Austin News

The race for the Austin City Council District 6 seat is heading toward a runoff election after incumbent Jimmy Flannigan garnered 40.22% of the votes in the November general election.

According to KVUE-TV News, he will be facing runner-up challenger Mackenzie Kelly, who received 33.4% of the votes.

An Austin resident for the last 20 years, Flannigan lists himself as a small business owner on his website. As an advocate for LGBTQ issues, he established Austin's LGBTQ Quality of Life Advisory Commission and is the former president of the Austin LGBT Chamber of Commerce. He also co-founded the Northwest Austin Coalition and is a member of the Austin Chamber's Transportation Committee.

An Austin native, Kelly describes herself as a public safety advocate, ex-volunteer firefighter, and a mother and wife. She is the president of Take Back Austin, a group focused on “uniting the people of Austin and restoring common sense and community impact to our local government and “exploring solutions for the challenges in which we face and unifying to take back Austin,” according to a description on its web site.

Kelly will receive a $26,443 boost in campaign funds from the Austin Fair Campaign Finance Fund, according to The Austin Bulldog. The fund was established to reward candidates who agreed to observe limits on campaign spending, city clerk and administer of the fund Jannette Goodall said.

Flannigan collected $131,000 in contributions through Oct. 5, the latest reporting period, while Kelly had raised just slightly less than $50,000.

According to Austin News, Flannigan received more than $17,700 of those funds from a lobbying firm representing real estate interests and later voted in favor of real estate cases that firm represented, according to campaign finance reports. Flannigan also supports a controversial rezoning plan that critics say could significantly raise property taxes and hurt renters, reported Austin News.

The runoff election is scheduled for Dec. 15.