Okay.
Judge Lina Hidalgo
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo intends to announce her decision on if she will run again in 2026 in the coming weeks.
The news came amid building uncertainty and speculation regarding the two-term judge’s electoral intentions. She poured cold water on rumors in December that she would not be seeking re-election, but a dwindling war chest and ticking clock fueled continued doubt about her electoral intentions.
“Our democracy is built on open participation, and more options for voters is a good thing,” Hidalgo said in a Thursday evening news release. “I understand the desire to know whether I will be running, and I expect to announce a decision in the coming weeks.”
Hidalgo’s current term expires in 2027, along with Commissioners Adrian Garcia and Lesley Briones, who have already begun campaigning. The planned announcement also coincides with a key campaign finance deadline that could signal her plans for the next election cycle.
The most recently-available campaign finance data indicated Hidalgo had the least money of any other member of Commissioners Court. A recent trade mission to Paris, which Hidalgo said she paid for with campaign funds, has likely further depleted her war chest.
We’ve covered this ground thoroughly. Judge Hidalgo has been coy about her plans, but her campaign finance reports strongly indicate that she is not running for the simple reason that she does not have the resources and has not spent any time or effort compiling the resources she would need. She could certainly surprise me at this point and say that she is running, but she will have put herself in a needlessly disadvantageous position if that is her decision. I like Judge Hidalgo. I respect Judge Hidalgo. I think Judge Hidalgo has done a lot of good work, and I know she is very popular among Democrats. I’m just doing my best to interpret the data that is before me. I believe she will not be running. If she does run, I believe she has not put herself in the best position to win, in March and again in November. I could be wrong about any or all of this. I will be eagerly awaiting her July report and the announcement that follows.
(She had a post about this on Instagram on Thursday that was an image of the quoted news release, but either it’s been deleted or it was actually a story, because it’s not there anymore.)
For the most part, she has kept her promise not to accept money from contractors and professionals who grow rich living off the public trough.
We have a corrupt system, both the red and blue parties.