: Taylor 51.1, Van de Putte 48.9 (2,153-vote margin) with 85% reporting
Brownsville: Martinez 63, Ahumada 37 — current mayor defeats former mayor
Dallas D3: Tave 50.4, Thomas 49.6 (16-vote margin) with 43% reporting
D7: Young 57, Felder 43 with 56% reporting
D8: Wilson 60, Gibson 40 with 44% reporting
D10: McGough 50.2, Reyes 49.8 (19-vote margin) with 53% reporting)
Irving: Riddle wins with 57% of the vote
McKinney: Branch (53%) and Rath (60%) prevail
8:40 p.m.
SA Mayor: with nearly 70% reporting, Van de Putte still trails Taylor by more than 2,100 votes. Van de Putte needs at least 54% of Election Day votes to win, currently at 52.5%
Dallas Council D10: Reyes’ lead over McGough is 35 votes with half of precincts counted.
8:05 a.m.
SAN ANTONIO
Mayor: Van de Putte has posted a slight gain after the first 30 precincts reported in, cutting Taylor’s lead to 2,969 votes (5% reporting)
D7: Medina 55, Aguirre-Rodriguez 45 with 1 precinct reporting
EL PASO
Polls have closed.
D1: Svarzbein leads Weisenberger by 7 votes out of 2,149 cast in early voting.
BROWNSVILLE
83% reporting
Mayor: Martinez 63, Ahumada 37
100% reporting
D1: Longoria 48, Perez 42
7:30 p.m.
SAN ANTONIO
If 40,000 voted today, Van de Putte would need 54.1% of the Election Day vote to overtake Taylor’s early voting lead.
BROWNSVILLE
Mayor: Martinez 64, Ahumuda 36
D1: Longoria 56, Perez 44
AMARILLO
D4: Nair 72, Rogers 28 (both Potter and Randall Cos.)
7:05 p.m.
Polls have closed for all jurisdictions except in El Paso. Voters in line by 7 p.m. may cast ballots.
Early vote totals only:
SAN ANTONIO
Mayor: Taylor 53, Van de Putte 47 (3,257-vote margin)
P7: Medina 55, Aguirre-Rodriguez 45
DALLAS
D3: Thomas 50.4, Tave 49.6 (12 vote margin)
D7: Young 58, Felder 42
D8: Wilson 58, Gibson 42
D10: Reyes 52, McGough 48
BROWNSVILLE
Mayor: No results yet
AMARILLO (Potter Co. only)
P4: Nair 70, Rogers 30
6:30 p.m.
Polls close in 30 minutes for local jurisdictions with runoff elections today. The big race is in San Antonio, where Mayor Ivy Taylor and former Sen. Leticia Van de Putte are expected to have a close runoff for Mayor. We are watching runoffs in other cities but plan fewer email updates than during a typical election night. Please follow us on Twitter @TXElects for real-time coverage.
Also, please let us know if there is a specific race you’re interested in outside the larger cities. We will do our best to report on those as well.
Thanks, and enjoy the show.
