WilCo

Democratic challengers in three high-profile Williamson County races viewed their election night defeats as at least a start in the right direction – building a viable two-party system in a longtime Republican stronghold. Coming closest to winning was attorney Mike Grimes, who came within 300 votes of ousting Precinct 1 Commissioner Lisa Birkman. "It's a new day in Williamson County," Grimes told the Chronicle. Braden Frame, campaign manager for attorney Jaime Lynn, who got 42% of the vote against County Attorney Jana Duty, concurred: "We've come so far; there has been so much momentum." A third candidate, Gregory Windham, got 33% against Precinct 3 Commissioner Valerie Covey.

At WilCo campaign headquarters, Demo­crats celebrated Diana Maldonado's victory over Bryan Daniel in the state representative District 52 race as confirmation they can and will win in WilCo. In turn, Mal­don­ado praised other candidates for "making inroads." Indeed, the Democrats – once a party non grata in WilCo – have decided to keep an office open here to prepare for future elections. "We're going to have a permanent presence in Williamson County," Grimes assured. Neither Duty nor Birkman was immediately available for comment, according to Duty campaign manager Vicki Vickers. See results at www.wilco.org/Default.aspx?tabid=1024.

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STATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 52

Diana Maldonado (D) 34,668 (48.6%)

Bryan Daniel (R) 33,821 (47.4%)

Lillian Simmons (L) 2,825 (4.0%)

COUNTY ATTORNEY

Jana Duty (R) 86,100 (57.7%)

Jaime M. Lynn (D) 63,008 (42.3%)

COUNTY COMMISSIONER, PRECINCT 1

Lisa Birkman (R) 14,356 (50.5%)

Mike Grimes (D) 14,071 (49.5%)

COUNTY COMMISSIONER, PRECINCT 3

Valerie Covey (R) 27,313 (61.3%)

Gregory Windham (D) 14,810 (33.3%)

James Andrews (L) 2,417 (5.4%)