In Texas’ most populous county, the judges who preside over the roughly 50 felony and misdemeanor criminal courts have been riding a political tiger for a decade now. Back in 2016, Republicans dominated these criminal judgeships, but starting with that year’s elections Democrats took control of most of the judicial positions that oversee the fates of accused Houstonians and other Harris County residents. Then, in 2024, Republican voters flipped one of those criminal courts along with a number of other local courts in an election that fueled GOP hopes of regaining a county once thought lost to the left. These criminal court judges control how everything from marijuana possession to murders make their way through the court system.
This year, though a blue wave seems to loom, Governor Greg Abbott has promised to use his massive campaign warchest to create a “dark red” Harris County, which would mean a swing back to a judiciary led by Republicans, a party that is consistently hostile to criminal justice reform—though experts say partisan affiliation is not always a reliable indicator of how judges run their courts.
