IN HARD-FOUGHT WILLIAMSON RACE, BILL GRAVELL GRABS EARLY LEAD
Early voting results showed Bill Gravell, justice of the peace for Precinct 3, leading Round Rock City Council Member Frank Leffingwell in the hotly contested Republican primary for Williamson County judge. In Travis County, Precinct 4 Commissioner Margaret Gómez was leading in her re-election bid.
Justice of the Peace Bill Gravell had an early lead against Round Rock City Council Member Frank Leffingwell in the hotly contested Republican primary race for Williamson County judge after early voting results were posted Tuesday night.
The winner will face Democrat Blane Conklin in November.
In the Republican primary for Williamson County Commissioner Precinct 2, incumbent Cynthia Long was leading in early voting against Bart Turek. The winner will face Democrat Kasey Redus in November.
Long is running for her fourth term. Turek is a former police officer and sheriff ’s deputy, and also the former deputy coordinator at Williamson County’s emergency management office.
Russ Boles was the leader in early voting for the Republican primary for County Commissioner Precinct 4 against his opponents Bobby Seiferman, Heather Peal and David Marek. There will be a runoff May 22 if no one receives more than 50 percent of the votes. The winner will face Democrat Carlos Salinas in November.
Boles is a commercial broker, while Marek is a truck driver for Williamson County’s Road and Bridge Division. Peal is a managing partner of an engineering and construction firm, and Seiferman is a senior marketing specialist for Hearst Media.
The GOP primary for Williamson County judge has been heated since its beginning, when Leffingwell — a tax attorney — accused Gravell in December of taking expensive tax-payer funded trips.
Gravell, a 54-year-old former youth pastor, said in December that he was a “true conservative” and that Leffingwell was a liberal who had a record of raising taxes year after year.
Leffingwell, 52, accused Gravell in February of criticizing Dell Inc. — one of the top employers in the county — of mistreating employees in a sermon that has been posted on YouTube. Leffingwell also said Gravell testified against the state’s mission to move Texas Department of Safety officers to the border area at a legislative committee hearing in September 2016, saying he wanted to end it because of a “perceived loss of revenue” to his court. Gravell said in February he had no response to either accusation.
Both Gravell and Leffingwell have said public safety is their top priority if they are elected. Gravell has said he wants to work on expanding the number of justice of the peace courts and district courts in the county because of the growth.
Leffingwell has said he wants to reduce response times and invest in equipment, training and technology for law enforcement.
Both Republican candidates for judge have also touted their experience and accolades. Gravell, who is serving his first term as justice of the peace, was named 2017 Judge of the Year by the Justices of the Peace and Constables Association. He said during his term the Precinct 3 justice of the peace court has handled 68,349 cases; collected almost $11 million in court costs, fines and fees and received national and state awards for improving collections and innovative use of technology.