Tyler Mayoral candidate smiles during a Republican watch party held at Rick’s on the Square in downtown Tyler, Texas on election night, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020.

After serving six years as a city councilman and in other community roles, Don Warren will be the next mayor for the city of Tyler.

Warren defeated opponent Joel Rando on Tuesday evening after Warren received 23,602 votes to Rando’s 9,912, according to Smith County’s final, unofficial results.

Warren, around 8 p.m. on Tuesday, said he was excited but cautiously optimistic about his looming victory.

“It’s overwhelming,” he said. “When you work at something as hard as we’ve worked at this, it’s just almost emotional. I’m just proud to be here.”

Warren is the owner of Lomoco, Inc., a small oil and gas asset management firm, and was District 4 city councilman from 2014 until earlier this year, when he stepped down in preparation for his mayoral run. He said he’ll have less of a learning curve because of his time on city council.

“It just seems like not a big transition to become mayor,” Warren said. “If I am elected, I hope to be able to become mayor without missing a beat.”

Warren said the number one responsibility of the city staff and council is to provide essential services, and that he knows citizens want to see improved traffic flow in and around the city.

The city is currently pursuing a $12.7 million plan over 10 years to better traffic flow, he said.

“I want to make sure that that plan gets implemented.”

Warren would also like to pursue more public-private partnerships, taking example from the renovations at Bergfeld Park.

“The thing about the Bergfeld Park project is it really created a whole new platform for all the parks in Tyler and it became contagious,” he said. “We started with Bergfeld … and so a lot of parks have been improved.”

While among family, friends and supporters Tuesday night, Warren thanked everyone who supported him through his lengthy campaign.

“This has been a long process and we started the campaign about two years ago. To see it winding down is a little bittersweet,” he said. “I’m glad that we’re coming to a conclusion but it’s also been a great way to meet new people.”

He said the transition should go well as Mayor Martin Heines steps down.

“I am a firm believer in good morale and really encouraging city staff and employees, as has Mayor Heines. I want to continue to let people know of a job well done,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what you do, whether you pick up the trash at the park or you’re a fire chief or police chief, people want to be told, ‘Good job.’ I really want to connect not only with employees with the city but I want to connect with citizens.”

Warren hopes to embody his campaign slogan of “Don Warren for All of Tyler.” He will be sworn in as mayor during the Nov. 11 Tyler City Council meeting.

Rando, who has run for mayor four times, could not be reached for comment regarding his loss Tuesday evening.