Lina Hidalgo set to run for third term as County Judge

After falling backwards into her current position as Harris County Judge, Lina Hidalgo is reportedly set to run for a third term in office next year. Hidalgo won election over longtime Judge Ed Emmett in 2018 by a mere 19,000 votes. Since that upset win though, it has been nothing but problems for Lina. She has faced criticisms over the budget, failing to reform the justice system as she campaigned on, and the list goes on.

She has bickered with fellow city employees, including a big harassment showdown with one councilman. In the middle of hurricane season last year, as head of the Office of Emergency Management, she took off for a 'mental health break,' for a month. But 2021 and 2022 is when things really started revealing themselves. She faced allegations over a bid rigging scheme along with three staffers, who have since been indicted. That was then met with a controversial 2022 election in Harris County, which ended with lawsuits and a narrow Lina win.

Now here we are in 2024, with Lina set to keep running county business. Charles Blain of Urban Reform says that really at this point, this is the spot where Lina can remain in politics.

"Statewide is certainly out of the question...she is also probably trying to keep a card in her back pocket, so if Biden wins re-election, she can jump to Washington D.C.," he says.

As mentioned though, Lina might have a tougher test before even the general election. There have been reports that former Houston Mayor Annise Parker is weighing a run in the primary, which presents a unique situation: two progressive Democrats duking it out.

But it is not all that surprising that Parker would consider it.

"Remember in 2022, the media was pushing [Annise Parker] to say who she would vote for...and she would not declare a vote for Lina...so this creates an interesting dynamic heading into the next election," he says.

Intertwined in all of this has been massive rifts with other city and county leaders. Even in the last few weeks, she has had public arguments with new mayor John Whitmire, in which she pushed him off the stage to 'repeat her speech in Spanish.' The two of them have yet to sit down and meet, five months into Whitmire's tenure.

All of this drama, screaming, and lack of experience has left voters unimpressed.

"People are seeing her as not as an effective leader as they hoped...she has had a difficult time befriending and creating relationships with people in our area," he says.

Of course, lest we forget the bid rigging indictment, as if there was not enough against her. Three of her former staffers all have been indicted on charges of awarding Elevate Strategies, a one-woman firm with no experience, an $11 million COVID-19 vaccine outreach contract.

District Attorney Kim Ogg has since handed that case to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office, who has gone scorched earth since his failed impeachment trial. It presents another unique element to the election, too.

"Part of the backlash with primary voters against Ogg was her moving with this prosecution, so it will be interesting to see if Democrats use that against Hidalgo, since it was not popular with voters," says Blain.

That bid rigging case could also be the undoing of Lina, even if she gets vehement support from fellow Democrats.

"I think when that information comes out, and we get the true scale of that bid rigging operation, I think it opens people's eyes a bit more," he says.

Blain adds that this primary spat, and the indictment, could open the door for Lina Hidalgo's 2022 opponent, Alex Mealer, to run for the spot again.