The question of who will take over Margaret Gómez’s seat as commissioner of Travis County Precinct 4, vacant for the first time since 1995, will have to wait till May. Dove Springs’ longtime constable George Morales took the lead with 36.9% of the vote, with three-time candidate and Del Valle ISD Trustee Susanna Ledesma-Woody 450 votes behind, at 35.7%.
Amid the fight sounds of Mortal Kombat, Morales’ supporters gathered at Blazer Tag off Ben White – owned by Morales’ nephew – in a joint watch party with Morales’ longtime colleague Gabe Padilla, who took over as interim constable after Morales left to run for Gómez’s seat. (Padilla trounced opponent Al Saenz to make it official as Precinct 4 constable.)
“I was always told that Precinct 4 was sacred,” said Morales, “and that we had some great leaders, like Richard Moya, Margaret Gómez. Those are some big shoes to fill. Thank God I wear size 13,” he said with a twinkle.
Though Morales seemed to be the anointed winner – Gómez attended his watch party and he garnered endorsements from all sitting commissioners and the county judge – Ledesma-Woody has been beating the drum of change since 2018. Though she didn’t succeed in unseating Gómez, she came very close in 2022, down just 200 votes. This time, the gap between her and Morales is twice as wide – but she has three months more to sway voters in her direction.
In her campaign, Ledesma-Woody questioned whether someone with a law enforcement background can get behind the county’s diversion and prevention initiatives. In a statement early Wednesday morning, she wrote, “As we head into the runoff, we will continue to emphasize the clear contrast in this race – policy versus policing, and people over politics.” In an interview with the Chronicle in January, she emphasized her dedication to Precinct 4: “I ran for this position because no one else was pushing for change. No one did it last time, either.”
In Precinct 2, the results were more predictable. Around 9:15pm, when early voting totals put Brigid Shea well above 60% of the vote, her party at High 5 off Anderson Lane erupted. A veritable who’s-who of county leaders, including AFSCME’s Carol Guthrie and commissioners Jeff Travillion and Ann Howard, congratulated her on another decisive win. She eventually came away with 57.5% of the vote, while her foremost challenger, civil rights attorney Amanda Marzullo, took nearly 31%.
Marzullo built a campaign around Shea’s vote on Tesla tax breaks and her past missteps on criminal justice issues. “Many voters in Precinct 2 are fed up with the direction of county leadership,” she wrote in her concession statement. “We heard disappointment about transparency, accountability, and decisions affecting our community – from civil rights to corporate handouts with Tesla.”
Shea said she’s taken those criticisms to heart. “In particular, I learned in the course of the last cycle that it doesn’t make sense to continue investing in jail facilities. I give the advocates a lot of credit, but we’ve made a real change in direction and made a significant commitment to standing up a mental health diversion center to keep people out of jail.”
Otherwise, she wants to continue the work that built her legacy on climate resilience: “Local governments can actually have an impact, and we have to start demonstrating it, because we’re not going to get any of that from the federal government.”
Texas Dems Turn Up on Election Day
Pooja Sethi to Fill Her Predecessor’s Shoes in HD 47
Pflugerville Dems Cheer On Wins in Texas House District 50, U.S. House District 11
Garibay and Tovo Emerge From a Crowded HD 49
Talarico Clears First Hurdle to Take Back Texas
March 2026 Democratic Primary Election Results
This article appears in March 6 • 2026.