The 2022 midterm election yielded a new face for the Kyle City Council with incumbent Robert Rizo losing his seat to challenger Miguel Zuniga.
"Thank you to everyone that supported me on this amazing election run, and to all my supporters, campaign manager and especially my beautiful wife and family. I want to recognize the work and service of Robert Rizo and wish him the best in his future endeavors," Zuniga told Community Impact. "When I began this campaign, I promised to be a candidate that would help grow our city together and improve the quality of our city in every direction. To achieve these outcomes there will be lots of work ahead for us and opportunities to learn and improve as we continue to grow. I want to build collaboration and focus on priorities to find solutions for our city. Again, I am honored to be elected for Kyle City Council District 3 and committed to serving our residents. Together we are going to make the future of Kyle awesome!"
Updated at 11:15 a.m. Nov. 9
With all precincts reporting, according to Hays County, Kyle City Council will see more than one new face on the dais with Miguel Zuniga ousting District 3 incumbent Robert Rizo.
Zuniga will bring his entrepreneur and real estate development experience to the council and aim to reduce citizens' tax burdens, according to a statement on his Facebook page.
Rizo has been on the council since May 2019 and also serves as mayor pro tem.
"First, let me start by thanking the citizens of Kyle for allowing me to represent them for the past three and a half years, I will forever be grateful for my time on City Council," Rizo said in a statement. "When I ran for council, I promised to set the bar high with hard work, visibility and servant leadership. I'm leaving office having fulfilled every promise."
The District 1 seat, left vacant by former Council Member Dex Ellison, will head to a runoff as none of the six candidates earned more than 50% of the vote.
Amanda Stark and Bear Heiser will be the two candidates in the runoff election as they earned 29.1% and 20.68% of the votes Nov. 8, respectively.
The runoff election will be held Dec. 13 with early voting from Dec. 1-9.
All results are unofficial until canvassed.
Updated at 11:30 p.m. Nov. 8
With 31 out of 40 precincts reporting, according to Hays County Elections, Proposition A continues to hold strong with 64.72% of the votes in favor of the $294 million investment into the city.
"Kyle voters have made it clear they want us to focus on road improvements throughout the city," Mayor Travis Mitchell told Community Impact. "With the passage of Prop A, we now have the resources to deliver meaningful projects, especially on the east side of our community.
The District 1 race will likely head to a runoff election as none of the six candidates surpassed 50% of the vote. The top two candidates thus far are Stark, with 28.71%, and Heiser, with 21.28%
Zuniga's lead remains steady with 52.68% of the vote over Rizo's 47.32%.
Community Impact will continue to provide updates as they become available.
Results are unofficial until canvassed. Visit communityimpact.com/voter-guide to see results from all local elections in your community.
Original story published at 8:40 p.m. Nov. 8
Early-voting results show Kyle voters are in favor of the $294 million Proposition A with 65.45% of the vote. This is the city's largest bond to date with the previous in 2013 at $36 million. If approved, the bond would change the tax rate by $0.0917 per $100 valuation.
Of the near 10,000 votes for the road bond, 3,271 were against the proposition.
In the City Council District 1 race, which was left vacant when Dex Ellison abruptly resigned in August, has six contenders:
- Marina Tupikov: 15.28%
- Neal Breen: 5.82%
- Marc McKinney: 19.18%
- Amanda Stark: 29.63%
- Nick Madsen: 10.1%
- Bear Heiser: 20%
If none of the candidates reach more than 50% of the votes, the race will go to a runoff with the top two candidates.
The District 3 race shows challenger Miguel A. Zuniga takes the lead at 52.37% of the votes over Robert Rizo.
Only early voting results are available at this time. Community Impact will continue to provide updates as they become available.
Results are unofficial until canvassed. Visit communityimpact.com/voter-guide to see results from all local elections in your community.