Jimmy Flannigan, candidate for Austin City Council's District 6, and his partner, Zach Rodriguez, celebrate with supporters Tuesday at Serranos restaurant on Pecan Park Boulevard.[/caption]

Updated 7:45 a.m. Nov. 9

Jimmy Flannigan will unseat incumbent Don Zimmerman in the race for Austin City Council District 6, according to final ballot counts from the Travis County Clerk's office.

Flannigan received 56 percent of the 27,530 votes cast to Zimmerman's 44 percent, the unofficial results show.

Zimmerman had a slight edge in votes cast on Election Day, but not enough to overcome Flannigan's 16 percentage-point lead in the ballots cast during early voting. Flannigan received 58 percent of 21,795 early votes.

Nearly eight out of every 10 District 6 voters cast ballots during the early voting period.

The District 6 race was a rematch from the 2014 election when Zimmerman defeated Flannigan in a runoff vote to win the position.

Flannigan maintaining lead in Austin City Council District 6 race
Posted 10:15 p.m.

Jimmy Flannigan is maintaining the sizable lead he gained through early voting as election night ballots are counted in his race with incumbent Don Zimmerman for Austin City Council District 6.

Flannigan has 57.26 percent of the vote to Zimmerman's 42.74 percent, according to unofficial results released at 10:01 p.m.

Flannigan has continued to celebrate his lead in the vote, while Zimmerman left his watch party and went home shortly after early voting results showed Flannigan leading.

"This is amazing. I have no doubt that we are making history tonight. We made history in my race: First Williamson County resident on Austin City Council, first gay man to serve on Austin City Council. I think we're going to have a first in the White House tonight as well," Flannigan said at a watch party hosted by the Williamson County Democrats."You all know Williamson County is my home. I have lived here for 16 years. I'm going to be your voice not only on Austin City Council but in the whole region, and I could not be more excited for the opportunity to represent District 6 and to work with Terry Cook to bring good, progressive solutions to Williamson County."

Election Day ballots counted so far show the candidates almost tied among voters who went to the polls today.

Don Zimmerman not declaring defeat in Austin City Council District 6 race
Posted 9:32 p.m.

Austin City Council District 6 incumbent Don Zimmerman left his field office to go home for the night but has not officially conceded the race.

Timothy Kelly, Zimmerman's campaign manager and treasurer, commented on Jimmy Flannigan's lead so far this race.

"It comes down to being a hard number to suppress," Kelly said.

Jimmy Flannigan says he is excited for Austin City Council District 6 to 'have actual leadership'
Posted 9:16 p.m.

Jimmy Flannigan, candidate for Austin City Council District 6 office, and his supporters are celebrating his early lead over incumbent Don Zimmerman. They expect the lead to hold through the night.

"Some of you have tonight have waited for years to see this happen, to see our district have actual leadership," Flannigan told supporters at Serranos Lakeline restaurant at Pecan Park Boulevard.

Early vote results: Flannigan leads Zimmerman in Austin's District 6
Posted 7:09 p.m.

Jimmy Flannigan leads incumbent Don Zimmerman for Austin City Council's District 6 seat, according to early voting results released by the Travis County Clerk's office.

Flannigan received 57.65 percent of 21,755 early votes cast in the race to Zimmerman's 42.35 percent.

Zimmerman, Flannigan are familiar foes in Austin's District 6
Posted 5:57 p.m.

Don Zimmerman and Jimmy Flannigan are on the ballot for Austin City Council's District 6 for the third time in the past two years.

The candidates faced each other twice in 2014, first during the general election, and then in a runoff with Zimmerman winning by fewer than 200 votes out of more than 7,800 cast.

Zimmerman and Flannigan are separated by a host of political and philosophical issues, although transportation has been a major component of the District 6 campaign—particularly with the city of Austin's Proposition 1 mobility measure on today's ballot.

During campaign forums, the candidates have also presented differing opinions on how Austin should handle annexation and ride-sharing issues.

District 6, which was carved out through Austin's "10-1" system that drew the city into new geographical districts, straddles Travis and Williamson counties and encompasses a large swath of territory in Northwest Austin.

Both candidates took to social media today to encourage supporters to get to the polls if they had not already done so.

https://twitter.com/DonZimmermanATX/status/796056090823757824

 

https://twitter.com/JimmyFlannigan/status/796018258159816704

 

Where Don Zimmerman, Jimmy Flannigan plan to watch Austin's District 6 election returns
Posted 12:01 p.m.

Austin City Council's District 6 candidates will watch results from locations near Lakeline Mall tonight.

Incumbent Don Zimmerman is holding a watch party at his field office at 10401 Anderson Mill Road, Ste. 101, Austin.

Less than 3 miles to the north, challenger Jimmy Flannigan will watch returns from the Serranos Lakeline restaurant at 11100 Pecan Park Blvd., Cedar Park.

Both events start at 7 p.m. when polls close and early voting results are released.

This year's District 6 race is a rematch of the candidates' 2014 runoff election, where Zimmerman was elected to represent the Northwest Austin district drawn through the city's 10-1 system. Six candidates ran for District 6 in 2014.

Both Zimmerman and Flannigan have highlighted relieving traffic congestion as a top campaign issue, although they each have different ideas on how the city should address the matter.

Read more in our Q&A's with Zimmerman and Flannigan.