Local · Trusted · Free
The Morning Impact — your neighborhood's most important stories, delivered every morning.
Updated 11:04 p.m.
With 20 of 20 voting centers reporting, Joe Panzarella and Nick Hellyar are headed to a runoff after neither candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the District C special election.
Panzarella led the race with 33.34% of votes, or 3,131 votes. However, Hellyar received 22.54% of the vote, or 2,117 votes, according to the Harris County Clerk's Office.
As of April 4, a date for the runoff has not yet been announced.
All results are unofficial until canvassed.
Early voting results show that Joe Panzarella is leading in the special election for the Houston City Council, District C position.
The Fourth Ward Superneighborhood president has garnered 2,042 votes, or 31.69% of votes, according to the Harris County Clerk’s Office. Currently, 0 of the 20 voting centers in the election have reported full results.
Opponent Nick Hellyar trails behind Panzarella, with 1,567 votes, or 24.32% of the votes. Fellow candidate Audrey Nath also has more than 1,000 votes, but trails further behind the top two vote-getters with only 1,202 votes, or 18.66% of the vote.
All results are unofficial until canvassed.
What you need to know
The District C seat on City Council became up for grabs in early 2026 after former council member Abbie Kamin announced her intentions to run for Harris County attorney.
The district is a densely populated urban area that represents over 215,000 residents and covers the Heights, Washington Avenue, Montrose, Rice Village and Meyerland neighborhoods.
During the early voting period, approximately 6,408 residents cast their ballots in person and via mail. However, Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth said that portion represents only 3.8% of voters, since there are 168,539 registered voters in District C.
Meet the candidates
The seven candidates running in the race received six questions from Community Impact in March about their top priorities and views on budget planning, transportation plans and city services.
To read more about each candidate and see their responses, visit Community Impact's Q&A.
Something to note
The winner of the race will serve on City Council until January 2028.
