Paige Ellis will be the next Austin City Council member to represent Southwest Austin after winning the District 8 runoff race.

Ellis defeated Frank Ward on Tuesday in a partisan-tinged runoff, winning 56 percent of the vote to Ward's 44 percent. With all results in, she garnered 6,115 votes to Ward's 4,799, defeating her Republican opponent and making the City Council an all-Democrat body.

Ellis will replace Council Member Ellen Troxclair, who opted not to seek re-election after her four-year term that was marked by growing animosity between her and the left-leaning council as it adopted evermore progressive ideals and ordinances.

"We did this together," Ellis told a crowd of supporters at the 400 Rabbits bar in Southwest Austin. "This is our victory. This is your victory."

The race was the only one Tuesday among three City Council runoffs to have a partisan tinge, with Ellis, a Democrat, facing Ward, who was endorsed by Troxclair. Ellis acknowledged Troxclair as she addressed the crowd, telling them that she jumped into the race because she disagreed with how Troxclair was representing the district at City Hall.

"We believe Southwest Austin deserves a true representative voice," Ellis said. "We need an environmental champion for Barton Springs and the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone."

Ellis and Ward were the top two vote-getters in November's general election. Ellis edged Ward by about 6 percentage points, garnering 30.5 percent of the vote to Ward's 24.7 percent of the vote. Since neither earned a majority of the vote, though, the two landed in a runoff.

BACKGROUND: District 8 runoff in Southwest Austin comes with partisan flavor

Ellis, 34, was endorsed by local Democratic leaders as well as the third- and fourth-place finishers in the general election: Rich DePalma and Bobby Levinski. Those two candidates combined for 45 percent of the vote.

Meanwhile, Ward, 36, was endorsed by local Republican organizations as well as Austin's police and fire unions and the Austin Board of Realtors. Troxclair also endorsed Ward.

Ward had lobbied for votes by stating that he would be a voice of dissent on a City Council that often has aligned itself against the state's Republican establishment. For instance, the council passed a mandatory paid sick leave ordinance that is now held up in court, and the city, at council members' direction, took the lead in challenging the state's controversial Senate Bill 4, which bans sanctuary cities in Texas.

Ellis has touted her experience as an environmental consultant as proof that she will help pass environmentally conscious solutions to Austin's problems. She has called for the city to focus new development along the city's transportation corridors.