It’s all over but the counting: Tovo takes Early Vote with 55 percent

Challenger Kathie Tovo has scored a decisive early victory over incumbent Council Member Randi Shade. Travis County is reporting that Tovo won 54.96 percent of the nearly 25,000 votes cast by those voting in the days leading up to the runoff election.

 

That puts the challenger 2,465 votes ahead in the Early Voting. Shade’s campaign consultants have said they needed to win early in order to overcome a predicted Tovo advantage on Election Day.

 

It could take a couple more hours to wrap up the counting, but the outcome seems highly unlikely to change.

 

Jim Wick, deputy campaign manager for the Tovo campaign, estimated this afternoon that between 16,000 and 18,000 voters would cast ballots today, bringing the total runoff vote to 41-43,000. He said the Tovo camp was pleased with the vote distribution, noting that central city precincts favoring his candidate were turning out in greater numbers than boxes expected to vote for Shade.