In rare occurrence, voters to have no say in choosing Travis County judge candidates

Due to uncommon circumstances, voters will not have a say in picking the two candidates — Democrat and Republican — who will run to replace former Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt in November.

Normally, citizens would have a chance during the March primary elections to choose who would represent each party.

This time, however, precinct chairs for both parties will vote on behalf of the public Sunday to select the candidates who will appear on the November ballot.

County Attorney David Escamilla said this process happens whenever an elected official dies, cannot fulfill his or her duties because of poor health or — like in Eckhardt’s case — steps down after primary elections have already passed.

Eckhardt resigned in May to run for the state Senate seat vacated by Kirk Watson. She won the special election to replace him after her opponent, state Rep. Eddie Rodriguez, dropped out of a runoff race.

On Sunday, 136 Democratic precinct chairs will pick a candidate from three choices:

• Jeff Travillion, Travis County commissioner for Precinct 1.

• Dyana Limon-Mercado, who just stepped down as the Travis County Democratic chair so she could run.

• Andy Brown, a local lawyer who ran against Eckhardt when she was selected as judge.

Adding to the complications is that Travillion is on the November ballot for reelection. If Democrats select him as their party’s candidate for county judge, he would have to withdraw from seeking reelection as commissioner. And if that happens, the party’s precinct chairs would have to repeat the same process to choose another candidate to replace Travillion on the Commissioners Court.

The Travis County Republican Party on Sunday will also announce its candidate for county judge. Party officials on Thursday said they are keeping the names of their two options private until a decision is made over the weekend.

The candidate who wins in November will become the top elected official in the county. Since the county judge seat is vacant, Escamilla said, the new judge won’t have to wait until January to take office and will be able to do so once the votes are counted.

The new judge will continue in that position for the remainder of Eckhardt’s unexpired term, which is set to end in 2022.

Interim Travis County Judge Sam Biscoe is filling in until the election.