Beyond City Hall: new county leaders in Williamson and Hays, an unopposed Travis slate, and a no on ACC in Pflugerville ISD

Most of Austin is in Travis County, but parts of the city reach into Williamson County to the north and Hays County to the south. Tuesday's county elections produced new leadership in both of those counties, according to unofficial results. In Travis County, nearly every county office on the ballot had a single candidate.

All of these results are unofficial until each county canvasses them.

Williamson County

Democrats won all four contested countywide races, KUT reported in a story updated at 8:25 a.m. Wednesday:

• County judge: Heather Jefts won with nearly 55% over Steve Snell, who had just over 45%. KUT reported Jefts is the first woman elected Williamson County judge. Snell conceded Tuesday night, saying the voters "have spoken and I respect their decision."
• Precinct 4 commissioner: Harmon Rhea won a little over 54%, unseating incumbent Russ Boles.
• County clerk: Erin Block won about 55% over Bill Fairbrother. She succeeds Nancy Rister, who has held the office since 1998, KUT reported.
• Tax assessor-collector: Eric Hanke won almost 55% over Catherine Totty.

Hays County

Democrats will hold every seat on the Hays County Commissioners Court in January, KUT reported in a story updated at 9:03 a.m.:

• County judge: Michelle Gutierrez Cohen had 60%, Geoffrey Tahuahua 36% and Liz Gajdos 4%.
• Precinct 2 commissioner: Johnny Flores had 69.2% to Abby Gibson's 30.8%.
• Precinct 4 commissioner: Angie Unger had 51% to Rob McClelland's 49%, the closest county race in the region.
• District attorney: Alfonso Salazar won, KUT reported.

Travis County

The county's ballot listed one candidate each for county judge (Andy Brown), county clerk (Dyana Limon-Mercado), district clerk, county treasurer, and the Precinct 2 and Precinct 4 commissioner seats (Brigid Shea and George Morales III). The contested Precinct 4 race was decided in the May primary runoff, which Morales won, Community Impact reported. He succeeds longtime Commissioner Margaret Gómez.

Austin Community College

Voters in the part of Pflugerville ISD outside ACC's taxing district rejected joining it. As of 8 a.m. Wednesday, 63.1% voted against annexation, according to unofficial Travis and Williamson county results reported by Community Impact. The measure would have let the college levy its tax, listed on the ballot as $0.1034 per $100 of taxable value, in that territory, and given residents in-district tuition. Community Impact noted that Pflugerville ISD households inside Austin's city limits have paid ACC taxes since 2005.

What our records add

The city runs its elections through all three counties. The council's election ordinance authorizes the city clerk to enter joint election agreements with other local governments, and an October amendment set the final polling places and early voting schedule. That is why the District 8 count came from two counties: 34,281 votes in Travis and 257 in Hays, KUT reported.

The city and Travis County are partners on Dog's Head. In May the council approved an interlocal agreement with Travis County for the Dog's Head development, 9-0, and in July a county funding agreement for the project's tax zone, 8-2. Our District 3 story covers those votes.

What's next

• Canvasses: Each county canvasses its own results. The City Council canvasses the city's.
• January: New county officials take office.
• Dec. 12: City Council runoffs in Districts 1, 3 and 5 and the Austin ISD at-large runoff. Our council results story has the latest numbers.