Travis Leldon LaRue (January 6, 1913 – November 14, 2009) was an American politician who served as the

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, from 1969 until 1971. LaRue was the last Mayor of Austin to be elected by

Austin City Council The Austin City Council is the unicameral legislature of the city of Austin, Texas, United States of America. The mayor is included as a member of the council and presides over all council meetings and ceremonies. The current mayor of Austin is ...

rather than a

direct election Direct election is a system of choosing political officeholders in which the voters directly cast ballots for the persons or political party that they want to see elected. The method by which the winner or winners of a direct election are chosen ...

by city voters. LaRue was elected Mayor by the Austin City Council in 1969, becoming the last mayor to be chosen by the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

. In 1971, LaRue ran for a second term in Austin's first direct mayoral election. However, LaRue was soundly defeated by challenger Roy Butler in a

landslide election A landslide victory is an election result in which the winning candidate or party achieves a decisive victory by an overwhelming margin, securing a very large majority of votes or seats far beyond the typical competitive outcome. The term became ...

. Butler received 65% of the voter, while incumbent Mayor LaRue garnered just 15%. LaRue died on November 14, 2009, at the age of 96. A private memorial service was held at the Weed-Corley-Fish funeral home in Austin. In a statement, current mayor of Austin

Lee Leffingwell Shelly "Lee" Leffingwell (born October 13, 1939) is an American environmentalist and politician who served as the 57th mayor of Austin from 2009 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, Leffingwell previously served as chair of Austin's Envi ...

expressed condolences on LaRue's death, "Mayor LaRue served during a period when the City Council chose one of their own to serve as mayor. As a

public servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

, Mayor Larue dedicated much of his time and energy to ensuring the welfare of our community. Our deepest condolences go out to the family of Mayor Travis Larue." Ironically, LaRue died just one day after the death of his

successor Successor may refer to: * An entity that comes after another (see Succession (disambiguation)) Film and TV * ''The Successor'' (1996 film), a film including Laura Girling * The Successor (2023 film), a French drama film * ''The Successor'' ( ...

as Mayor of Austin, Roy Butler. Butler died of complications from a fall on November 13, 2009, at the age of 83.

References

1913 births 2009 deaths Mayors of Austin, Texas Austin City Council members 20th-century mayors of places in Texas {{Texas-mayor-stub