Bastrop council certifies May election, swears in two members and orders mayoral runoff

The Bastrop City Council on May 20 unanimously approved a resolution canvassing the results of the May 4 municipal election, administered oaths of office to two council members and called a runoff for mayor after no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote.

Council members certified vote totals that showed Ishmael Harris leading the mayoral field with 625 votes, Willie Dela Rosa at 441 and Ward Northcott at 219. The city’s canvass resolution (R2025-92) was approved by motion from Councilperson Plunkett and second from Councilperson Meyer, and the vote carried unanimously, the council said. Because no mayoral candidate reached “50% plus one,” the council passed a separate resolution (R2025-93) calling a runoff election for mayor; that measure also passed unanimously.

The council administered the oath of office at the dais to John Kirkland, who was listed on the ballot and returned to council as Council Member Place 5, and to Perry Lowe, sworn in as Council Member Place 1 by the Hon. Chris Dugan, state district judge. After his oath, Kirkland told the council he knocked on “literally hundreds of doors” while campaigning and emphasized preserving Bastrop’s historic character and pursuing retail development to grow sales tax revenue. Lowe thanked supporters and said he looked forward to working “to champion responsible growth.”

Why it matters: the canvass makes election results official, the oath restores the council’s full membership and the scheduled mayoral runoff will decide the city’s chief elected official. The city must proceed with the runoff only because state law and local election rules require a majority to elect the mayor in this contest.

Details and next steps: the canvass resolution lists vote counts: mayor — Ishmael Harris 625, Willie Dela Rosa 441, Ward Northcott 219; council Place 1 — Perry Lowe 870, Cecilia Serna 372; council Place 5 — John Kirkland 716, Cheryl Lee 561. The council approved R2025-92 by roll call after a motion from Plunkett and a second from Meyer. After the canvass vote the council swore in Kirkland and Lowe; oaths were administered aloud at the meeting. Later, the council adopted R2025-93 calling for an official runoff election for the mayor’s race and set early-voting and polling arrangements as required by statute and the city charter. The council did not take other mayoral personnel actions at the meeting.

The council did not take votes altering any certified tally. The municipal clerk will post official canvass documents and the city will publish runoff dates and polling places as required by the election resolution.