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It’s Election Night, and we have reporters out and about in Central Texas as candidates prepare for voting results to start rolling in. More about the statewide and national races that we’re watching tonight.
Austinites are considering a number of propositions, in addition to who will represent their voice on City Council.
Young people are among the least likely group of folks to vote in an election, so we wanted to know the reasons that are driving young voters to cast their ballots. What they told us.
The full transcript of this episode of Austin Signal is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps.
Jerry Quijano [00:00:08] It is election night here in Texas, and polls in central Texas are closing within the hour. We have reporters out and about in the community as candidates prepare for voting results to start rolling in soon. More about the statewide and national races that we’re keeping an eye on tonight. Plus Austinites are considering a number of propositions in addition to who is going to represent their voice on Austin City Council. All of that and a whole lot more coming up on tonight’s special show.
KUT Announcer: Laurie Gallardo [00:00:35] This is the Austin Signal, a KUT News production.
Jerry Quijano [00:00:40] Young people are among the least likely group of folks to vote in an election, so we wanted to know the reasons that are driving those young voters to cast their ballots this time around. What they told us, that is coming up next on this special election night edition of Austin Signal. Howdy out there, you are tuned in to live special coverage from Austin Signal. I’m your host, Jerry Keconnell. It is election night 2026. Thank you for spending part of the evening here with us. We’ve got lots of special coverage coming your way tonight on KUT News 90.5 on the KUT app and online at KUT.org. Polls here in central Texas are closing in just about 25 minutes. If you’re in line by 7 o’clock, stay there. You should be allowed to cast your ballot. Now turnout is already high in Travis Hayes and Williamson counties, as we hear from KUT’s Gabriel Velazquez-Neda.
Gabriel Velasquez Neira [00:01:47] For midterm election, it’s very high. Even as a percentage of the amount of registered voters, it’s 47%, so nearly half of all registered voters in Travis County have already voted.
Jerry Quijano [00:01:58] And joining us now with more about what to expect over the next couple of hours is one of my co-hosts, Ben Philpott. Ben, how are you doing?
Ben Philpott [00:02:04] Hey, good evening, Jerry.
Jerry Quijano [00:02:06] How many election nights have you spent here in the KUT newsroom, Ben?
Ben Philpott [00:02:09] Well, every one, since 2002…
Jerry Quijano [00:02:12] So we got a handy, very reliable person to speak with. I mentioned that polls are gonna be closing in just about 25 minutes. How are wait times looking right now in Travis County?
Ben Philpott [00:02:21] You know, it’s really interesting if you look kind of like Austin as I-35 is the spine of Austin. There are a handful of red polling places. Now that means you’re probably in line for about an hour before you actually get to a ballot box. But you just get away from I- 35. Hundreds of green ones. I don’t know about hundreds, dozens and dozens of green ones. And you know, if you if you’re trying to get somewhere and you see a long line, just pull up that vote travis, vote traves.gov website and you will be able to find a place close by that is, you know a 15 minute wait.
Jerry Quijano [00:02:53] Yeah, it’s very funny looking at the map sometimes. There will be one location right across the street from the other and one is red and the other is green. So lots of locations to choose from. We just heard from Gabrielle there talking about voter turnout in Travis. When we look at central Texas, how are the other counties looking when it comes to voter turnout?
Ben Philpott [00:03:09] You know, I checked in with our county reporters and Hayes County and Williamson County are both looking at about 50% of registered voters have turned out in early voting, which is a really high number, um, especially when you consider that in a, in a midterm election overall, we’re only looking at, about statewide 55 to 60% of register voters are going to come out and vote in this election. So if you’ve got a county where 50% have already come out, That means that, you know, we’re really talking about the giant chunk of votes have already been cast.
Jerry Quijano [00:03:42] You mentioned the wait times being longer than an hour. If you were to get in line at one of those locations right now, you wouldn’t really be voting until 735, 745 around then. How soon do you expect that we’re gonna start seeing election results, at least here in central Texas?
Ben Philpott [00:03:56] Yeah, it could be 8 or 8.30. I mean, again, it just depends. I checked in with Katie McAfee before we came on. And yeah, the word from the Travis County elections office is that no early voting results are released until all the polling locations are closed. So if the polling location is closed at 8, then maybe by 8. 30 we would have something.
Jerry Quijano [00:04:15] You mentioned that deluge of early voting votes that are gonna be coming in very early. We know lots of people have turned out to cast their ballot early. With such a big electorate, or a percentage of the electorate already turning out, how is that gonna affect the preliminary numbers that we do see tonight? You know, it’ll be-
Ben Philpott [00:04:31] I think, you know, if you have someone in one of these state-wide races that comes out with a five to eight percentage point lead, you know, right off the bat because of early voting, then that could be something especially, that could be something where it’s really hard to make that up if we’re only talking about maybe 15 or 20 percent of registered voters casting a ballot on election day.
Jerry Quijano [00:04:53] We’ve heard a lot over the past couple of weeks and months about the race for U.S. Senate and Texas governor. They have garnered lots and lots of headlines. What are some of the other statewide races that you’re keeping an eye on tonight, Ben?
Ben Philpott [00:05:03] I mean, I think the railroad commission race will be interesting. You know, if Democrats are having a kind of blue wave in Texas, then you’re going to see that with Talarico, maybe with Gina Ynajosa in the governor’s race. But how far down ballot does it go? But then also the railroad Commission race has its own special atmosphere around it with the racist remarks that the Republican candidates said after the UT Ohio State football game. So it’ll be interesting to see what happens there. Also, though, I will say, Jerry, probably the most important poll of the night is that Texas is number seven in the new playoff rankings that just came out like five minutes ago. So as of right now, Texas is in the college football playoff.
Jerry Quijano [00:05:40] You know, we always talk about news dump around these spots. So what a great what a great news dump to find that out as we’re learning about all these other polls. So again, polls close at seven o’clock tonight, and we’re going to be bringing you lots more special coverage right here on Austin Signal.
Ben Philpott [00:06:05] Again, polls close tonight at seven. If you’re in line, stay in line. You can vote. And in Texas and across the country, young people are among the least likely to vote. Still, many first-time voters have come out already this election. KUT’s Lee Walden spoke to some of them on the UT Austin campus about what’s bringing them to the polls.
Leigh Walden [00:06:23] First-time voters are just like anyone else. There’s lots of reasons they’re coming out to the polls this year.
Javier Perez Salazar [00:06:29] Big issues were our foreign policy, for sure, and just how maybe getting more social services here at home.
Leigh Walden [00:06:38] Javier Perez Salazar is from San Antonio. He came ready with a list.
Javier Perez Salazar [00:06:42] Medicare for all would be really nice, universal health care plan, lowering the price of gas or groceries would be nice as well.
Leigh Walden [00:06:52] He’s happy to have gotten to vote this year, but he worries that his vote won’t matter for much, that the people he wants won’t make it into office. But he says he finds motivation in other places, too.
Javier Perez Salazar [00:07:03] Voting can only take us so far, I think if you want extra change, especially change in your community, you have to be a part of your community.
Leigh Walden [00:07:08] There’s other first-timers who voted, for the most part, because of a specific candidate. Like Isha Batnagar.
Isha Batnagar [00:07:14] Ken Paxton needs to be out of office, so.
Leigh Walden [00:07:17] Batnagar is from Frisco. She says voting in Austin has been a transition. Her hometown has been in Republican stronghold her whole life. Growing up there is also part of her motivation to vote.
Isha Batnagar [00:07:30] Doing what I can to make sure we can see a change in whatever’s going on right now.
Leigh Walden [00:07:35] What young people want echoes what a lot of Americans are asking for right now.
Matthew Burkhardt [00:07:39] I think one of my biggest factors is probably looking at the prices going around. I just think it’s always important to vote, go out, show your support for the candidates that you really like.
Leigh Walden [00:07:47] That’s Matthew Burkhart. He drove an hour home just to vote because he isn’t registered to vote in Austin. He says affordability is his biggest priority.
Matthew Burkhardt [00:07:57] Especially as a college student, buying groceries every week gets more and more expensive.
Leigh Walden [00:08:00] Immigration came up a lot too.
Brandon Juarez [00:08:03] Security because I know that we haven’t been the best especially here in Texas with border security so I want to see a change in that.
Leigh Walden [00:08:09] Brandon Juarez was surprised how easy it was to vote, but he says he would have voted even if it was hard.
Brandon Juarez [00:08:15] It’s really important for us to vote, especially because of all the things I’ve seen online in news, media, and outlets. I know it’s going to be a really close election, so I know that every vote counts.
Leigh Walden [00:08:24] This feeling came up a lot for first-time voters, like Jasmine Woolley.
Jasmine Wooley [00:08:28] It’s really important for us young people to vote, but also us people who are trying to get an education to go out and actually do our civil duty.
Leigh Walden [00:08:38] Woolley is worried about abortion access and the state of immigration enforcement in Texas. Plus, she says, sometimes voting can have other.
Jasmine Wooley [00:08:45] Unexpected perks. I did get today though a free doughnut for voting so I guess that works out. Polls are open today from
Leigh Walden [00:08:54] 7 a.m. To 7 p.m.. I’m Lee Walden in Austin.
Jerry Quijano [00:08:58] All right, just about 17 minutes left until polls are closed here in central Texas. If you’re in line by seven o’clock, stay in line. You should be allowed to cast your ballot.
Ben Philpott [00:09:07] Going to check in with KUT City Hall reporter Luz Moreno Lozano, who’s out at a polling location on the UT Austin campus, and we’ll talk about the propositions on the ballot here in Austin.
Jerry Quijano [00:09:18] Plenty more from our live special election night edition of Austin Signal coming your way. That is right after this quick break.
Ben Philpott [00:09:30] This is the Austin Signal, welcome back. The polls close at seven o’clock tonight, but if you’re planning on staying up until all the votes are tallied, maybe think twice. Final election results likely won’t come in until past midnight or even later. KUT’s Katie McAfee explains why.
Katy McAfee [00:09:47] Travis County officials released the results from early voting after the last ballot is cast on Election Day. But that might take some time, because as long as you’re in line by 7, you can vote. Travis County Clerk Diana Lamone Mercado says the last vote cast during the March primaries was at 9 p.m.
Dyana Limon-Mercado [00:10:04] It can just depend on how much enthusiasm crossed with procrastination.
Katy McAfee [00:10:13] Connects together.” Then they tackle the election day results. At the end of the night, a Democrat and a Republican representative at all 201 polling sites have to bring the results back to the Travis County Clerk’s Office. That alone takes a lot of time. It’s 402 people getting into the building. Then, county officials upload the results from each polling site onto just three computers. They’ve been rigorously tested and they aren’t connected to Internet. Lima Mercado says those computers get the job done, but…
Dyana Limon-Mercado [00:10:42] It’s not the latest version of the iPhone. This is like your 1999 Honda Civic. Very reliable, gonna get you from A to B, not the fastest, not the prettiest.
Katy McAfee [00:10:54] Then the county needs to triple check their math. The number of ballots processed at each polling site should match the number of people that voted that day. And math can be hard when you’ve been working for 16 hours straight. So if you need to vote today, thank an election worker on your way out. They’re having a long day. I’m Katie McAfee in Austin.
Ben Philpott [00:11:24] We’re just about 15 minutes out from the polls officially closing at seven, and we’ll keep you updated throughout the night as results come in. In the meantime, let’s check in with KUT City Hall reporter, Luz Moreno Lozano. She’s at the UT Student Union. Hey, Luz.
Luz Moreno-Lozano [00:11:38] Hey, how’s it going?
Ben Philpott [00:11:40] Well, just fine. How are you doing? Did you have your pizza before you headed out tonight? Okay.
Luz Moreno-Lozano [00:11:46] I did. I’m sitting at the student union, yes.
Ben Philpott [00:11:48] All right. Well, pizza is what fuels all political reporters on election night. Everyone should know that. So tell us, you know, what are you seeing out there right now? Are folks still in line?
Luz Moreno-Lozano [00:11:57] Yes, yeah, actually, I just finished talking with some electioneering folks here at the Union. So yeah, so there’s probably like about an hour wait at this point, and there’s a steady flow of people heading into the polls. And there are a lot of electioneers people just campaigning for themselves standing right at the entrance. So people getting in line are feeling the love, if you will, from people wanting to get their votes and getting information. I’m sorry, I’m getting information out on what you need to vote and how long the line is, and also directing people, because there’s a couple of new locations around that I was just learning about. And so people, if they don’t wanna wait the 45 minutes in here, there’s several other options that are available within like a half mile of here.
Ben Philpott [00:12:39] Excellent. Yes. And you know, so what have you been here? Have you been able to talk to some of the people in line? You know, what are you kind of hearing from them about why they’re there? Whatever
Luz Moreno-Lozano [00:12:46] Yeah, I haven’t been able to talk to people in line because I’m behind the media line. But I have been hearing- The box of shame. Yes, that’s right. But I haven’s seen people walk out of the union with very, very good enthusiasm and people are being high-fived. Other hand, you know, like water and pizza to people waiting in line. So I think there is a good vibe here happening as we speak.
Jerry Quijano [00:13:09] Okay, Luce, you are our City Hall reporter, so can you just lay out what you, how many races are involving Austin City Council tonight?
Luz Moreno-Lozano [00:13:17] Yes, there’s five city council seats up. We have, I believe, three incumbents running for their seat again for a second term. And then we’ll have at least two new council members from District 1, whose Natasha Appramadison is terming out and then Paige Ellis in District 8 is also and so we’ll have at least two new faces on the council.
Jerry Quijano [00:13:41] And you were telling me a little bit earlier that lots, or there are a couple of races that have lots of faces, lots of names in them. Are we expecting that some of these races could possibly go to a runoff?
Luz Moreno-Lozano [00:13:51] I do think so. I do. Think specifically in District one, there are six candidates in that in that race. So I do could I could definitely see that when pushing to a runoff. District nine, I believe, has five candidates. So that could also be a race where we see Where we see a run off as well. Now remember the candidates have to have 50% plus one vote to secure the seat. So we’ll see how it plays out. I know there’s a couple of races with like three or four. So like District five has four and I think District three also has four so It could be runoffs for several of them, but we’ll just see how that goes.
Jerry Quijano [00:14:24] And if there are runoffs in these races, when would that runoff happen?
Luz Moreno-Lozano [00:14:28] That is scheduled for December 12th, I believe, so that will come in the next couple of weeks.
Jerry Quijano [00:14:35] What are some other things that you’re watching when it comes to Austin races and Austin issues, Luce?
Luz Moreno-Lozano [00:14:40] Yeah, you know, we had an incident here at the Union earlier today, but that seemed to be resolved. People seem to be able to get in line. There was someone like pulling fire alarms, I believe, that we talked about earlier today. But everyone seems to be in line, I’m actually, as I’m talking to you, I see the line getting shorter, so it is moving. But we still have a couple of minutes before the polls close, so I could see this line growing for sure.
Jerry Quijano [00:15:05] All right, that is KUT City Hall reporter, Luz Moreno Lozano out at the Texas Union. Polls are closing in just about 10 minutes. We’ve got more election information just in case you need it at kut.org and on the KUT app. Luz, thank you very much.
Luz Moreno-Lozano [00:15:20] Thank you.
Jerry Quijano [00:15:28] All right, we will continue to keep you updated all night long here on Austin signal Texas Standard is coming up after us in just about 10 minutes and we will have live election coverage at kut.org and the kut app as Well, in addition to the City Council races that loose was talking about there a handful of local propositions Will be on the ballot for Austinites, which would amend the city’s charter as well as two bond packages Here to tell us more about those measures is Sam Stark. He covers local government for Austin Current. They are our reporting partners covering the city of Austin. Sam, happy election night.
Sam Stark [00:16:01] Hey Jerry, good to be here on election night.
Jerry Quijano [00:16:03] Yes, yes, did you have your pizza? Did you get your fix as well?
Sam Stark [00:16:05] I did have my pizza. Hopefully, you guys can’t smell it from across the table. I couldn’t find any mints. That would be good for next election. Next election, we’ll start to build a pungent pie.
Jerry Quijano [00:16:17] Okay, well Sam, the big ballot proposition that we’ve been seeing and hearing a lot about is Proposition I. Can you remind us about that? Who are the major players involved with this proposition?
Sam Stark [00:16:27] Yeah, so Proposition I is probably one of the most controversial one. It is a city charter amendment, as you described, and it has two passionate sides, each convinced its vision is the right direction for the city. The proposition is asking you if it’s okay to make a change to the Austin city charter, which is essentially like the city’s own constitution to allow an independent auditor to conduct an efficiency audit of all city processes every five years. And it’s the results of a petition drive, led by Save Austin Now, a political action committee, that was able to collect more than 20,000 valid Austin signatures, and it would require the company hired to conduct the audit to identify enough savings to cover the cost of its services. And that is the part that is the most controversial aspect of it, because some city officials believe that it could lead to. The auditor having to cut certain city services that wouldn’t be in the best interest of the city. So, you know, it might not seem super controversial, but it’s already what’s happening at City Hall. That is another reason why city leaders aren’t on board with it. Already this year, the Austin City Council approved its own independent audit process, which would require a review of city operations every three years. And in fact, the city has already hired a company to conduct that review. Which again is one of the reasons why city leaders don’t think that this proposition is right for the city
Jerry Quijano [00:17:54] Two other things that Austinites are voting on are those bond proposals that I mentioned, which I feel like are bond proposals is something you’re a little bit more used to when it comes to an election night. What is in Prop A and Prop B this time around?
Sam Stark [00:18:06] Yeah, so the two propositions are asking voters if it’s okay for the city to use $260 million to support park buildings and facilities, infrastructure, public pools, and new parks and trails, and then $35 million in Proposition B to fund two library projects. This proposition has been controversial because city staff came out earlier this year saying that the city has yet to spend 90% of funding released in other bond proposals. But other city leaders felt that the need for more funding for parks and libraries was too strong to not call this election.
Ben Philpott [00:18:45] Do you have a sense of where voters are in Austin after defeating a tax increase in the last election but then this year we’ve got a couple more bonds on the ballot, how has that played together there?
Sam Stark [00:19:00] Yeah, well, it also ties back to Proposition I, because city leaders and voters have kind of lost faith in the city’s ability to handle public tax money. So that’s why the Save Austin Now initiated the petition to put this assessment on the ballot. And it’s also why some city leaders were saying that it wasn’t the right time to put another bond election on the ballad and raise property taxes.
Ben Philpott [00:19:28] So there was already some concern among city council people about whether or not they should even ask for more bond money.
Sam Stark [00:19:33] Yeah, so city staff recommended delaying any bond election until 2028, and six city council members ultimately pushed this bond package to voters, but Mayor Watson and two other council members decided to vote with city staff and not put it on the election. But, you know.
Jerry Quijano [00:19:52] There is enough support. Well one last question for you Sam one of the propositions That’s flown a bit more under the radar could have some major Implications on when people vote on certain things here in Austin that’s proposition G. Can you tell us what that would do?
Sam Stark [00:20:04] Yeah, so Proposition G, if it passes, it would amend elections to be held on the next available election date in even number years, sorry, petition driven amendments. So today, certified resident proposed petition measures are placed on the next available election date and not tied to higher turnout options. You might think to yourself, why random as even year, but those are the years that hold midterm elections and presidential elections times that get higher voter turnout. As you can see with this election with many voters going to the ballot to vote for these top-billed seats.
Jerry Quijano [00:20:39] All right, that is Sam Stark. He covers local government for Austin Current, our reporting partners covering the city of Austin. Sam, thanks for being here with us tonight. Thanks so much.
Ben Philpott [00:20:54] And we’ve got about, oh, what is that? Six minutes left until polls close. So you’ve got six minutes to get in line if you have not yet voted. And as things wind down, one of the most anticipated races comes to a close. We’re talking, of course, about that Texas U.S. Senate race, the most expensive U. S. Senate Race in history. Austin Rep. James Talerico and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, both vying for former Senator John Cornyn’s seat. You know, Jerry, one thing I think that people have kind of forgotten about the election is overall here in Texas, is that if we really do have these close statewide races or, you know, if a Democrat wins one or two of these statewide races, that could really dramatically affect the makeup of the Texas legislature.
Jerry Quijano [00:21:36] Yeah, and I know that the GOP currently holds big advantages in both the Texas House and the Texas Senate, so exactly what kind of change are you talking about?
Ben Philpott [00:21:44] Yeah, you know, I mean, state House races specifically, even state Senate races, they don’t get a lot of polling. It’s you know internal polls by campaigns that will sometimes leak things if they feel like maybe the polls are beneficial to them. So you know we could see, I means, let’s say maybe, maybe Talarico wins, maybe one other statewide race comes in for Democrats. You could see maybe a 10-seat shift in the Texas house. And something like that could really make it a much more moderate body than what it has become over the last few years.
Jerry Quijano [00:22:16] Okay, well, let’s say that Democrats don’t end up winning enough seats to take control of one of those legislative chambers. How could a more evenly divided legislature affect how things shake out at the Capitol?
Ben Philpott [00:22:26] Yeah, you know, more evenly divided, especially even in just one chamber, more evenly divided state house has happened a couple of times in the last decade or so. And when it does happen, you see the culture war stuff disappear. You see the red meat issues disappear. You see, the legislature work on things like school funding and roads and water. And the things that, you know, everyday Texans deal with every day. And so, you, know, even if it’s still Republican control, just having a closer split between Republicans and Democrats will moderate the issues that they work on.
Jerry Quijano [00:23:05] All right, well, we have about three minutes until polls close here in central Texas. So if you are in line, stay in line. We’ve got all the election information you could ever want at kut.org and on the KUT app. We here at Austin Signor are gonna be taking a little bit of a break while Texas Standard takes it away for some live special election night coverage. We’re gonna be back later tonight when results start trickling in, whenever they start tricking in.
Ben Philpott [00:23:31] Jerry, do you have a favorite race that you’re going to be watching tonight?
Jerry Quijano [00:23:34] Oh, no, I don’t, Ben. All the races are my favorites, and I’m just glad that we’re actually close to the polls closing because all day long, I’ve just been waiting and waiting and now, hopefully, we’re gonna start to see some results coming in. So, do you have a favorite race, Ben? You know, I…
Ben Philpott [00:23:50] I think I’m the most interested in what’s going to happen in that railroad commission race just because it has kind of pushed itself into, I don’t know, it’s just got that different atmosphere, like I said, from Tallarico, which is just Republicans and Democrats beating each other up. There is this different sense of, well, what do we do with a Republican candidate who is saying things that even Republicans find abhorrent? So I think that’s going be interesting. And then of course, ballot splitters are going to be interesting, how many people going out there and voting. Maybe for a Democrat in one race and a Republican in another statewide race. And I think we’ll see things like that as the early voting totals come in. If there’s a five to seven percent difference in some of those statewide races, those are your ballot splitters.
Jerry Quijano [00:24:32] All right, we’re coming up on Texas Standard Time. Before we get out of here, we wanted to shout out Rene Chavez for our special election night Austin Signal theme that you’ve been hearing throughout the show. And we wanna thank Katie McAfee, Lee Walden, Luz Moreno Lozano, and Sam Stark. Ben, thank you for being here with us. Thank you, Jerry. And thank you to the Austin Signal team. That’s Reyna Sevilla, Alexandra Hart, Caroline Feil, Kristen Cabrera, Jimmy Moss, and I’m your host, Jerry Quijano. We’ll talk to you later tonight.
This transcript was transcribed by AI, and lightly edited by a human. Accuracy may vary. This text may be revised in the future.
