Posted at 10:35 p.m. May 24

Jeff Travillion won the Precinct 1 Democratic nomination for Travis County commissioner, earning 67.1 percent of the vote, or 2,611 votes, according to unofficial final results released May 24. Travillion’s opponent, Arthur Sampson, earned 32.9 percent of the vote, or 1,280 votes.

Travillion will face Republican Pat McCord in the November general election. McCord ran unopposed in the March 1 Republican primary and received 7,530 total votes, according to official results.

Before election day results were released, Travillion said he was excited, honored, and proud of his campaign team and the community members who supported him.

Travillion said if voters choose him in November, his first action would be to assess the state of operations in the county, develop an understanding of procedures, compare procedures to best practices and make recommendations to improve operations.

Policy-wise, he said he would work to improve the quality of life for Travis County’s vulnerable populations, including improving access to health care and public transportation.

“For our county there is no magic bullet,” he said. “There is no one core issue. There are a lot of related issues.”

He said if elected he would listen to community members and work with them to facilitate change in the county.

Sampson could not be immediately reached for comment.

Five candidates ran in the Democratic primary for the Precinct 1 seat March 1. None of the candidates earned 50 percent of the vote, so the top two vote-getters, Travillion and Sampson, headed to the runoff election.

Travillion led in the primary election with 41.64 percent of the vote, according to Travis County’s official election results. He works for the city of Austin and serves on the executive board for labor union AFSCME Local 1624. He is the former president of NAACP’s Austin chapter.

Travillion is running on a platform of improving the quality of life for East and Northeast Austin residents, including improving access to transit, parks and clean water. He also said he will work to remove tolls from Hwy. 130.

Sampson, who has worked as a project coordinator for the city of Austin, earned 18.53 percent of the March 1 vote. He said he has more than 30 years of experience as a project coordinator, inspector and plan reviewer, and he is a former police officer.

Sampson ran on a platform of fiscal responsibility, including avoiding tax increases. He also said he would work to bring public transportation to the rural areas of Travis County.

Attorney James Nortey followed close behind Sampson March 1 with 17.92 percent of the vote, but he did not make it into the runoff election. Contenders Richard Franklin and Marc Hoskins trailed behind.

Current Commissioner Ron Davis, a Democrat, announced last year he would not seek re-election. Davis was first elected to represent Precinct 1 in 1998.

Precinct 1 is the eastern-most Travis County Commissioners Court precinct and includes Manor and parts of the cities of Pflugerville and Austin as well as parts of the Del Valle, Webberville and Wells Branch neighborhoods.

All results are unofficial until canvassed.