Harris County Voters Are Choosing a New County Judge: Plummer vs. Sanchez to Replace Hidalgo

Harris County voters are choosing a new county judge in the November 3 general election. Democrat Letitia Plummer and Republican Orlando Sanchez are running to replace Lina Hidalgo, who is not seeking reelection, according to the Texas Gazette's early-voting report, which sets out what is on the ballot from Texas Secretary of State data and Harris County Clerk's Office information.

The county judge is Harris County's top elected official - the presiding officer of Commissioners Court and the county's emergency management lead - and the race sits on the same ballot as the statewide contests drawing the turnout records this station has been tracking. At the top of the ballot, Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, who defeated Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican primary runoff in May, faces Democrat James Talarico and Libertarian Ted Brown for the U.S. Senate, and Gov. Greg Abbott is seeking a fourth term against Democrat Gina Hinojosa and Libertarian Pat Dixon, the Gazette reported.

Early voting continues through Friday, October 30. In Harris County, any registered county voter may use any of the county's 75 early voting centers during early voting, and the centers are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays this week, according to the county clerk's schedule as published in the Gazette report. Voters elsewhere in Texas should check their county elections office for locations and hours.

Election Day is Tuesday, November 3. Because Texas does not register voters by party, the early-vote totals show how many people have voted, not how they voted - the county judge, Senate and governor's races will all be decided by the ballots themselves, including the voters still to come in the final three days of early voting and on Election Day.