Democrat Celia Israel defeated Republican Mike VanDeWalle in the House District 50 runoff election on Tuesday.
Israel, who amassed 59 percent of the vote, will succeed Rep. Mark Strama, D-Austin, who retired in June to head Google Fiber in Austin. Four candidates ran in a special election held on Nov. 5 to replace Strama. With no candidate achieving a majority, VanDeWalle and Israel advanced to the runoff with 39 and 32 percent of the vote, respectively.
Both candidates are UT graduates.
House District 50 covers parts of North Austin, Pflugerville and east Travis County.
