Susanna Ledesma-Woody, who came very close to defeating longtime incumbent Travis County Precinct 4 Commissioner Margaret Gómez in the March 1 Democratic primary, said she is withdrawing her request for a recount. As of Wednesday, Gómez had 11,021 votes and Ledesma-Woody had 10,773 out of a total of 21,794 votes cast, according to data from the Travis County Clerk.
Gómez gained 30 votes among provisional ballots counted after election night, giving her 248 votes more than Ledesma-Woody. As the election currently stands, Gómez has 50.57 percent of the vote and Ledesma-Woody has 49.43 percent. Under state law, a candidate may request a recount if there is less than a 10 percent difference between the two candidates.
In a news release, Ledesma-Woody said, “While we did not get enough votes this election cycle, I can’t feel anything other than proud of what we accomplished given the odds. We ran a positive campaign against a 27-year incumbent on a truly grassroots budget that was a quarter of the size of my opponent’s.”
Recently retired Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir told the Austin Monitor the cost of a recount depends on the number of ballots to be counted, but said such a process could easily cost $10,000.
The Gómez campaign responded to the Monitor’s request for comment by saying, “We remain thankful for the support of the community and our entire team. We congratulate Susanna Ledesma-Woody on a race well run and look forward to working with her to further improve our community.”
Ledesma-Woody, a member of the Del Valle ISD Board of Trustees, promised that she would remain involved with the community. In her press release, she said, “We will stay engaged and we will continue to be a voice for Southeast Travis County! I invite you all to join me and work to bring the change I promised to our most vulnerable, to end the inequality of resources, to work for affordable housing, transportation, accessible health care, food access, criminal justice reform, and work towards a sustainable environment.”
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Travis County Commissioners Court: The legislative body for Travis County. It includes representatives from the four Travis County Precincts, as well as the County Judge. The County Judge serves as the chair of the Court.
