| At the age of 96, former Austin Mayor Travis LaRue passed away over the weekend, becoming the second former mayor (after Roy Butler) of the Capital City to die in the last week.
As a historical aside, LaRue was the last non-elected Mayor of Austin, having served from 1969-1971 after being chosen by the City Council. In 1971, Austin held it's first direct election for mayor after moving to a council-manager form of government. And in a somewhat odd co-incidence, LaRue as a sitting Mayor was defeated handily in 1971 by none other than Roy Butler, who also passed away this past week.
Date of Election: April 3, 1971
Registered Voters: 93,597
Total Ballots Cast: 53,140
Percent Turnout: 56.78%
Mayor
Butler, Roy 34,099 65.29%
LaRue, Travis L. 7,871 15.07%
Montgomery, Jon 7,323 14.02%
Stopher, H. W. (Oat) 787 1.51%
Donley, Raymond (Jr.) 565 1.08%
Cole, Lorado 508 0.97%
Tune, Ray 462 0.88%
Damon, Jim 376 0.72%
Hickerson, Carl 232 0.44%
In a further electoral note, Lowell Lebermann, who passed away in July, won election that year, defeating 3 opponents including Royal Masset. |
