Austonia AM
100% Austin news, info, and entertainment, straight to your inbox at 6 a.m. every morning.
In five minutes, you're fully informed and ready to start another great day in our city.
×
(Austonia)
The Travis County Democratic Party chose local attorney Andy Brown as their nominee for county judge.
Two local attorneys—Democrat Andy Brown and Republican Michael Lovins—have been selected by their respective political parties to compete for the position of Travis County judge this November.
Brown and Lovins will race to replace Sarah Eckhardt, who resigned as county judge in March, less than two years into her second term, to run for the seat vacated by State Senator Kirk Watson (D-Austin). Because there was no primary election date scheduled between Eckhardt's resignation and the Nov. 3 general election, the local political parties—and not registered voters—determined the nominees.
The Travis County Democratic Party's 136 precinct chairs voted on Sunday, with nearly 56% voting in favor of Brown. The other two candidates were Travis County Precinct 1 Commissioner Jeff Travillion and former Travis County Democratic Party Chair Dyana Limon-Mercado.
The Travis County GOP's executive committee voted last week to allow its chairman, Matt Mackowiak, to appoint a nominee, and they announced Lovins' candidacy on Monday.
The county judge serves as chief executive of the county and oversees the Commissioners Court. The office functions similarly to that of a city's mayor.
Former Travis County Judge Sam Biscoe has been serving in the role in an interim capacity.
The candidates
Andy Brown is the Democratic nominee for Travis County judge.(Andy Brown)
Brown is the founder of law firm Andy Brown & Associates and previously served as a senior adviser to Beto O'Rourke and campaign manager for U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett.
In a statement issued after the vote, Travis County Democratic Party Chair Katie Naranjo said, "Our next County Judge will have huge shoes to fill after the departure of now-Senator Eckhardt—Andy's broad experience as an accomplished attorney and his tireless dedication to Democratic values leaves me confident they will serve our county well."
Brown ran against Eckhardt for the position of county judge in 2014; Eckhardt won nearly 63% of the vote that year and was reelected in an uncontested race in 2018.
Michael Lovins is the Republican nominee for Travis County judge.(Travis County GOP)
Lovins is a founding partner of the personal injury law firm Lovins Trosclair and a member of the Federalist Society, a highly influencial national organization of conservative and libertarian lawyers.
In a statement shared by the Travis County GOP, Lovins said his day-one priority, if elected, will be to propose "a budget that fully funds our county sheriff's office and expands county law enforcement patrols within the city of Austin."
From Your Site Articles
- Stay-at-home end may be in sight as local task force plans reopening ›
- Texas Rep. Eddie Rodriguez makes a run for state Senate - austonia ›
- Travis County considers Tesla incentives deal, unions react - austonia ›
- Rodriguez drops out of runoff, Eckhardt heads to Texas Senate ... ›
- The state Senate candidacy of Austin's Sarah Eckhardt - austonia ›
- Travis County GOP fundraiser under investigation after complaint it violated COVID orders - austonia ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Popular
From the California coast to Scandanavia, here's where each Austin FC player is from. (Claire Partain)
Austin FC's first signee, Rodney Redes, hails from Paraguay. So does the club's first Designated Player, Cecilio Dominguez. Five other players' hometowns are in South America, while five others are from Europe or Africa. While most on the roster signed to Austin FC from other MLS teams, Austin FC players have played as far north as Finland, as far east as Israel and as far south as Argentina.
English and Spanish are the most spoken languages on the team, although Zan Kolmanic speaks Slovenian and the club is well-traveled, too: Jon Gallagher has lived in six countries, while Kekuta Manneh, the club's only true Austinite, left behind all he knew in Gambia to move to the city in high school.
The multiculturalism on the pitch goes hand-in-hand with the city of Austin itself. Over 30% of the city's population is of Hispanic or Latino descent, and Austin is a majority-minority city (meaning non-Hispanic Whites make up less than 50% of the population).
It's brought even the most unlikely groups together; while supporters of Liga MX and the English Premier League used to be on opposite sides of the bar, now they come together in green.
Jorge Chavez, a member of Austin FC fan club Austin Anthem, said that Austin FC helps unite a city full of travelers and move-ins.
"A lot people here are from all these different places, and they might not have that much in common with each other, but now they do," Chavez said.
From Your Site Articles
- Austin FC's Jon Gallagher has lived in six countries - austonia ›
- Julio Cascante comes from Portland Timbers to Austin FC - austonia ›
- Sebastian Berhalter is Austin FC's youngest team member - austonia ›
- Designated Player Cecilio Dominguez is joining Austin FC in his ... ›
- Rodney Redes brings young talent to Austin FC - austonia ›
- Kekuta Manneh's says there's no place like Austin FC - austonia ›
- Austin FC fan Brad Tillery gets Verde Keeper kit from Stuver - austonia ›
- 12 Austin FC fans get inked up in tattoo marathon - austonia ›
- Austin's Latino's feels "close to home" with Austin FC - austonia ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Austin's tech industry is hardly insulated from the post-pandemic labor shortage. Its workers stand to benefit as a result. (Joe Jungmann/CC)
"We are living in times when the employees are the king or the queen," said Angelos Angelou, founder and CEO of local consulting firm AngelouEconomics.
A talent center
Lured by the state's business-friendly climate and Austin's growing tech scene, California-based companies such as Tesla, Oracle and TikTok built factories, relocated headquarters and opened offices. Austin posted the highest tech migration rate of any city in the country between May 2020 and April 2021, according to a recent LinkedIn analysis.
With so many new resident businesses, job growth kept pace. The Austin metro ranked fourth nationally for tech job postings growth in March, according to Silicon Valley Bank's latest State of the Markets report.
Oracle relocated its headquarters to the Riverside location in Austin. (Shutterstock)
To fill these roles, local tech companies have to look beyond the city limits. Employers poach from their competitors, recruit recent graduates from area colleges and universities or look to the national labor market for talent, Angelou said.
Summer Salazar, director of employer engagement at the University of Texas at Austin, has seen a huge influx in tech sector job postings on the university's job board in recent months. "We feel that demand," she said.
An employee's market
Jaime Cabrera, 28, recently graduated from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin and is looking for a policy job at a social media company. He didn't go into his job search with plans to stay in Austin but has seen various intriguing openings, citing Bumble, Lyft and TikTok. "I didn't realize how many companies are here," he said.
The tech labor market also affects employees who are not looking for a new job but instead seeking better benefits or internal policy changes from their current employer.
Lawrence Humphrey, 27, lives in North Austin and works for IBM. Shortly after the murder of George Floyd, he co-founded Tech Can Do Better, which advocates for a more equitable industry. Since then, there has been little quantitative progress in terms of more diverse hiring and other metrics. But there has been a qualitative shift. "Issues around racial equity are just far more of a priority from the perspective of the employees, so therefore it's far more of a priority for the employers," he said.
OG vs. newcomers
Although the pandemic has accelerated the growth of Austin's tech industry, the industry was already established. In the latter half of the 20th century, the city attracted big tech originators like IBM because of its enticingly low labor cost and spawned homegrown giants like Dell—trends that continue today.
The arrival of Silicon Valley tech transplants in other growing tech cities, such as Miami, has led to tension with the so-called old guard. In Austin, such competition has forced companies to compete for workers, leading to more mobility.
"When I was in the job market, my god if you changed jobs often—and often meant once every three years—you were considered a traitor," said Angelou, who headed the Austin Chamber's economic development department from 1984 through 1995, helping to recruit companies such as IBM, Apple and Samsung to town. "Now people change jobs every nine months, it appears, and that is considered a plus."
From Your Site Articles
- California tech employees move to austin for business and way of ... ›
- Burnt out? Austin companies offer new employee benefits - austonia ›
- Austin millennials lead recent labor union drives - austonia ›
- Buc-ee's avoids national workers shortage with benefits - austonia ›
- Austin has worse national worker shortage with less workers ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
