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Will succeed outgoing mayor Tom Stiehm in January

 

With the final votes in Austin’s mayoral election being tallied, unofficial results show Second Ward City Councilman Steve King as being the next mayor of the City of Austin.

King defeated Councilman-at-Large Jeff Austin in the election by a total of 6,256 votes to Austin’s 4,046 votes. Results were posted on the Minnesota Secretary of State’s website at noon on Friday.

“I’ve been continually humbled and honored with the support I’ve got the whole way,” King said. “To have the election go my way is humbling. I’ve been blessed through my life by having a lot of little opportunities that I could learn from and build relationships on. I’ve come to this realization that public service is in my blood and I’m happy to take my city council position forward as mayor.”

“Leading up to yesterday, I thought things were going well, but you never know how things are going to go,” Austin said. “I was hoping for better results, but that’s the way it turns out.”

Austin, whose current At-Large seat expires in 2022, said he has not ruled out another run for mayor in 2024.

“I want to thank those that voted for me and supported me,” he said. “We’re disappointed by the results, but we ran a great campaign and I want to thank everyone that supported us.”

King credited his wife and children for having a big impact on his campaign and expressed appreciation for Jeff Austin and their primary opponent Brian Heimer.

“Austin had three people put in for the mayorship in the primary, which shows that people want to run,” he said. “I appreciate Brian Heimer’s run in the primary and having a run with no contention with Jeff Austin. The way this campaign and election cycle went, to have two people who respect each other and get along, with the exception of a few minor policy differences,that there was no animosity and respect should be a model for all elections.”

“We have a very strong city council and a strong work force in the city,” he added. “I hope to maintain and build on those things. We’ve come to a stable spot in the city because of past leadership.”