In their own words: what Austin's six runoff candidates said after Election Night

Six candidates have about five weeks to win over voters in Austin's Dec. 12 council runoffs. In interviews and statements after Tuesday's first round, they started laying out how they plan to do it. Here is what each said on the record, with what our records add. Results are from the latest unofficial counts; our updated-counts story has the numbers and time stamps.

District 1: Amber Goodwin and Misael Ramos

The open East Austin seat is the closest race. The two finished 73 votes apart, each with just over 34%, according to Community Impact, last updated at 12:17 p.m. Nov. 4.

Ramos told Community Impact he will keep pushing what he called a "people-powered movement." He said his campaign was competitive without "real estate or developer money or special interest money." The Austin Chronicle reported that his campaign put the margin at 73 votes.

Goodwin had not responded to Community Impact's request for comment as of early Nov. 4. We did not find a post-election statement from her in the coverage we reviewed.

What our records add. Ramos's claim is about his own fundraising, and we have not verified the employers of his donors. His last pre-election report, the "8th day before election" filing, showed $20,497 raised in the period and $13,993 left, with a $10,000 outstanding loan. Goodwin's showed $23,951 raised and $27,266 left. Several committees also listed District 1 candidates on their own filings, as we reported Oct. 28: the Austin Board of Realtors PAC and Equity Action listed support for Goodwin, and Austin United PAC listed support for Ramos. Our runoff money story has the rest.

District 3: José Velásquez and Neha Shah

Council Member Velásquez had 47.3% to Shah's 24.7%, according to KUT, updated at 11:27 a.m. Nov. 4.

Velásquez told the Chronicle, "We're not taking our foot off the gas," adding that his campaign has "more doors to knock."

Shah wrote on social media that the runoff "is an invitation to us to do the job of representing every voter in District 3, and we are ready," the Chronicle reported. Before the election she told KUT the council's May vote on the Dog's Head development led her to run, as we noted in our District 3 runoff story.

What our records add. Dog's Head is back on the council agenda today. Item 2 would send the city's share of the project's tax increment zone revenue to housing and parks; our earlier story explains it. Velásquez voted for the project's development agreement in May and against the tax zone ordinance in July.

District 5: Ryan Alter and David Weinberg

Council Member Alter had 47.77% to Weinberg's 26.18%, according to KUT, updated at 12:03 p.m. Nov. 4.

Alter told Community Impact he had "almost twice my nearest competitor" and "carried every single precinct," and that he expects similar results in a runoff. He told the Chronicle he is confident voters will "keep making the progress we need." To KUT, he said he will keep talking "about the vision I have for the future."

Weinberg told KUT that "the incumbent still came in under 50% of the vote, which I think speaks a lot about what voters are looking for." In a statement quoted by Community Impact, he called Alter "scandal-plagued" and said voters want leaders "accountable to their voters not their donors."

What our records add. We could not check Alter's precinct claim, because the county's results site did not load for us Thursday morning. Weinberg's "scandal" line refers to questions about spending by Alter's council office. Alter told KUT before the election that his office followed city policy and voluntarily repaid the disputed amounts, as our pre-election guide reported. Alter was the lead sponsor of the May resolution that started the $295 million parks and library bonds voters approved Tuesday. Weinberg also supported the bonds, KUT reported.

Why the 50% line matters

The council's election ordinance requires a majority of the district vote to win. Both incumbents finished above 47%, but below that line, so the result now depends on who votes in December.

What's next

• By Nov. 17: The council canvasses the results. How that works.
• Dec. 4: Runoff campaign finance reports are due.
• Nov. 30 to Dec. 8: Early voting. Dec. 12: Runoff. How to vote.