Newtown pushes Shaw over top

Although his opponent won a majority of the precincts in District 1, Willie Shaw collected more votes in the ones he did capture to handily win a City Commission seat.

Shaw, a retired postal worker, defeated Linda Holland in the May 10 runoff election.

He received 733 votes, or 59%, while Holland got 499 votes, or 41%.

Nearly half of his votes, 345, came from just one of nine precincts in District 1.

Precinct 31, which runs from 17th Street to Myrtle Street and U.S. 41 east to the railroad tracks, has been a stronghold for Shaw. He got 95% of the votes in that location in the runoff.

Holland only received 16 votes.

In the March general election, Shaw received 185 votes in that precinct, while Holland got three.

Although he received fewer total votes in Precinct 153, Shaw’s margin of victory was even higher there, securing 97% of the vote.

Out of 42 total votes, Shaw received 41.

Precinct 153’s boundaries are 47th Street, 17th Street, Tuttle Avenue and U.S. 41.

A major force in electing Shaw was Precinct 76, where he received 85% of the vote.

That precinct also goes from 17th Street to Myrtle Street, and its east-west boundaries are U.S. 301 and the railroad tracks.

Shaw won 134 votes in Precinct 76, while his opponent got 24.

Holland had strong support in four of the five precincts she won, receiving between 70% and 82% in each of them.

Those precincts are in the Gillespie Park, Park East and Bayou Oaks neighborhoods.

Shaw will be sworn in May 13, along with Commissioners-elect Paul Caragiulo and Shannon Snyder.

Contact Robin Roy at [email protected].

Click here to see a district breakdown.