Steve Adler clinched his second term as mayor Tuesday night, defeating former city council member Laura Morrison and five other candidates with more than 60 percent of the vote.
Adler spoke about his plans for his second term at The Belmont Hotel in downtown Austin and said he wants the city to remain a leading voice on issues such as immigration, LGBTQ issues and climate change.
“This community spoke with such a single, clear voice tonight,” Adler said. “Tonight is the night when Austin moves forward … I want to thank the community for the incredible honor of being mayor of this city for another four years.”
Adler ran a campaign centered around improving Austin’s transportation and affordability issues.
During his victory speech, he spoke against bond propositions J and K, calling them “dark and secret money,” and said he was excited to move forward on developing plans for high-capacity transit, as well as beginning a $250 million spending plan for affordable housing.
“This community has said very clearly that they want us to do things not as we’ve done them in the past, but (to) act in big ways to address the big challenges we have,” Adler said. “We have been given a mandate and we need to deliver.”
In her concession speech, Morrison said she was disappointed by the result and would have loved to have broken the “rather pathetic” record of only one female mayor in the past 179 years.
“I think that needs to change and I think we all need to have a close look and wonder what exactly that says about (Austin),” Morrison said.
Morrison urged attendees to continue the work her campaign started.
“We need to get back at it because this city is too important and there are too many important things on the table for us to just walk away,” Morrison said.