Carmen Llanes Pulido concedes in Austin mayoral race, will not further pursue recount

AUSTIN (KXAN) — More than two weeks after election night, the runner-up in the Austin mayoral race, Carmen Llanes Pulido, conceded to Mayor Kirk Watson Friday.

"After a long two weeks of changing results, news alerts, dozens of legal opinions, and my own team's cost-benefit analysis of re-examining the results of this incredibly close election tally (barely a dozen votes between us and a runoff), I have decided to lay down the pursuit of a recount and bring a close to my mayoral campaign," Llanes Pulido said.

It comes the day after Llanes Pulido filed a petition to request a recount in the Austin mayoral race in 11 precincts inside Williamson County — but that partial recount request is not allowed under state law, so her petition was denied by the city of Austin. The recount would have needed to have happened in all precincts inside Austin city limits.

Mayor Kirk Watson secured more than 50% of the overall vote in the general election — though barely, only around a dozen votes above the threshold for avoiding a runoff. He’s still more than 100,000 votes ahead of his nearest competitor.

"We should put the campaign behind us and get back to work. Hopefully, now that the effort to deny the election has been found defective, we can," Watson said Thursday after Llanes Pulido's petition was denied.

"In the coming weeks, I'll be spending time with family and loved ones and enjoying this gorgeous weather as I get ready to enter my fifth decade of life. And I'll be right back to organizing, which truly is my life's work. I'm so excited to do it with thousands of new connections, new knowledge of issues, and new reasons to be grateful to call this place home," Llanes Pulido said.