Minutes before the first early voting results were released, in a campaign office full of neighbors and supporters on West 24th Street, we asked Kathie Tovo how she was feeling. “Well, you know, super nervous,” she replied. “If there’s a runoff, I’d love to be in it. If I am, we’re going to work twice as hard as we did.”
With eight Democrats in the crowded House District 49 race to represent Central Austin, the chances of a runoff election were always high. With more candidates, it’s less likely that a single candidate will receive more than 50% of the votes; if no candidate does, a runoff is held between the top two finishers. That’s exactly how the HD 49 race played out Tuesday night.
In May, Austinites will return to the polls to decide between the former Austin City Council member and UT-Austin professor Tovo and Montserrat Garibay, former Education Austin and Texas AFL-CIO union leader who served in the U.S. Department of Education.
With 100% of the votes counted, Garibay prevails as the leader with 32.9% of the vote, though Tovo trails close behind with 28.2%.
Both candidates had spent the evening talking with voters at UT-Austin’s poll site, waiting until the last few voters had passed the 100-foot canvassing boundary from the polls to join their supporters at their watch parties. The students emphasized to both candidates that they valued opposition to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the suppression of free speech at their university.
“My interest in stopping the passage of really bad legislation resonates with people, because everybody is concerned about our state, about our schools,” Tovo said. “They’re concerned about the attack on personal rights, the elimination of abortion rights, and see that with each session, it just gets worse and worse.”
Under the patio lights at Pelóns Tex-Mex, Garibay’s party cheered loudly when early voting results were released. We sat down with Garibay after she thanked the crowd for their support. “I literally have butterflies in my stomach,” she laughed.
In particular, Garibay thanked her mother.
“She came with a dream. The fact that her child is now running for House District 49 and is in the runoff, that’s the power of education, but also the power of a mother who wants a better future,” Garibay told us, tears welling in her eyes. “I think she’s very proud. But I am more proud to be representing all those people who come from mixed-status families.”
“When I see ICE raids happening, when I see our community being destroyed, to use my two ears to listen to the issues that are taking place in our community – I feel it deep in my heart, because I was undocumented,” Garibay continued. “I bring that story so that we can build a beautiful Texas, a beautiful Austin, where we treat people with dignity and respect.”
Garibay is one of several labor union candidates seeing success right now across the state, a list that includes Taylor Rehmet, Pooja Sethi, and Tanya Lloyd. We pulled aside Texas AFL-CIO President Leonard Aguilar, who said the union will continue to recruit, train, and elect members for public office.
“This race is proof that the working people’s message is resonating,” Aguilar said. “Montserrat is true to who she is. It’s always about the students, it’s always about the community, it’s always about the workers. And we need more of that nowadays: taking care of each other.”
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This article appears in March 6 • 2026.