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The 2024 election year is only a couple of months long for Houston-area races, and hardly anyone is participating.
The majority of races for countywide posts, judgeships and legislative and congressional seats will be decided today through Democratic and Republican primary elections. That is because the winners of those races are unlikely to face competitive challengers in the November general election, thanks to years of redistricting and gerrymandering aimed at protecting incumbents and party-held seats.
Those elections also are likely to be decided by a small percentage of the electorate as Harris County continues its trend of low voter turnout during elections.
Only 8.2 percent of Harris County’s roughly 2.6 million registered voters cast ballots during the 11 days of early voting in both party primaries. Democrats cast 87,591 votes in person, while 102,686 Republicans went to the polls, according to the Harris County Clerk’s Office.
“These races are our final decision in many of these elections,” longtime Houston political consultant and University of Houston political analyst Nancy Sims said.
The winners of the competitive Democratic Primary races for state Senate District 15, state House District 142, state House District 146 and Congressional District 18 likely will cruise to victory during the general election because those districts are drawn to favor Democratic candidates.
Voting today? Here’s what you need to know:
- Polls are open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. Voters can still cast a ballot as long as they are in line to vote at 7 p.m..
- Voters should expect to see between 56 and 65 races on their ballots, depending on where they live and which party’s primary they are voting in, Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth said. Voters can review sample ballots and find polling locations on their county clerk or elections office website. For those in Harris County, check harrisvotes.com.
- To vote in Texas, voters must present Texas driver’s license, a Texas personal identification card issued by the Department of Public Safety, a U.S. citizenship certificate containing a photo, a Texas handgun license issued by DPS, a Texas election identification certificate issued by DPS, a U.S. passport or U.S. military ID containing a photo.
The Harris County Republican Party is hoping competitive Democratic Primary races for Harris County district attorney and tax assessor-collector will result in opportunities to challenge the winners in November, but GOP candidates face long odds in a county dominated by Democrats.
Former prosecutor Sean Teare threatens to unseat incumbent District Attorney Kim Ogg by running to her left. Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector Ann Harris Bennett is not running for reelection, leaving an open seat.
None of the legislative or congressional districts in Harris County or its surrounding seven counties were decided by fewer than 10 percentage points in the 2022 midterms, according to Texas Secretary of State results.
Despite new electoral maps since the 2022 elections, voters should expect similar results in 2024, Sims said.
Primary winners in safe seats can afford to turn their focus elsewhere without a competitive race to win in the fall.
At a January Senate District 15 forum hosted by Bayou Blue Democrats, for example, candidates laid out campaign plans for the months leading up to the general election, if they are able to emerge victorious from a crowded primary field.
Those plans generally were focused on grassroots outreach in the hopes of supporting Democrats statewide – not defeating Republicans in their own races.
“This race doesn’t end when the primary’s over, even though this isn’t a competitive seat. That’s when it really begins,” said attorney-mediator Todd Litton, who said he hopes to launch a get-out-the-vote effort across the district that sprawls across much of west and north Houston and Harris County.
Litton, state Rep. Jarvis Johnson, emergency room nurse Molly Cook, teacher Karthik Soora, attorney Beto Cardenas and charter school executive Michelle Bonton are vying for the Democratic nomination for the seat formerly held by Houston Mayor John Whitmire.
The strategies voiced by the candidates at the forum were similar to the efforts planned by Harris County’s Democratic Party.
Democrats locally will be focused on turning out 300,000 registered voters in November who do not vote consistently but favor the party’s candidates when they do, Harris County Democratic Party Chair Mike Doyle said.
“Because there are more Democratic voters than Republican voters, big turnout generally means we do well,” Doyle said. “We need to focus on those Democratic voters in Harris County who, if they show up, will flip the election statewide.”
The true value of Harris County to both parties is its massive population providing a large source of votes statewide, party officials said.
“The party as a whole, state and nationally, cannot afford to ignore our urban areas,” said Harris County Republican Party Chair Cindy Siegel. “We may not win, but we’ve got to get enough votes … or we’re the reason we could lose a statewide race.”
Primaries that do not see a candidate receive more than 50 percent of the vote will head to a runoff election on May 28.
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