AUSTIN, Texas — Austin's District 6 council seat will be filled by a new leader in 2025.
Krista Laine unseated incumbent Mackenzie Kelly in Tuesday's election after she garnered more than 51% of the vote. Kelly had served on the council since 2021.
Although Austin's city council is nonpartisan, Kelly was the only conservative in a widely liberal body who would regularly be the lone "no" vote on proposals and resolutions.
Kelly wasn't available for an interview on Wednesday, but posted the following statement to X and conceded to the race:
"Really proud of the work we accomplished, but we came up short this time. Thank you to everyone who supported us. I'll continue to fight for our community—because we're all fighters. Just because we're down today doesn't mean we're ever out. Onward to the future!"
Kelly's campaign focused on addressing more efforts toward policing and public safety, while Laine leaned on her experience in public schools and community engagement.
Laine is the founder of Access Education RRISD, which advocates for Round Rock ISD students, parents and staff. In her first interview since the results of the election, Laine spoke to KVUE about her vision when she takes her seat upon the dais.
District 6 issues
Laine said during the campaign trail she spoke with community members who highlighted issues with the 911 response times, reliable utility service and homelessness within the district.
"I'm suggesting to the community that we need to deliver solutions that work across these jurisdictional boundaries or we're not going to get the improvement in 911 response time that we want," said Laine.
Laine added in response to reliable utility, she would like to see an investment in those services as well as infrastructure that would also support the climate.
I think there's lots of room to find efficiencies that will save money, and it's critical that we do it," said Laine.
Austin will have voters decide on a climate bond by 2026.
Addressing homelessness
Laine said the key is collaboration with organizations and what council should be focused on is searching for avenues that prove more effective rather than throwing more money at the problem.
"That means working across all levels of government - Travis County, Williamson County, [the] city of Austin - and then also working with nonprofits," said Laine. "We've had a large growth in the rate of homelessness, but we haven't had resources come out to this district from the city of Austin."
In August, the city adopted a $5.9 billion budget, which included additional funding to tackle homelessness.
Housing and affordability
Austin leaders signed off on the HOME initiative, which was met with controversy. The initiative is an effort to bring down prices by letting property owners build more on smaller pieces of land.
Laine acknowledged the exploding costs of housing in Austin and District 6, and shared her thoughts on how it should be addressed:
"I think one of the most important things that we can do around housing is streamline our regulations and then streamline the processes and efficiency of permitting and development services in the city of Austin," said Laine, "I think for the city of Austin also needs to make some direct investments in affordable housing, repurposing land and improvements that are owned by the city as one option."
Another tactic Laine mentioned was collaborations with other branches of government to attract the needed funding.
Next steps
As for how Laine differs from incumbent Kelly, she simply said the voters made their choice clear.
"I think for the last four years, what we've had is a council member who is [the] lone no vote and isn't working towards the solutions and making them as effective as possible," said Laine. "I have so far received a very warm welcome [from council members]. I'm really looking forward to being part of the solution."
Kelly's term expires on Jan. 6, 2025, when Laine and other newcomers will take their Oaths of Office.