AUSTIN (KXAN) – Mayor Lee Leffingwell and three City Council incumbents jumped out to commanding leads in Austin municipal elections Saturday night.

The mayor was far out in front of challengers Brigid Shea, who was carrying about 43 percent, and Clay Dafoe, who had a 11 percent in incomplete and unofficial returns

Incumbents Mike Martinez, Sheryl Cole and Bill Spellman were also leading in the early returns. The widest lead was held by Cole, who was out-polling challenger Shaun Ireland by a 70-30 margin in Place 6.

In Place 2, Martinez was leading challenger Laura Pressley, 54 percent to 46. Spellman, the Place 5 incumbent, was carrying 55 percent of the vote against six challengers. The closest competitor was Dominic Chavez with 20 percent of the vote.

Voter turnout for the  races was on target to meet the expected 10 percent mark on Saturday. That low number frustrated Leffingwell, who is seeking his second three-year term.

“We’ve been doing our best to get out the vote. We’ve had people on the telephone all week long … just reminding people,” Leffingwell said earlier Saturday.

The mayor was among those on the council who advocated moving the city elections to November, but the proposal did not pass.

The Travis County Elections Office said turnout was “steady throughout the day” for most of the municipal races in several cities. The office said that about as many voters would cast ballots on Election Day as those who voted early.

Just 4.87 percent of registered voters — or 23,257 people — cast early ballots before the general election to choose a mayor from a field of three candidates, including incumbent Lee Leffingwell, which is set for Saturday. Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.

Also on ballots are contests over issues, mayor, alderman and council seats in Anderson Mill, Briarcliff, Lakeway, Lakeway Municipal Utility District, Rollingwood, Westlake Hills, Del Valle Independent School District, Manor ISD, Ranch at Cypress Creek Municipal Utility District, Sunset Valley, Webberville, Travis County Emergency Services District and Mustang Ridge.

The early voting site with the highest number of voters (2,753) was the Randall’s located at Braker Lane and Research Boulevard. The lowest number was a turnout of 255 people at the Dan Ruiz Public Library.

Most people chose to wait until the last day of early voting, with 6,094 ballots cast on Tuesday.

State primary election

Voting for the Democrat or Republican primaries is on May 29.