The ballot counts released Thursday show Watson winning the five-way race outright by about a dozen votes. The outcome of the mayoral race has been unclear since the Nov. 5 election when unofficial final vote totals showed Watson had garnered 50.

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson declared victory on his social media pages on Thursday, November 14 after the last batch of unofficial ballot tallies were released.

Watson won the runoff in December 2022 and was sworn in as mayor of Austin for a second time on Jan. 6, 2023.

More than a week after Election Day, all Travis County ballots have been unofficially tallied and they're enough for KXAN to call the Austin mayoral race. Austin Mayor Kirk Watson has more than 50% of the vote and is projected to win outright.

Kirk Watson has officially won a new term as Austin's next mayor. Watson led his four challengers on Nov. 5, but did not have enough to claim victory outright. He had to win a majority of the vote, or 50% plus one vote, to secure a new term.

As challengers seek to claim the top seat on Austin's governing body, the incumbent's name recognition, money and wide appeal are posing obstacles.

Watson was forced into a runoff the last time he ran for mayor in 2022 even though he outraised his opponent Celia Israel by a 3 to 1. Watson garnered less of the vote on election night than Israel, but he then won by 886 votes in the runoff.

Mayor Kirk Watson is defending his seat against four opponents. He needs to earn 50% of the vote, plus one vote, to avoid a runoff election in December.

AUSTIN - Five candidates battled it out for the position of Austin mayor. The incumbent, Kirk Watson, has been re-elected to the seat. Watson was mayor of Austin from 1997 until 2001. He then spent 13 years working in the Texas Senate.