UPDATED 10:12 p.m. CST

The smiles at the Leslie Pool watch party at La Mancha Tex Mex Tavern signal a likely victory for the Austin City Council District 7 candidate, who leads a Dec. 16 runoff election against J.E. "Jeb" Boyt with 66.23% of the vote, or 5,267 votes. Boyt so far has received 33.77 of the votes, or 2,685 votes, with most results now counted.

"We'll wait till the night's over and see how the votes turn out, but I'm really excited about what this means for the city," Pool said after welcoming her likely colleague Councilwoman Kathie Tovo to the watch party. Tovo was reelected to City Council as the District 9 representative after Councilman Chris Riley withdrew from an anticipated runoff election.

Pool was quick to thank her supporters, many of which hail from the Central Austin neighborhoods that make up District 7. The extra time between the Nov. 4 general election and the Dec. 16 runoff allowed Pool to meet more district constituents.

"It gave me additional time to connect with the voters and to deepen the relationships and expand on some of them," she said. "In the general [election], there were so many people, it was just a matter of being so many places at once."

Should the results hold in her favor, Pool said she looks forward to doing what is necessary to preserve and sustain the qualities of those neighborhoods.

As councilwoman, she would continue to seek neighborhoods' best interests when rezoning a 78.19-acre property at Bull Creek Road and 45th Street—a piece of land that falls in District 10 just outside her district boundaries, but a property she has watched closely as a member of the Bull Creek Road Coalition, a seven-neighborhood working group. Pool would resign from that group, she said, and instead work with the District 10 council member to ensure the best use for that property, which is likely to be sold by the state of Texas to private developers.

POSTED 7:05 CST

Leslie Pool leads Jeb Boyt in a runoff race to determine which candidate will become the first District 7 representative under a new 11-member Austin City Council.

According to early voting totals, Pool has received 65.71 percent of all votes, or 3,137 votes, compared with Boyt's 34.29 percent of support, or 1,637 votes. Ballots cast on the day of the Dec. 16 runoff election have not yet been counted. All results are unofficial until canvassed.

What started as a crowded eight-person field dwindled to two candidates following the Nov. 4 election during which Pool received 32.14 percent support, or 6,275 votes, to lead all vote-getters. Boyt finished second with 16.9 percent of the votes, or 3,299 votes. He narrowly edged third-place finisher Melissa Zone who had 15.12 percent of all votes, followed by Ed English (13.84 percent), Jimmy Paver (10.79 percent), Pete A. Salazar Jr. (5.88 percent), Zack Ingraham (3.13 percent) and Darryl R. Wittle (2.2 percent). Because no candidate received more than 50 percent of all votes, a runoff election must be held between the top two vote-getters.

Pool, an executive assistant to Travis County Precinct 5 Constable Carlos B. Lopez, thanked her supporters following the Nov. 4 election.

"I think I was able to communicate the depth and breadth of my experience here and the love that I have for the city," Pool said following the race. "We will try to bring the same amount of energy and organization to the runoff as I did to this general election."

Neighborhoods in District 7 include Allandale, Balcones Woods, Brentwood, Crestview, Gracywoods, Lamplight Village, Milwood, North Shoal Creek, Preston Oaks, Scofield Farms, Scofield Ridge, Walnut Creek, Walnut Crossing and Wooten.

Candidates elected to the new regional council system will serve either two- or four-year terms—depending on a drawing after the election—to stagger future elections.

All results are unofficial until canvassed.