College Station voters cast ballots Tuesday to decide who will lead their city for the next term, choosing a new mayor and filling three city council seats in races that, according to unofficial early-voting results, include a Place 1 contest separated by 175 votes. Bob Yancy held a commanding early lead in the mayoral race, while council races in Place 1, Place 2 and Place 5 also began shaping up with distinct front-runners.
According to Community Impact, its Nov. 4, 2026, report lists Bob Yancy with 58.9% of the early-voting results, or 16,716 votes, and Elizabeth Cunha with 41.1%, or 11,666 votes. Election Day totals had not yet been released. Yancy previously held the city's Place 5 council seat before giving it up to run for mayor, a position held by John Nichols, who did not seek reelection.
Place 1 Comes Down to the Wire
Nowhere was the margin tighter than in the race for Place 1, where incumbent Mark Smith faced challengers Roy May and Howard Mayne. Community Impact’s Nov. 4, 2026, report lists Smith with 39.1% of the early-voting results, or 9,247 votes, ahead of Mayne with 38.3%, or 9,072 votes — a gap of 175 votes. Roy May trailed with 22.6% of the vote, totaling 5,352 ballots, according to the outlet's tally.
Place 2 showed a wider spread. Chandler Arden, running against Michael Kidd for the seat previously held by William Wright, who did not seek reelection, led with 62.8% of the vote and 14,007 ballots, Community Impact’s report shows. Kidd trailed with 37.2% of the vote, or 8,297 ballots.
Place 5 Special Election Draws Three-Way Field
The Place 5 seat Yancy vacated to run for mayor drew a three-candidate field: Tre Watson, Padon Holt and Valen Cepak. Per the same account, Watson led with 48% of the vote and 11,195 ballots, followed by Holt at 34.8% with 8,110 votes and Cepak at 17.2% with 4,005 votes.
Community Impact described the figures as unofficial and said it planned to update its report as more Election Day vote totals were released.
Early Voting Shatters Midterm Record Countywide
The high-stakes council races unfolded against a backdrop of unusually heavy participation across Brazos County. Voter tallies released by county election officials and reported by KBTX show 58,723 people voted early in person or by mail this cycle — a figure the station says is more than 63% higher than the county's early-voting turnout during the 2022 midterms.
KBTX also reported that Brazos County had 147,051 registered voters this year, up nearly 15,000 from 2024. Polls closed at 7 p.m. Tuesday, and voters already in line at that time were still able to cast their ballots.
