BEAUMONT, Texas — Brandon Willis will likely become commissioner of Precinct One in Jefferson County this November.
Willis was nominated from among a field of six candidates Tuesday night to be on the November 2024 ballot by Jefferson County Republican Party precinct chairs.
Six candidates threw their hats into the ring in the race for Jefferson County's Precinct One Commissioner following the death of Vernon Pierce.
14 Jefferson County republican precinct chairs voted along with the county chair. They started with five candidates and narrowed it down to three and then voted.
This is how Willis won the nomination.
"I have a relationship with the governor's office. I'm very familiar with all our elected officials in Jefferson County up and down the Gulf Coast. And what they main thing about that is it's not about me it's about we the people. So I'm super excited to be representing the people of precinct one in Jefferson County," Willis told 12News.
Willis says he has resigned from his public affairs job with Operating Engineers Local 450 and he will be a full time commissioner. His priorities will be roads and workforce development.
Pierce, who had served as the Precinct One Commissioner since 2020, died on April 14, 2024, a little more than a month after winning the race in the March 5th Republican primary election.
Because no Democrat ran in the primary, Willis will likely win the office and become the next Precinct One commissioner.
There is the possibility that someone may file to run for the seat on the November ballot as a write-in candidate but they would not be affiliated with a party and their name would not be on the ballot according to Acosta-Hellberg.
The period for anyone to declare as a write-in candidate for the November 5, 2024, election is from July 20, 2024 through August 19, 2024, according to the Texas Secretary of State's website. Write-in candidates must either pay a $1250 filing fee or submit a petition signed by at least 500 qualified voters.
Former Precinct One Commissioner Eddie Arnold, who retired as Precinct One Commissioner in 2019, was appointed to finish out Pierce's term which will end in December 2024.
Initially four candidates, Bernie Daleo, Mike Getz, Brandon Willis and Jennifer Pate were up for the seat but Daleo withdrew his name. Later two others, George Fields Mitchell, Jr. a real estate agent and former owner of M&M Air Service in Beaumont, and John Shauberger, a chief deputy with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office put their names into the running for the spot.
Getz received four votes, Pate received three and Willis received eight votes.
Getz is a Beaumont City Council member for ward two, Willis ran against Pierce in the March 2024 primary election and Pate works in Government Relations & Industry Advancement at Texas Materials.
Getz congratulated Willis on Facebook saying, "Congratulations to Brandon Willis! He will be the Republican Party nominee to be on the ballot for Jefferson County Commissioner for Precinct One."
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This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.