Politics & Government
Paige Ellis Wins District 8 Austin City Council Race
In securing a seat on the dais, political newcomer will join an all-Democratic council with departure of incumbent Ellen Troxclair.
SOUTH AUSTIN, TEXAS — Paige Ellis handily won the race for the District 8 Austin City Council seat on Tuesday with more than half of the votes against challenger Frank Ward.
Ellis, a Democrat, defeated Republican challenger Ward with 56.03 percent of the vote versus 43.97 percent. All told, Ellis garnered 6,115 votes (including ballots cast during the early voting period) compared to 4,799 for her opponent as tabulated by the Travis County Clerk.
In clinching the seat, Ellis will join an all-Democratic body on council. Both candidates emerged from the November election with the most votes, staging the stage for Tuesday's runoff election to replace Ellen Troxclair — the sole conservative remaining on the dais before her decision not to seek reelection following her four-year term.
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Find out what's happening in South Austinfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
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In something of a barometer to Tuesday's election results, Ellis secured some 6 percentage points higher than Ward in the November election — securing 30.5 percent of the vote compared to Ward's 24.7 percent. While the biggest vote-getters last fall both had to compete again in a runoff election given that neither secured a majority of votes.
In the end, endorsements from police and fire unions and the otherwise influential Austin Board of Realtors — not to mention the formal blessing of Troxclair — lacked the necessary gravitas to secure the victory for Ward. Touting her environmental consultant experience to presage her socially conscious approach to government, Ellis appealed to voters in progressive Austin — often dubbed the blue dot in a red sea given the state's largely conservative makeup.
The race drew nearly 11,000 voters (10,914 to be exact), making it the highest-total contest among the three council runoffs that took place on Tuesday. Ellis will officially start on council in January.
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