Early voting is underway in the primary runoff for Travis County Commissioner Precinct 4, the only local race on the ballot for Travis County voters.<\/p>\n
The race is between two local Democrats: former Travis County Constable George Morales and Del Valle ISD trustee Susanna Ledesma-Woody.<\/p>\n
The pair headed to a runoff after a close race<\/a> in March. Morales and Ledesma-Woody ended election night with about 37% and 36% of the vote, respectively. A runoff election occurs when no candidate earns more than 50% of the vote.<\/p>\n Whoever wins the runoff election will be the first new commissioner overseeing Precinct 4 in over 30 years. The position was previously held by Margaret G\u00f3mez, 81, who announced her retirement last year. No Republican candidates are in the running, which means whoever wins the Democratic primary will run unopposed in November.<\/p>\n The Travis County Commissioners Court is made up of four members who each oversee a precinct and one at-large judge. The court sets the county\u2019s tax rate and manages spending of a roughly $2.2 billion budget. The county\u2019s biggest line item expense is the jail, but it also funds roads, parks, healthcare<\/a> and housing for low-income residents, emergency services and affordable childcare<\/a>.<\/p>\n Precinct 4, which covers most of south and southeast Travis County, has among the highest concentrations of Black and Hispanic residents<\/a> and some of the lowest median household incomes<\/a> in the county, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.<\/p>\n Both Morales and Ledesma-Woody grew up in Precinct 4 and have described the area as \u201cneglected.\u201d They also have some overlapping priorities, including expanding access to healthcare, building more affordable housing and making road improvements in the area.<\/p>\n However, Morales and Ledesma-Woody come from different backgrounds and have their own strategies for making their priorities come to fruition.<\/p>\n Morales served as the Travis County constable for Precinct 4 for nearly 10 years before he stepped down to run for this position. He said one of his biggest accomplishments in that role was distributing 380,000 vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic and offering free funeral escorts for community members who died of COVID.<\/p>\n Morales said one of his top priorities as commissioner would be to fix roads in the area and work more collaboratively with other local entities, such as Capital Metro and Central Health, to expand bus service and affordable healthcare.<\/p>\n \u201cThere’s so many services being gutted right now, but we need to find a way to bring those services back that are really needed in our community,\u201d he said. \u201cYou have to meet with the people that have access to making this stuff available.\u201d<\/p>\n Morales said he would like to be a visible presence in the community and a source of transparency for his constituents.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of my goals is to unite communities, not divide communities, always being present, always having a real conversation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n