Democrats sweep TCAD board election

There is no such thing as a nonpartisan election in Travis County, Texas

Sure, sure, I know. Elections in Travis County for city councils, school boards, and even the board of directors of the Travis Central Appraisal District are technically nonpartisan.

In reality, political party DNA was front and center in efforts to turn out the vote in favor of endorsed candidates. And as usual in deep-blue Travis County, the Democrats clobbered Republican and Libertarian opponents.

Making this election even more partisan than usual is that the chair of the Travis County Republican Party, Matt Mackowiak, and the treasurer of the Travis County Libertarian Party, Jonathan Patschke, were on the ballot.

Partisan pitches for support

Both parties blasted out email appeals to urge people to vote in what was to be a predictably low-turnout election. In all, 55,991 of 895,663 registered voters cast ballots, for an anemic 6.25 percent.

U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett, Travis County Commissioner Brigid Shea, and near-miss 2022 Austin mayoral candidate Celia Israel all emailed appeals for Democrats to get up and go vote.

Cleo Patricek, a Democrat who cofounded Save Austin Now with Mackowiak, emailed appeals April 29^th and 30^th and May 2^nd urging voters to elect the organization’s three endorsed candidates (who happened all be Republicans, despite the organization’s self-proclaimed nonpartisan nature).

Republicans presented themselves as “taxpayer advocates” (as if Democrats were not?). Democrats returned the favor by casting the Republicans as “anti-tax.”

Shea, for example, warned of electing “those with anti-tax views to influence our central appraisal district.”

Israel predicted the Republicans would bring “extreme, anti-tax veto power to the board.” She was referring to the fact that the enabling legislation for this election allows any two of the three elected board members to veto appointments to the Travis Appraisal Review Board (ARB). The ARB conducts formal hearings of property valuations set by the appraisal district.

In reality it’s inconceivable that partisan politics will play much of role in how the ARB’s formal hearings are conducted. That procedure is strictly governed by state law. And the ARB employs lawyers who provide training before hearings begin each year and ongoing advice when need.

Israel’s pitch is somewhat more pertinent, however, as she will herself be on the board. She is running unopposed for Travis County tax assessor-collector. By law, once elected she will become an ex-officio member of TCAD’s board, following the November general election and January swearing in.

And the results are

All three Democrats on the TCAD ballot—all attorneys, by the way—pulled around 70 percent of the 50,000-plus votes cast in this first-ever opportunity for citizens to elect a few members of TCAD’s board.

The candidates self-selected one of the three at-large positions on the ballot for which they would compete.

Place 1—Democrat Jett Hanna, 64, netted 69.46 percent to defeat Republican Don Zimmerman, 63, a former Austin City Council member and perennial candidate for any position that provides an opportunity to be on the ballot.

Zimmerman drew his best support in far west and far east areas of the county, while Hanna was strongest everywhere else. (To see results on the Place 1 map. click here.)

Place 2—Democrat Shenghao “Daniel” Wang, 29, pulled 67.73 percent of the votes to beat Republican Mackowiak, 44, and Libertarian Patschke, also 44.

Mackowiak drew strong support mainly in western Travis County, while Wang dominated everywhere else except for a small pocket in southeast county that Patschke won. (To see results on the Place 2 map. click here.)

Place 3—Democrat Dick Lavine, 76, grabbed 73.03 percent of the ballots cast to beat Republican Bill May, also 76. Lavine previously served on TCAD’s board for 21 years as an Austin ISD appointee.

May polled well in in far east and west portions of the county while Lavine buried him everywhere else. (To see results on the Place 3 map, click here.)

Those elected will take office July 1^st and serve terms ending December 31, 2026. An election is to be held in November 2026 for these three board seats. Winners of that election will be sworn in January 1, 2027, for four-year terms.

Although these three winners will soon be sitting on TCAD’s board, they will be outnumbered by the five board members appointed by the taxing entities whose tax rolls are prepared by the agency.

Election a big deal, otherwise TCAD ignored

While the enabling legislation provides for elected representation on TCAD’s board for the first time since appraisal districts were created by legislation in 1979, public attention is rarely drawn to its meetings, which are broadcast on the Internet via Zoom.

Press coverage, except for the Bulldog, is virtually non-existent. The board met only eight times in all of 2023 and has met only three times so far in 2024.

The board’s chief responsibilities are to hire and supervise the chief appraiser, approve the agency’s internal policies, and approve annual budgets that are funded by the taxing entities it serves. And, due to the legislation that permitted this election of board members, TCAD’s board will approve appointments to the Travis Appraisal Review Board.

Trust indicators: Ken Martin has been covering local government and politics in the Austin area since 1981 and investigating and reporting on Travis Central Appraisal District since 2011. Email [email protected].