Early voting over, election day is tomorrow

Tuesday marks the final 2020 election day in Travis County, with voters making decisions on two school board races and two City Council races. Early voting ended Friday in the District 6 and 10 Council runoff races, as well as the two races for seats on the Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees. Incumbent District 6 Council Member Jimmy Flannigan is facing Mackenzie Kelly, and incumbent District 10 Council Member Alison Alter is facing Jennifer Virden. In the only AISD districtwide election, Leticia Caballero and Noelita Lugo are vying for the at-large Place 8 seat. In the District 5 race, Lynn Boswell is facing Jennifer Littlefield. According to data from Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir’s website, a total of 41,515 voters had cast ballots as of Friday night. Of those, 19,305 – about 46.5 percent – voted by mail. The clerk’s office will still be receiving ballots by mail, so that number is not final. None of the candidates in these races is identified on the ballot by party affiliation, but the incumbents have pointed out that Kelly and Virden are Republicans. And the Austin Young Republicans hosted about 20 out-of-town members this weekend, who were deployed to knock on doors for the contenders, according to Andy Hogue, Kelly’s campaign consultant. An ad for the gathering thanked the Republican Party of Texas, the Williamson County Republican Party, the Travis County Republican Party and Wilco Republican leaders as sponsors of the event. Participants got free meals and a free overnight stay at a local hotel as well as a karaoke party.