Updated Dec. 15

Results are complete but unofficial. 

Joshua Paselk has been elected to serve his first term as council member for San Marcos City Council Place 2 after a runoff election on Dec. 13 against incumbent member Saul Gonzales. 

Paselk received 54.40% of the vote (1,670 votes) and has been elected for the 2025-27 term. 

Gonzales received 45.50% of the vote (1,394 votes).

Runoff elections occur when no candidate in a general election receives over 50% of votes, resulting in a second round between the top two candidates to determine the winner.

The Nov. 4 general for San Marcos City Council Place 2 was held between Paselk, Gonzales, Barbara Montana-Escober, and Christopher L. Polanco. 

Paselk said his top focus for his upcoming term is managing the extreme pressure of growth in the city. 

“Meaning it’s not necessarily pushing growth, it’s managing what’s right outside our front door,” Paselk said. 

Paselk stated that it was nerve-wracking to go through the election process for the first time. 

“What I found out was through the process, things can become quickly political, you know left versus right,” Paselk said. “So the hardest thing for me to balance was how to stay neutral and really let people know that you’re there to work with everybody.”

Paselk said serving as a planning and zoning commissioner for San Marcos while running a local business helped shape his desire to run for city council. 

For the upcoming term, Paselk said he wants to focus on supporting local businesses. 

“Somebody has to drive to Austin for work or to San Antonio. You know, they could be wasting an hour and a half to two hours of their day on the road,” Paselk said. “It’s time away from your family, that’s money in gas, so really I’d like to spark the economics of San Marcos to provide those opportunities for people to live here, eat here and stay here.”