Three Democratic candidates are challenging incumbent Brigid Shea to be the next Travis County commissioner for Precinct 2 in the March 3 primary election.
The precinct covers an amoeba-shaped swath of West, Central and Eastern Travis County north of the river. The county has a tool to find out which precinct you live in.
The commissioners court sets the county’s tax rate and manages spending of a roughly $2.2 billion budget. The county’s biggest line item expense is the jail, but there are plenty of other responsibilities to fund, including roads and parks, health care and housing for low-income residents, emergency services, elections and, as of 2024, affordable child care.
There are no Republican candidates running, which means whoever wins the Democratic primary will run unopposed in November. KUT News asked each candidate about their background, why they chose to run and what their top priorities are, if elected.
The candidates are presented as they appear on the ballot.
Rick Astray-Caneda
Astray-Caneda has 12 years of experience in government consulting — which he said entailed building social services programs for state and local governments across the U.S. He also holds a PhD in public affairs with a focus on disaster risk reduction.
He said that coincides with one of his top priorities: making the county more resilient to natural disasters after a flood devastated the Sandy Creek community in July.
“We lost 10 of our neighbors in floods last year. There is absolutely no reason that should have happened in 2025,” he said. “We have all the data and technology to know that when it rains three inches, this is what our streets are going to look like.”
Astray-Caneda said he would meet directly with community members to figure out how the county should prepare for natural disasters. He also said he would urge the court to apply for state and federal grants that could provide funding for climate-related projects.
Astray-Caneda said he wants to create two committees: a quality of life commission that represents folks from a diverse pool of residents, and a human rights commission focused on the justice and jail systems.
He also said he wants to focus on building more affordable housing from vacant commercial buildings but acknowledged that approach isn't necessarily cheaper.
"I'm not proposing it as a cheaper alternative," he said. "I am proposing [it] as a faster alternative, though."
Finally, Astray-Caneda said he wants to ensure folks still have access to health care as insurance costs through the Affordable Care Act skyrocket.
“As a county, we need to use all the resources we have to make it as cheap as possible to get things like COVID vaccines, even if that means creatively training some more county staff to be vaccine administrators,” he said. “Because if people aren't vaccinated, health is just going to go into the toilet.”
Brigid Shea
Shea is the incumbent and has held the position since 2015. If reelected, Shea said she will build on the environmental work her office has done over the past decade.
“There are so many things that can be done at the local government level, and most of them aren't rocket science,” she said. “It just takes someone who's paying attention and understands the connection between the expenditure of public funds and the contribution to global warming and climate change wreaking havoc on our communities.”
Shea led the push to require major county buildings in the downtown area to use reclaimed water for irrigation and air conditioning, saving 45 million gallons of drinkable water a year. She also said her office helped reduce carbon emissions by implementing a remote work policy and is leading a transition to make all county vehicles electric.
“This is the kind of stuff I’ve been doing,” she said. “I am a woman on a mission on this. I'm like a dog with a bone. I am not giving up.”
Shea said affordability and access to justice and health care are also big priorities. She said she’s committed to working with the rest of the court to open the mental health diversion center — an ongoing effort to keep folks with mental illness who commit nonviolent crimes out of the county jail.
Moving forward on a compliance review of Tesla — a point of contention amongst both Precinct 4 and Precinct 2 candidates — is also on Shea’s list.
Shea voted for the agreement back in 2020, but she said she now has "serious concerns" about whether the automaker is complying. The review will determine whether the county’s tax rebate deal with Tesla is still legally sound as the automaker has failed to provide sufficient documentation to the court.
Amanda Marzullo
Marzullo has worked as a civil rights attorney for 16 years. She also previously headed the Texas Defender Service and said she worked to pass legislation that cut executions in Texas by two thirds.
“I'm running right now because the county runs the sheriff's office and our court system, and those are two entry points for [Immigration and Customs Enforcement]” she said. “I believe that we need somebody in this moment who really understands our legal system … and how we can prevent people from being funneled into ICE custody and help people who are now afraid to call law enforcement.”
Marzullo said one way the county could protect residents from ICE operations is by urging Austin police to give citations instead of arrests for minor offenses whenever possible.
“Right now, that's not happening,” she said. “I've been in court observations where people have been sent to ICE custody for failing to ID themselves.”
Marzullo said the county's handling of the Tesla contract also inspired her to run. She said many of the issues the county is dealing with now were "completely foreseeable."
"The LA Times reported just a handful of months before the contract was entered, that Tesla was lying on its [Occupational Safety and Health Administration] reporting forms," she said. "They've also been cited by the EPA and the state of California for polluting and so we should have had provisions in the contract that clawed back the rebates when those things happened."
Marzullo also said she would be more collaborative with other taxing entities, like Central Health and the city of Austin, and identify areas of overlap to find money in the county’s budget.
“They're both doing the same thing sometimes, and servicing the same people, and so we might not be spending our money in the best way possible,” she said.
Marzullo said that approach could free up funding for some of her other priorities, including building affordable housing closer to public transit systems and adequately funding emergency medical services.
Reese Ricci Armstrong
Armstrong is 18 years old and a senior at McCallum High School. He said he is a student organizer and a Democratic socialist, and is running to “build up the student socialist movement.”
“Young people are people too ultimately, and they deserve a seat at the table and a voice,” he said. “I think the barrier we are trying to break by running this race, is to both show our community, but show young people specifically, that they are allowed to participate and they should participate.”
Armstrong said he would build more public housing to lower rents and expand Central Health’s affordable health care system. He also said he wants to impose an indefinite moratorium on building new jails in the county, and make ambulance rides free.
“Far too many people fear calling 911 because of the charge,” he said.
Early voting for the primary election runs through Feb. 27. Election Day is March 3.
