AUSTIN, Texas -- Runoff elections are underway for three Austin City Council seats; including District 1 in East and Northeast Austin, District 3 in Southeast Austin, and District 8 in Southwest Austin.

  • Candidates in District 1 race are Natasha Harper-Madison and Mariana Salazar
  • Susana Almanza faces her brother, Sabino "Pio" Renteria, in District 3 runoff
  • Paige Ellis, Frank Ward vying for District 8

District 1

The two candidates left in the District 1 race are East Austin native Natasha Harper-Madison and Mariana Salazar, who's originally from Venezuela.

Salazar says her focus will be on improving parks and adding infrastructure like sidewalks.

"We have been creating a true grassroots campaign that has been talking to thousands of people, and people are reacting to that," she said. "People are saying, 'Thank you for showing up in our community.'"

Harper-Madison says she wants to advocate for the community that helped shape her... by seeking more ways to allow longtime residents to keep their homes.

"Additionally, my experience as a small business owner and small business advocate puts me in a position to both advocate for residents and small business owners," she said.

District 3

There's a sibling rematch for Southeast Austin voters to decide. Susana Almanza is again facing her brother, Sabino "Pio" Renteria, in the District 3 City Council runoff.

Renteria won the seat four years ago. The two candidates are essentially polar opposites in their policy stances, especially when it comes to how to manage growth.

Renteria's been a major proponent the past four years for affordable housing and adding density to Austin's major corridors like East Riverside Drive.

He says transit needs more potential riders living close to transit lines, which includes a variety of income levels.

"That's the most important thing to have mixed income and mixed races," Renteria said. "We want to have a community that is so diverse that everyone is welcome."

Almanza has made a career out of fighting developers and harmful industrial sites that operated in East and Southeast Austin. She also helped craft several neighborhood plans, which she says should be used to rewrite the city's land development code.

"One of the things we need to return to is the smaller neighborhood planning process," she said. "We have already adopted numerous neighborhood plans, and who knows best of what the neighborhood needs than the neighborhood people."

District 8

The race for Southwest Austin's District 8 appears to be boiling down to political party. This year's runoff discussion surrounds environmental policy and how to manage growth.

District 8 is home to the controversial SH 45 Southwest project, which is building a toll road that almost connects MoPac to I-35. Environmental groups have fought it for decades due to it traversing the watershed that feeds Barton Springs.

Also being discussed are toll lanes for MoPac from Lady Bird Lake to about Slaughter Lane.

Paige Ellis is trying to recruit voters who favored progressive candidates in November to back her over the conservative candidate, Frank Ward.

"In the General Election, we had a number of different candidates who wanted to protect the environment," she said. "Now I am the last one standing that wants to protect things like Barton Springs."

Ward said he values the pool and the green spaces that make up much of District 8.

"I think it is critical that we protect it," he said. "I am also somebody who recognizes when you look out here, this city continues to boom and we need to accommodate that growth."

Early voting runs through Friday, December 7. Election Day is next Tuesday, December 11. Austin voters also have an at-large Austin ISD and Austin Community College race to decide.