Kirk Preston Watson is an American attorney and politician who has served as the 59th mayor of Austin since 2023, previously holding the office as the 54th mayor from 1997 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, he ran unsuccessfully for Texas attorney general in the 2002 election, where he was defeated by Republican Greg Abbott, later governor of Texas. In 2006, Watson was elected to the Texas Senate from District 14.
Ranked-choice voting (RCV) can refer to one of several ranked voting methods used in some cities and states in the United States. The term is not strictly defined, but most often refers to instant-runoff voting (IRV) or single transferable vote (STV), the main difference being whether only one winner or multiple winners are elected.
The 2010 Texas gubernatorial election was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2010, to elect the governor of Texas. Incumbent Republican governor Rick Perry ran successfully for election to a third consecutive term. He won the Republican primary against U.S. senator Kay Bailey Hutchison and political newcomer, Debra Medina. The former mayor of Houston, Bill White, won the Democratic nomination. Kathie Glass, a lawyer from Houston and previous candidate for Texas Attorney General, won the Libertarian nomination. Deb Shafto was the nominee of the Texas Green Party. Andy Barron, an orthodontist from Lubbock, was a declared write-in candidate.
The 2014 Texas gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 2014, to elect the governor of Texas. Incumbent Republican governor Rick Perry, who had served since the resignation of then-Governor George W. Bush on December 21, 2000, declined to run for an unprecedented fourth full term, making this the first open election for governor of the state since 1990.
The 1969 Los Angeles mayoral election took place on April 1, 1969, with a run-off election on May 27, 1969. Incumbent Sam Yorty was re-elected over councilmember Tom Bradley, a win that had a record-breaking turnout. Yorty used race against Bradley to paint him as a mayor who would be open to Black Nationalism and that he was inefficient against fighting crime, both were denied by Bradley as he was a police officer in the Los Angeles Police Department before his election to the council.
A unified primary is an electoral system for narrowing the field of candidates for a single-winner election, similar to a nonpartisan blanket primary, but using approval voting for the first round, advancing the top-two candidates, allowing voters to confirm the majority-supported candidate in the general election.
Celia Marie Israel is an American politician. She previously represented the 50th district in the Texas House of Representatives and was succeeded by State Representative James Talarico when she chose to run for Austin Mayor. She is a member of the Democratic Party.
Jesús G. "Chuy" García is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Illinois's 4th district since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served on the Cook County Board of Commissioners, as well as in the Illinois Senate and on the Chicago City Council before his election to Congress. He was also a candidate for mayor of Chicago in 2015 and 2023. Throughout his career in Chicago and national politics, he has been described as a progressive.
The 2024 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. In the presidential election, former President Donald Trump, running as the Republican nominee, defeated the incumbent Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. Republicans gained control of the Senate and held a narrow control of the House of Representatives, winning a government trifecta for the first time since 2016.
The 2018 Austin mayoral election was held on November 6, 2018, to elect the mayor of Austin, Texas. The election was a non-partisan mayoral election. If a candidate received a majority of the votes, the candidate was elected, otherwise a runoff would be held between the top two candidates with the most votes. As incumbent Steve Adler secured a majority in the first round, a runoff was not required, and Adler was re-elected mayor for a second term.
The 2019 Des Moines mayoral election had an initial round held on November 5, 2019, with a runoff scheduled for December 3 to elect the mayor of Des Moines, Iowa. It saw the reelection of incumbent mayor Frank Cownie.
The 2020 Orange County Board of Supervisors elections was held on March 3, 2020 as part of the primary election on March 3, 2020. Two of the five seats of the Orange County, California Board of Supervisors were up for election.
Gregorio Eduardo Casar is an American politician who is the member for Texas's 35th congressional district in the United States Congress since 2023. He served as a member of the Austin City Council from the 4th district from 2015 to 2022. Casar is a member of the Democratic Party and was endorsed by the Working Families Party in his run for Congress. Casar is an unendorsed member of the Democratic Socialists of America. He was first elected to the Austin City Council in 2014, representing District 4. He was reelected in 2016 and 2020. He was elected to Congress in 2022.
The 2022 Austin mayoral election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the next mayor of Austin, Texas. The election was nonpartisan; candidates' party affiliations did not appear on the ballot. Incumbent mayor Steve Adler was term-limited and could not run for re-election. In the general election, state representative Celia Israel and former mayor Kirk Watson took the first two spots, leading realtor Jennifer Virden and several other candidates. Because no candidate received more than 50% of the vote, the race proceeded to a runoff election between Israel and Watson on December 13, which Watson won by 924 votes.
The Downtown Transit Tunnel was a planned light rail tunnel in Downtown Austin, Texas. It was a core feature of the proposed initial investment of Project Connect, the transit expansion plan being undertaken by the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The transit tunnel would have served the Orange, Blue, and (eventually) Gold light rail lines. The tunnel was eventually cut from Project Connect plans after unexpected cost increases and design challenges.
As part of the 2022 United States elections, throughout the year various elections were held at the local level, including the office of mayor, as well as several other municipal and county-level positions. A number of major U.S. cities held mayoral elections in 2022, and saw incumbent mayors re-elected, including Fort Smith, Arkansas ; Little Rock, Arkansas ; Tallahassee, Florida ; Lexington, Kentucky ; Flint, Michigan ; Reno, Nevada ; Newark, New Jersey ; Charlotte, North Carolina, and Raleigh, North Carolina ; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma ; Clarksville, Tennessee ; Murfreesboro, Tennessee ; Denton, Texas ; and Washington, D.C..
The 2024 Anchorage mayoral election was held on April 2, 2024, with a runoff election on May 14 because no candidate received more than 45% of the vote in the first round. It elected the mayor of Anchorage, Alaska. Incumbent Republican mayor Dave Bronson ran for re-election to a second term in office.
The 2022 Austin, Texas municipal elections took place on January 25, May 7, November 8, and December 13, 2022.
The 2024 Austin, Texas municipal elections will take place on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. Five city council seats and the mayor have regular elections. All positions are nominally non-partisan, though most candidates choose to affiliate with a party given Austin's strong Democratic lean.
The 2002 Texas Attorney General election took place on November 5, 2002, to elect the attorney general of Texas. Republican state supreme court justice Greg Abbott defeated Democrat Kirk Watson, the former mayor of Austin, with 56.7% of the vote to win his first term as attorney general, he was sworn into office on January 20, 2003.
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