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Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo speaks during the Harris County State of the County luncheon in Houston, Friday, Sept. 5, 2025.<\/p>\n
Kirk Sides\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said her Democratic colleague<\/a>s on Commissioners Court have abandoned the principles that swept them into office as part of the 2018 Blue Wave, and called on voters to scrutinize the court’s recent decisions in a scathing post made to Substack<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The fusillade is the latest in an ongoing dispute between Hidalgo and her fellow Democrats<\/a> that emerged after the party achieved a 4-1 supermajority on the court in 2023, and has produced bitter arguments between the county judge and two of her colleagues. The animosity shows no signs of abating as Hidalgo, who did not seek reelection this year, enters her final months in office.<\/p>\n Hidalgo said a combination of questionable relationships between her Democratic colleagues, their campaign donors and the contracts they approve, coupled with recent raises for county law enforcement and subsequent cuts to programs in other departments, are part of the court’s backslide into practices she said were common under the its pre-2019 Republican majority.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n “Here we are again but this time, sadly, under the Democratic label,” Hidalgo wrote on Substack<\/a>. “Members of Commissioners Court have campaign coffers so large there are no primaries to speak of. Blatant pay to play with No-Bid contracts awarded to donors. Catastrophic budgetary decisions with little public awareness.”<\/p>\n PREVIOUS: Harris County commissioner contractor donations raise ethics concerns<\/a><\/p>\n Pay to play, or exchanging government contracts for campaign contributions, is illegal. Commissioners have repeatedly said they are not corrupt<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The bulk of Hidalgo’s criticisms were directed toward Commissioners Adrian Garcia and Lesley Briones, both moderate Democrats who are up for reelection this year and with whom Hidalgo has clashed over funding for law enforcement and other initiatives.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n None of Hidalgo’s fellow Democrats responded to a request for comment. The Harris County Democratic Party also did not respond.<\/p>\n The post was the first made to Hidalgo’s newly created Substack, which she launched in late July. She first publicly shared the page in a Facebook post Monday.<\/p>\n Hidalgo said waning public interest in county government \u2014 fueled in part by decisions made by her colleagues that she said disenfranchised residents \u2014 prompted her to seek out a platform she could use to directly engage with the public.<\/p>\n “I worry about people’s apathy in politics,” Hidalgo said in an interview Tuesday. “I think we shoot ourselves in the foot when we embody the exact things people don’t like about politics.”\u00a0<\/p>\n Hidalgo pointed to votes on key issues, such as large county law enforcement raises approved last year and the renewal of the county’s contract with surveillance camera firm Flock Safety<\/a>, that she felt were rushed and lacking in public engagement and discussion.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Hidalgo said lackluster efforts to engage with residents on important topics could erode Democrats’ chances of maintaining the 4-1 majority they have held on court since 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n But Carroll Robinson, an associate professor at Texas Southern University and former Houston City Council member, said Democrats will keep their gains on Commissioners Court in November.\u00a0<\/p>\n