(AP Photo/LM Otero)
Using both the English and Spanish language, a sign points potential voters to an official polling location during early voting in Texas.
Harris County voters are heading to the polls for early voting this week to select their nominees to replace County Judge Lina Hidalgo next year.
Two Democrats and two Republicans are vying for the position in next Tuesday’s primary runoff elections. The winners advance to the general election in November, when voters will pick a new executive leader for Texas’ most populous county.
On the Democratic ballot, former Houston Mayor Annise Parker faces Letitia Plummer — a former Houston City Council member — after neither candidate received more than 50% of the vote during the first round of primary voting in March. Orlando Sanchez and Warren Howell are facing off for the Republican nomination.
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Parker, recognized as the city’s first openly gay mayor, served in the position from 2010 to 2016. She previously had stints as a Houston City Council member and city controller. After her tenure as mayor, Parker led the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, a Washington D.C.-based political action committee and top donor in her county judge campaign.
In a previous interview with Houston Public Media, Plummer, a dentist and 5-year city council member, called herself an underdog in the race for county judge. She’s campaigned on plans to reduce recidivism in the Harris County Jail and halt county property tax increases.
Parker held a substantial lead over Plummer — by 18 percentage points — in a recent University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs survey. While Parker was favored in the poll by likely Latino voters and independents, Plummer held a lead among likely Black voters by more than 25 percentage points.
Sarah Grunau/ Houston Public Media
Annise Parker celebrates at a primary election watch party on March 3, 2026.
Experts say Parker represents a sharp contrast to Hidalgo — who became the first woman and first Latina to serve in the position after she was first elected in 2018. Hidalgo found herself in various public feuds with her Democratic colleagues over the years and announced in September that she would not seek a third term.
“Parker is much more of a consensus-type oriented politician who would focus on working with members of the commissioners court rather than against them,” said Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University. “I think if Parker is the next county judge, we would expect to see a more harmonious commissioners court working more productively on a wide range of issues.”
Parker has campaigned on making Harris County more affordable through policies to reduce the cost of living and establishing a workforce program to give preferences to local firms that participate in apprenticeship programs. As Houston’s 61st mayor, Parker cut city spending in the wake of the 2008 recession. She also led comprehensive initiatives to fix city streets and establish anti-discrimination protections.
Plummer, who served as a city council member and announced her bid for the county judge’s seat last summer, was first elected to an at-large position on the city council in 2020. She wants to establish stronger ties between county and city leadership and “tighten the belt” by looking at where the most money is being spent.
Sarah Grunau/Houston Public Media
Houston City Council member Letitia Plummer announces a run for Harris County Judge on Tuesday, July 8, 2025.
“It’s time to look at how we’re spending the resources,” Plummer said while announcing her campaign last July. “It puts onus and force to the state and the federal government to drive down the dollars that we need. Infrastructure is really what’s waning here and we got to make sure we as a county work together, but we also have to drive down those resources from the state and federal government.”
Harris County is projecting a $129 million budget shortfall heading into the 2027 fiscal year, according to a budget presentation last week. The projected deficit was exacerbated by costly law enforcement pay raises last year and rising inflationary costs.
Jones called Plummer a wild card in the race.
“Letitia Plummer clearly has more experience than Lina Hidalgo had when she arrived in office, but it’s an open question of whether Plummer would be able to hit the ground running or whether she would face a steep learning curve as county judge,” Jones said.
If Plummer rises as the Democratic nominee for the position, it’s more likely for the Republican county judge nominee to mount an effective campaign in November, Jones said.
“But the Republican nominee will have a Herculean task of trying to defeat them given the blue lean that Harris County naturally has,” Jones said.
Republican race
Dominic Walsh/HPM
Orlando Sanchez at Picos in Upper Kirby on March 3, 2026.
Sanchez, a former Harris County treasurer and at-large city council member, led the six-candidate Republican race for county judge in March with 26.5% of the vote. In the runoff he’s facing U.S. Air Force veteran Warren Howell, who placed second in March with 20.8% of the vote.
Despite an aggressive campaign that drew Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s endorsement and more than $500,000 in donations, Houston firefighters union leader Marty Lancton fell short of qualifying for the runoff after receiving 20.6% of the vote in March.
Sanchez, who’s raised more than $113,000, established himself in his bid for county judge as an experienced conservative politician, vowing to slash property tax rates and prioritize public safety. His campaign is backed by GOP heavyweights including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, state Sen. Paul Bettencourt and Harris County Commissioner Tom Ramsey.
Howell, meanwhile, has appeared to front a conservative grassroots campaign for the seat. His campaign website details a proposal to create a “wall of shame” webpage to highlight commissioner precincts with the most potholes, along with a plan to contract with artificial intelligence companies to streamline county operations and contracts.
“Against the odds and after months of hard work across every corner of the county, we disrupted the status quo and the established narrative with our message of real reform, smaller government, and disciplined leadership,” Howell said in a statement after the March election.
Warren Howell campaign via Facebook
Warren Howell, a Republican candidate for Harris County judge, speaks to someone at an event in March 2026.
During public comment portions of Harris County Commissioners Court meetings, Howell has spoken against various county initiatives. He voiced opposition to a comprehensive labor consultation policy passed by commissioners this year, which paved a way for county workers to advocate for higher wages and improved working conditions.
Also on the ballot
Next week’s runoff election will draw more Republicans to the polls for high-profile statewide races — including a Senate primary runoff between U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who received an endorsement from President Donald Trump on Tuesday.
“The most likely scenario for November right now is that Democrats sweep every county-wide position,” Jones said. “Although, there’s always the possibility that a very damaged candidate like Carla Wyatt for treasurer could lose, just given the myriad of issues she has.”
Jones said that would require Republicans to spend a considerable amount of money supporting the GOP nominee, Marc Cowart.
Wyatt was arrested in Galveston County this month for allegedly driving while intoxicated. It came weeks after a grand jury declined to indict her on another criminal charge of allegedly breaking into another person’s vehicle in a restaurant parking lot with intent to commit theft. Commissioners also voted early this year to prioritize dissolving the county treasurer’s office in the next state legislative session.
The Harris County treasurer position is not on the May 26 runoff ballots as Cowart won the GOP primary in March and Wyatt was uncontested in the Democratic primary.
Darrell Jordan (left) and Jose “Alex” Maldonado (right) will face off in a May 2026 primary runoff race for Harris County District Clerk.
Harris County voters will select a Democratic nominee for district clerk after two of the eight candidates in March advanced to the runoff.
Darrell Jordan Jr., who served as a county court-at-law judge for eight years, received just over 19% of the vote, while 23-year-old educator Jose “Alex” Maldonado received 18.9%.
Eight Democrats and one presumptive Republican nominee — former district clerk Chris Daniel — made primary bids after District Clerk Marilyn Burgess announced last year she wouldn’t seek reelection. She said she had no plans of seeking another elected office after garnering backlash from county commissioners for voting on a salary grievance committee to raise her own pay by $81,000.
The district clerk is the top records custodian and registrar of Harris County, overseeing a staff of more than 600 employees and at least 110 statutory and specialty courts. Burgess’ office processed 5.8 million civil and criminal court documents last year.
Some county-level judicial seats also are on the primary runoff ballots.