Abilene City Council Election Results: Candidates share reactions

ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – On Saturday night, the unofficial election results indicated that incumbent Travis Craver won the city council seat for place six. However, candidates Kyle McAlister and Miguel Espinoza say they are gearing up for a runoff for place five.

The place six race between incumbent Travis Craver and challenger Tammy Fogle ended with 64% of votes in favor of Craver. He told KTAB/KRBC that this election season has been all about authenticity.

“It’s been a season where I would say just really pressing in and trying to do the very best that I can to serve our citizens, but also at the same time, just being true to who I am as a person, a person who wants to serve; no agenda, just a person who is an everyday citizen here in Abilene who’s willing to serve,” Craver said.

Fogle may not have claimed place six, but she said this does not mean she will stop trying to improve the Key City.

“I’m so grateful for this opportunity to be able to run for city council. I’ve met so many amazing people. While some people might consider this a bad thing or a disappointing end, I will say that I am on a journey to make our city better. I feel like this is just one stop along the way,” Fogle said.

In the city council place 5 race, incumbent Kyle McAlister went against challengers Cynthia Alvidrez and Miguel Espinoza. Alvidrez received 7% of the votes, with 49% going to McAlister and 42% to Espinoza. Without a 50% win from the unofficial numbers, McAlister and Espinoza may be heading into a runoff election.

Espinosa said this election process has been a positive one for him.

“The amount of support that I received from just community leaders, all my family and friends coming out, I’m just super, super positive. I know politics can be a little negative sometimes, but just this process for me, it’s been super positive, and I’ve had a great time doing it and having the conversations with people,” Espinoza said.

McAlister admired all the candidates on the ballot and said he is ready for a runoff election.

“There’s always a possibility when you have more than two candidates, a runoff is always a really strong possibility because it just makes that much harder to get to that 50% threshold, and I feel comfortable where we are now,” McAlister said. “Congratulations to Travis for his victory last night, but again, thanks to Tammy. Thanks to Cynthia for running. Cynthia, Tammy, and I may not always agree on things, but I do appreciate the fact that they got out there and ran. That’s not an easy thing to do.”

Alvidrez did not respond to a request for comment. Both place five candidates, Espinoza and McAlister, confirmed a runoff election on June 7th. The Taylor County Elections Office has yet to confirm.