It’s a great night for the incumbents after the early voter totals are released. Mayor Ron Nirenberg and nearly every council member present appear on their way to another term with one exception: Mario Bravo. The embattled District 1 alderman is likely headed for a runoff with challenger Sukh Kaur.
Near A
Proposal A was rejected by early voters with 74% of the vote. Click here for our full coverage of Prop A.
Mayor
Mayor Ron Nirenberg will likely avoid a runoff with 60% of the early votes. His first competitor was Christopher T. Schuchardt, who had 23%. The race drew several challengers, but the eight people facing Nirenberg did not appear to be a serious threat to the incumbent, who had more than $330,000 for the campaign season.
Districts of the City Council
District 1: Challenger Sukh Kaur will take incumbent Mario Bravo to a runoff. The early vote count had Kaur in the lead with 32%. Bravo was close behind with 26%, followed by Jeremy Roberts with 23% of the vote.
Bravo faced six rivals in his bid for a second term. He was one of two councilors who received the rare vote of no confidence in November. Bravo received the vote for violating the city’s anti-harassment and anti-violence standards when he reprimanded District 7 Councilwoman Ana Sandoval in September. Shortly after news of her behavior broke, a couple of rivals announced their candidacies, including Kaur and Roberts.
District 2: Incumbent Jalen McKee-Rodriguez looks set to retain his seat without a runoff with 58% of early votes. A scandal seemed likely, as the East Side alderman had nine challengers. He made history in 2021 when he ousted his former boss, first-term councilor Jada Andrews-Sullivan, becoming the first openly gay man to serve on the council.
District 3: Incumbent Phyllis Viagran could also keep her seat without running out. She received 52% of the early vote, followed by Erin Gallegos Reid with 22%. In 2021, she was one of a dozen people trying to fill the open seat once held by her sister. This year, Viagran had three challenges.
District 4: Adriana Rocha Garcia will easily keep her seat with 75% of the early votes. Rocha Garcia, the first woman to represent this Southwest Side district, faced a challenger in her bid for a third term.
District 5: Teri Castillo was also on track for another term with 63% of early votes. She was followed by Rudy López with 31%. Castillo was one of 11 candidates vying for the open District 5 seat in 2021, but faces only two other candidates. One of them is a familiar face, however, Lopez, who also ran in 2021 but lost in a runoff to Castillo.
District 6: Melissa Cabello Havrda is unlikely to need a runoff with 53% of early votes. His close competition is Irina Rudolph with 35%. Her two rivals, Chris Baecker and Rudolph, faced off against Cabello Havrda two years ago, but neither came close to unseating her.
District 7: The open seat vacated by Ana Sandoval earlier this year is headed for a runoff with Marina Alderete Gavito getting 42% of the early votes, followed by Dan Rossiter with 22%.
District 7 is one of two open seats, which typically attract a large number of contenders. Five people are seeking to represent the district, which is currently held by interim councilwoman and civil rights activist Rosie Castro. She was appointed after Sandoval resigned for a new, higher-paying job at University Health. Sandoval’s decision came after the November 2021 death of her father and the birth of her first daughter, who is now 8 months old. With his father’s death, Sandoval said, he is playing a bigger role in his mother’s life.
District 8: Incumbent Manny Pelaez will remain for another term with 71% of the early votes. Peláez is running for a fourth and final term representing this Northwest Side district. He faced lone challenger Cesario Garcia, who sought to unseat the alderman in 2021.
District 9: Incumbent John Courage is likely to retain his seat with 64% of the early vote. Courage has represented the traditionally conservative North Side district for three terms and is seeking a fourth, which would be the last the city charter would allow.
District 10: Marc Whyte is poised to take the open seat without a run-off with 61% of the early vote.
District 10 is the second of two open seats, so it’s not surprising that it’s a crowded race with seven candidates. Incumbent Clayton Perry, 67, decided not to run for a fourth and final term on the council following drunken driving and hit-and-run charges against him. Seven former District 10 councilors lined up in support of attorney Whyte, 42, who unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for Texas House District 121 in 2018.
