Harris County voters appear poised to elect Democratic candidates as county sheriff, district attorney, county attorney and tax assessor-collector next month.
A survey of likely voters by the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston found Democratic candidates leading in key countywide offices as the Nov. 5 election draws near. Early voting starts Oct. 21.
The survey also found Harris County voters are concerned about issues raised by voters nationally, including crime and housing affordability, while other top concerns are more local – flooding, rising property taxes and, especially, worries about whether they can rely on their electric service.
Renée Cross, researcher and senior executive director of the Hobby School, said the survey results suggest Harris County remains a reliable stronghold for Democrats, a shift that began within the last decade. "Texas is still a red state, but Harris County, along with other urban areas, is a solidly Democratic outpost. We found that even among traditional Republican voters, such as men and older voters, the margins are shrinking in the nation's third largest county."
Latino voters here and statewide have increasingly bucked the trend, Cross noted, appearing more evenly split between Democratic and Republican candidates than they were in the past.
In the race for Harris County Sheriff, Democratic incumbent Ed Gonzalez, leads Republican challenger Mike Knox by a 16-point margin, 53% to 37%. Another 10% are undecided. Gonzalez leads Knox, a former Houston City Council member, among every demographic group except Republican voters, who support Knox 86% to 10%.
Statewide, former President Donald Trump leads Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential race, 51% to 46%, according to a Hobby School survey released this week. Among Harris County voters, however, Harris leads by 13 points, 54% to 41%.
In other local races:
- Democrat Sean Teare leads the race for Harris County District Attorney with 52% of the vote, compared to 38% for Republican Dan Simons, with 10% undecided.
- Democrat Annette Ramirez leads Republican Steve Radack by 12 points in the race for county tax assessor-collector, 50% to 38%; 12% are undecided.
- In the county attorney's race, incumbent Democrat Christian Menefee leads Republican Jacqueline Lucci Smith, 48% to 37%, with 15% undecided.
- 51% of voters support Harris County Flood Control District Proposition A, which would increase the district's property tax rate by $0.01581 per $100 valuation to fund maintenance of flood control infrastructure. Another 30% are opposed, and 19% are undecided.
Mark P. Jones, political science fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy and senior research fellow at the Hobby School, said recent storms that knocked out electric service to hundreds of thousands of area residents are top of mind for voters.
"More than one-third of voters, or 36%, said the reliability of electric service is one of the top three issues facing the Houston area, and 12% listed it as their single top issue," he said. "Rising property taxes, cited by 33%, and housing affordability, cited by 32%, were close behind as Top 3 issues, as was flooding, at 30%, and the condition of local streets, at 26%."
Crime and rising property taxes were each cited by 16% of voters as the single most serious issue facing the county.
The full report is available on the Hobby School website. The survey was conducted between Sept. 26 and Oct. 10 in English and Spanish. The Harris County reports included 491 respondents, with a margin of error of +/-4.42%. The first report in the Texas Votes series covered the 2024 statewide election, and upcoming reports will focus on election integrity and administration and attitudes about electricity infrastructure and distribution in Harris County.
Story by Jeannie Kever
