County official pleads guilty to misdemeanor election fraud

LONGVIEW, Texas (AP) — An East Texas county commissioner and his wife have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor election fraud after reaching a plea deal that allows him to remain in office. Gregg County Commissioner Shannon Brown and wife Marlene Jackson entered their pleas Thursday before a state district judge in Longview. Both were sentenced to one year’s probation and fined $2,000 each. They had faced dozens of felony counts in an indictment that accused them of vote harvesting during Brown’s 2018 Democratic primary campaign against former Longview City Council member Kasha Williams. A prosecutor says similar deals were expected with two co-defendants.