Democrats just lost two criminal district courts and three county misdemeanor courts. It's not a huge upset, but it is significant, given how well the party performed in other races in Harris County.
"There was certainly a lot of money spent to reinforce the crime message," Nancy Sims, a University of Houston political science lecturer, said. "It was reduced to a soundbite of Democrats aren't tough on crime. Given the amount of money that was spent, it wasn't a very effective campaign."
And she believes there may have been something else at play. With such a long ballot and no straight-ticket voting, names mattered. "If you're just reading the names, there was an indication that African American names were not as successful on the ballot in these five races as they were in other races," Sims said. "My initial perception on these five races is that their feeling was that an African American judicial candidate might be softer on crime."
This was also the first year Texans voted without a straight ticket option. It makes it less likely for one-party sweeps like we saw in 2018 and 2020 tougher to come by, and races like this could get more competitive.For more on this story, follow Pooja Lodhia on
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