A Woodway City Council incumbent who received less than 50% of the vote on May 7 in his bid for reelection will face his rival in a runoff Tuesday.
First-term Council Member Amine Qourzal and Baylor University law professor David G. Henry, Sr. are vying for the seat.
The polling place at Woodway City Hall, 922 Estates Drive, will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday.
By the close of early voting Friday, the runoff had drawn 594 early and absentee ballots, compared with 680 early and absentee ballots in the May 7 race, though the May 7 total includes absentee ballots received through Election Day and ballots cast by 49 Woodway voters who did not make a pick in the Woodway City Council race.
That three-way race May 7 drew 1,068 votes, with Qourzal drawing 526 votes or 49.25% of the total. Henry captured 431 votes or 40.36%, and Nancy Goebel won 111 votes, or 10.39%. Goebel had suspended her campaign and endorsed Henry but had not had her name removed from the ballot.
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Under Texas law, cities such as Woodway with three-year council terms must hold runoffs if no candidate wins a majority.
All eligible voters in Woodway can weigh in on the runoff.
In the general election, Woodway’s voter turnout rate was 15.3%, with 1,153 of the city’s 7,517 eligible voter casting a ballot. It was still more than double the countywide turnout rate of 7.6%, with 11,099 of the county’s 150,952 eligible voters casting a ballot. Various local entities had city council seats, school board seats and a city tax referendum up for grabs, and statewide constitutional amendments related to property tax exemptions also were on the ballot.
Since the May 7 race, the Woodway City Council has appointed Qourzal as mayor. The council would pick a new mayor from among its ranks if Henry wins the runoff.
Qourzal works as an assistant director at Baylor University’s Career Center.
