Lakeway City Council approved the results of the Nov. 6 City Council election and held a swearing-in ceremony for the two winning candidates, Louis Mastrangelo and Laurie Higginbotham.

Of the five candidates who ran for two open at-large seats on the Lakeway City Council, Mastrangelo and Higginbotham were the top two vote-getters.

Candidate Wendi Severance ran an extremely close race, at one point trailing Higginbotham by three votes with a majority of votes tallied on Election Day but in the end fell short of Higginbotham by six votes.

Glenda Foreman Engert and Betty Haley, wife of outgoing Council Member Dwight Haley, also ran.

Mastrangelo and Higginbotham both ran on a platforms that emphasized citizen engagement and also focused on remedying Lakeway’s infrastructure and wildlife issues. Higginbotham is an attorney with more than six years of experience on city commissions and 19 years of experience as a trial and appellate lawyer. Mastrangelo, a managing partner at Hire Endeavors, has also been active for several years representing citizens at Lakeway City Council, commission and committee meetings.

Following the swearing in of Mastrangelo and Higginbotham, Mayor Sandy Cox delivered a farewell message to outgoing Council Member Haley.

"This city has been absolutely blessed to have Councilman Haley as part of our government for a very long time," Cox said. "Not only was he a council member, but he also served on our zoning and planning commission for four years. So he's been with the city almost 10 years serving and helping us grow and become who we are today."

The two open seats in the Lakeway election included one vacancy that resulted from Jean Hennagin’s June 28 resignation from the City Council. Dwight Haley’s seat comprised the other vacancy. Mastrangelo and Higginbotham will serve 18-month terms that expire in May 2020.

Final vote totals for 2018 Lakeway City Council election
Louis Mastrangelo: 2,437
Laurie Higginbotham: 2,232
Wendi Severance: 2,226
Glenda Foreman Engert: 1,918
Betty Haley: 1,870