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County Commissioner Precinct 2 up for grabs in November Election

The McLennan County Commissioner's Court pose for a picture. From left: Ben Perry, Will Jones, Judge Scott Felton, Patricia Chisolm-Miller, Jim Smith.
McLennan County
The McLennan County Commissioner's Court pose for a picture.
From left: Ben Perry, Will Jones, Judge Scott Felton, Patricia Chisolm-Miller, Jim Smith.

A lot of big decisions affecting Waco and surrounding towns are made by the five members of the McLennan County Commissioners Court. And this year, there’s only one contested race on the ballot - Precinct 2.

The precinct covers East Waco and the eastern swatch of the county…making it the most competitive council district. And the only one that’s been held by a Democrat.

The seat was held by Patricia Chisolm-Miller until she unexpectedly died earlier this year. Between Miller and her predecessor, Lester Gibson, the seat has been the only Democrat voice on the Commissioners court for nearly three decades.

"It was an historic thing, when Lester Gibson became the commissioner - the first high ranking, elected official in the county in a long, long time that was a minority," McLennan County Democratic Chair Mark Hays said.

Precinct 2 covers much of East Waco which has a historic Black population. Hays said having someone on the court who understands the lived experiences of this population is important.

"And, so I think, given the fact that, that district is a majority minority part of the county, it's good that it's, is represented by, by someone who, has some of the same perspective as the folks that lived there," Hays said.

Hays says that representation helps commissioners better understand some issues.

"A group that is too homogeneous may not understand some of the issues that are coming from people who live entirely different lives and live in different socioeconomic circumstances," he said.

The seat was not originally up for re-election this cycle, but after Miller’s death, there was a bit of a scramble to organize one.

Jared Goldsmith is McLennan County’s Election Administrator. Since it was too late to file for the primaries, he said local political parties had to nominate a candidate themselves.

"They held kind of like a small convention," Goldsmith said.

As stipulated by the Secretary of State, each of the parties brought together the voting precinct chairs to select their nominees. Republicans chose DL Wilson and Democrats chose Jeremy Davis.

Travis Gibson, the son of former Commissioner Lester Gibson, HAD put himself forward for the Democratic nomination as well. In September, just before the deadline, Gibson announced he intended to file as a write-in nominee.

Which Goldsmith said was easy to do.

"There's a form that needs to be completed and submitted," He said.

Although Gibson won’t officially appear on the ballot, he’s now on the official list of approved write-in candidates for Precinct 2.

Democratic Party Chair Mark Hays said this could split his party’s vote.

"We feel that Travis, having been long associated with the Democratic Party, most of his voters would probably be people that would vote for the Democrats," Hays said.

Baylor University political science professor Pat Flavin says this could essentially guarantee a republican victory in the longtime Democratic seat.

"And even if he only picks up, you know, a couple hundred votes, that could be decisive because the last couple elections for that district have been rather close," Flavin said.

Mark Hays said he doesn’t think Gibson will get many write-ins.

"I think it was not a good decision on Travis's part to do this, but that is his business, and he has a perfect right to run if he wants to," Hays said.

Gibson could not be reached for comment.

Baylor’s Pat Flavin says even one non-Republican seat on the County Commission can make for helpful conversations.

"It’s still as a majority, but just maybe lacking a voice from the other side I think would lead to maybe some different policies from the commissioner’s court. So I think that’s, that’s where the real effect of the election outcome is going to happen," Flavin said.

Early voting begins October 21st and election day is Tuesday, November 5.

Molly-Jo_Tilton@Baylor.edu

Molly-Jo, or MJ as her friends know her, joined KWBU in 2024 as the station's Multimedia Reporter. Originally from San Antonio, Tx, she grew up on local TV journalism and knew that when she decided to pursue journalism as a career, she wanted to find a local beat. Molly-Jo graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in May 2024 with a Bachelor's in Journalism. While there she served as the Audio Editor for UT's student paper, The Daily Texan, and worked with The Drag Audio. She also interned for The Texas Standard, where her feature on a San Antonio nonprofit earned her a statewide award for health reporting (and becoming the first intern to do so). When she is not scoping out stories, MJ enjoys reading a good book, hiking or learning new crafts.