Judge Meurer: Not looking for an office on 11th

While the Travis County Republican Party has managed to rustle up five candidates for the state House, they seem to have come up a little short down-ballot in county races. They’ve only got six candidates in total, including two incumbents, leaving the Travis County Democratic Party basically with free reign in most offices.

But the biggest surprise comes in the district attorney race. With Ronnie Earle stepping down, the heavy speculation had been that Judge W. Jeanne Meurer would run to take his place. But with four Democrats filing (Earle’s assistant district attorneys Mindy Montford, Rick Reed, and Rosemary Lehmberg, and his former Assistant District Attorney Gary Cobb), her name is not on the list.

This means two longstanding Democratic legal heavyweights will be absent from the ballot – although, since there’s no Republicans filed to replace either Earle as DA or Meurer in the 98th District Court, it’s doubtful they’ll be sweating too much.

County Offices
(* denotes incumbent)

Tax Assessor-Collector
D: Nelda Wells Spears*, Glenn Maxey
R: Don Zimmerman

Sherriff
D: Greg Hamilton*
R: Raymond Frank

Travis County Commissioner, Pct. 1
D: Ron Davis
L: Fancy Fairchild

Travis County Commissioner, Pct. 3
D: Karen Huber, Albert Gonzales
R: Gerald Daugherty*
L: Emily Cowen, Wes Benedict
I: David Griffin (identifying as Green)

Judge, 98th District Court (to replace W. Jeanne Meurer)
D: Andy Hathcock, Rhonda Hurley, Robert D. Ettinger

Judge, 353rd District Court (to replace Margaret Cooper)
D: Scott Ozmun, Madeleine Connor

Judge, 427th District Court
D: Jim Coronado, Karyl Anderson Krug
R: Melissa Goodwin*

District Attorney, Travis County (to replace Ronnie Earle)
D: Gary Cobb, Mindy Montford, Rick Reed, Rosemary Lehmberg

Judge, County Court at Law #8
D: Carlos H. Barrera, John Lipscombe

Constable, Pct. 1 (to replace Luke Mercer)
D: Danny Thomas, Janie Serna, Willie Joe Madison

Constable, Pct. 2
D: Adan Ballesteros, Paul Labuda
R: Bob Vann*, Carl Joiner

Constable, Pct. 3
D: Richard McCain*, Robert Eller
R: Mike Varela
L: Joe Edgar

Constable, Pct. 4
D: Maria Canchola*, Alonzo Reyes

Constable, Pct. 5
D: Bruce Elfant*
L: Michael M. Holt

This article appears in December 28 • 2007.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.