26-05-2025
McAlister battles to keep his seat in Abilene City Council runoff
ABILENE, Texas () – Incumbent Abilene City Councilmember Kyle McAlister is heading into a runoff election against challenger Miguel Espinoza for the Place 5 seat after neither candidate secured more than 50% of the vote in the May election. The runoff is set for June 7.
Place 5 race not over yet: McAlister, Espinoza gear up for runoff
McAlister, with more than a decade of experience representing Place 5, says he's seen a pattern over the years: whoever takes the early lead often wins.
'When those first early numbers come in, usually, if candidates are more than 10 percentage points apart, that's usually the way it will stand, because with the number of people who early vote versus those who actually show up on election day, it's that 10% swing is pretty hard to pull,' McAlister explained. 'So when the first numbers came in, I was right over 50%, Miguel was right under 50%, and then Cynthia was down here. I kind of got that feeling that's where we were going, because it was, it wasn't quite enough… The last numbers came in, and it said 49.78%. I was like, okay, you know, a little disappointed, but I still feel like we're in a really good place heading into the runoff, just because of the number of votes I need to make up.'
Abilene People: Kyle McAlister
McAlister says his mindset hasn't changed: always campaign like you're behind.
'The worst thing that I could do, that my supporters could be, is, 'Oh, you got this. No problem.' No, no, we start all over, and it's a clean slate,' McAlister shared. 'There are opportunities to reach out to some of the people who may not have voted for me. We take a look at the polling data. We can pull names of voters and things like that, and find out which precincts we did well in. We want to really focus on those precincts where we didn't do as well.'
BIG COUNTRY POLITICS: Runoff momentum, HB 1375 debate & one candidate's takeaway from it all
Low turnout was a theme in this election. Last week on Big Country Politics, McMurry Political Science Professor Dr. Paul Fabrizio said only a small number of voters showed up. McAlister says that's exactly why every vote counts.
'I've often told people I don't want people to know I'm on the city council because it's an ego thing. I want people to know that I'm on the city council because they are involved in their community,' McAlister said. 'Well, when you're looking at like a national race or state race where millions of people vote, you might think, Well, my vote doesn't matter, I'm one out of, you know, 6 million or whatever, like that. Hey, as we've seen, one vote matters. Every vote matters… It is important that people take the time to have an input into their government, because this is our tax money that we're spending.'
Espinoza, a first-time candidate, is a fresh face on the ballot, while McAlister says his experience sets him apart.
'The answers are things of my experience that I have done for many years, the experience of knowing how the process works, the experience of being able to get things done, and knowing how to listen, I think, is very important, and I want people to know that. I want to be able to listen to what they have to say, that I'm concerned about their issues, because, again, I live here. I'm a homeowner, I'm a taxpayer,' McAlister shared. 'I want to make sure that we get the job done, as far as making positive changes to the city, and then if we need to make some tweaks and go the other direction. What I want folks to understand is what I bring to the table, is that experience and that knowledge of how Abilene has worked, and how I think we can continue to make it work well and make it work even better.'
Abilene People: Miguel Espinoza
In the same election, voters approved a $20 million bond for airport improvements by a slim margin of 52%.
'With the airport, we felt like that was a big enough ticket item that we wanted to have the voters have that chance. And they did… Now, one of the things that we will do as we are setting the tax rate is that we will understand that people's taxes are going to go up because of the bond, because when the bond is voted in, then the taxes go up,' McAlister explained. 'So then what we can do is we can come in and look at the tax rate and either keep it the same or lower it, in fact. I think I was looking at maybe five or six of the last budgets, we've actually either kept the tax rate the same or lowered it, knowing that people are going to pay more because, in a lot of cases, their homes are worth more.'
Abilene voters pass $20 million bond for airport upgrades
McAlister urges residents to stay engaged, especially during budget season.
'Is it going to cost you more? Yeah. I mean, and it cost me more, too. But we try to make sure that we are cognizant of the fact that if we can lessen the impact as much to people's tax bills and their tax, like an escrow and things like that, that we want to do, that we will start that process in July for the next year's budget,' McAlister added. 'We have budget workshops, and I encourage everyone to come to those. I mean, I tell people all the time. I want to see you there, and I want to see you at the tax hearings. I want you to tell us what you want and what you don't want. That allows us to decide where we need to spend our money the best.'
Longtime Abilene Councilman Kyle McAlister to defend seat in May election
He says public feedback isn't just welcomed — it's necessary.
'A lot of times, when things go wrong, the first time we hear about it is on social media, but if people just let us know, then we can work on it. If a street needs repair, or if there's a hole here, whether we may not even know about it, but you know, I do see the good and the bad, and that's fine. If I see something bad and say I can work on that, then I'm more than happy to jump in, because I want people to feel like that if they ask me a question, I'm going to listen to them, and I feel like I do listen to them, and we'll do what I can to to either resolve it,' McAlister shared. 'Sometimes there is no resolution. People just want to be heard, sure, and I understand that. I really do. I mean, I want to be heard. Sometimes people just want to feel like they can talk to you. I hope that people know that I'm always like that. You know, if you catch me in the grocery store, if you catch me at Walmart, wherever, let's talk. If I don't have time, then here's my card. Send me an email. Let's see what we need to get taken care of.'
McAlister and Espinoza will face off in the June 7 runoff election for the Place 5 seat.
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