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Former prosecutor Sean Teare ousted Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg from the November ballot Tuesday following a bruising Democratic primary campaign that saw progressive county and city officials back the challenger.
Aiming for a third term, Ogg conceded the race shortly before 9 p.m., before any Election Day votes had been tallied.
In her speech, Ogg touted her record as district attorney and argued financial support from outside of Houston as the reason Teare prevailed.
“I have made some powerful enemies for all the right reasons,” Ogg said.
The early voting and absentee ballot returns staked Teare to a 50 percentage point lead that proved impossible for Ogg to overcome.
Teare, who resigned from a leadership position in the district attorney’s office to run against Ogg last year, now has to win the November general election against former prosecutor Dan Simons to take charge of his former workplace.
“I'm really excited because I know I've taken one step closer to actually being in the office and implementing some real change,” Teare said.
Meanwhile, longtime U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee swatted away a spirited challenge by attorney and former Jackson Lee intern Amanda Edwards.
After a crushing loss in the Houston mayoral runoff in December, Jackson Lee was seen as vulnerable by Edwards, who argued Congressional District 18 voters are ready for a fresh face.
Business owner Robert Slater was a distant third.
In full but unofficial vote tallies reported late Wednesday morning, other primary upsets emerged, including six incumbent state district judges who lost their benches to challengers.
The elections are part of 241 Democratic and Republican primary races across Harris County, according to County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth, along with thousands more across Texas and 14 other states holding primaries or caucuses on Super Tuesday.
With all voting centers counted, Annette Ramirez led a crowded Democratic Primary field for the open seat as Harris County tax assessor-collector, but fell short of the 50 percent margin needed to avoid a runoff. She will face Desiree Broadnax in a May runoff.
The seat became available after two-term Tax Assessor Collector Ann Harris Bennett announced she would not run for reelection last October.
Other Harris County results include:
Harris County District Attorney
Teare resigned from his leadership post in Ogg’s office last year and announced his election bid with hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign funds and the backing of Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis and other Houston-area Democrats.
Ogg, who first was elected in 2016, cruised to victory in her last Democratic Primary in 2020. In the four years since, however, a series of high-profile case losses, a lingering backlog of criminal cases and public feuds with Commissioners Court left Ogg abandoned by the left flank of her party.
Teare claimed Ogg weaponized her office against political opponents and ran as a self-professed progressive who will bring criminal justice reform to bear in the county.
That message appeared to be breaking through to voters by the second day of early voting.
Juan Paloma, a 76-year-old who lives in Midtown, said he voted for Teare primarily as a vote against Ogg.
“I had never heard of him before he started running, I was just determined to vote for anybody but Kim Ogg,” Paloma said.
Ogg said she had taken steps to reform the county’s criminal justice system already and the political process was being weaponized against her for simply following the law.
Teare vastly outraised Ogg to jump-start his campaign. Ogg criticized Teare for his high-dollar donors, including nearly $700,000 from billionaire George Soros’ Texas Justice and Safety PAC.
In 2016, Ogg was backed by that same PAC in her successful election challenge of Republican incumbent Devon Anderson.
Texas Senate District 15
State Rep. Jarvis Johnson was the leading vote-getter in a field of seven Democrats for the right to run in November to fill Houston Mayor John Whitmire’s old seat, but fell short of the 50 percent runoff margin. He will face emergency room nurse Molly Cook, who unsuccessfully challenged Whitmire in the 2022 Democratic primary, in a runoff.
After 40 years as the state senator from District 15, Whitmire was elected mayor of Houston in December, setting up a competitive primary in the safe Democratic district for the first time in decades.
Johnson, Cook, attorney-mediator Todd Litton, Cook, teacher Karthik Soora, attorney Beto Cardenas and charter school executive Michelle Bonton were seeking the Democratic nomination.
In a crowded primary, candidates struggled to break away from the field.
Lori Loria, a 53-year-old who lives in West University Place, said she voted for Litton because she had met him personally while he was out campaigning and found “our thinking was in line.”
Loria had no strong opinions in opposition to any of the other five candidates, so she voted for Litton because she liked him.
Congressional District 2
U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw defeated far-right challenger Jameson Ellis by a comfortable margin in the Republican primary.
Crenshaw, a former Navy SEAL, has held the seat since 2018, and was initially a Republican darling after receiving national attention when a Saturday Night Live skit made fun of the eye patch he wears to cover a wound received while in service.
Since then, Republicans have soured on Crenshaw.
Ellis ran as the “America First choice to challenge Dan Crenshaw.”
Congressional District 18
Jackson Lee declared victory Tuesday evening at a watch party prior to most Election Day results being reported.
Edwards, in a speech around the same time, said she was waiting for more results to be reported. With final results released Wednesday, Jackson Lee's lead remained largely unchanged
Jackson Lee jumped straight from a bruising campaign for Houston mayor to the strongest challenge of her incumbency throughout her nearly 30 years in office. She ended up having an easier time defeating Edwards, a former Houston city council member, than a University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs poll last month had suggested. That survey had the well-funded Edwards within 5 percentage points of the incumbent.
The congresswoman and 42-year-old Edwards largely agree on policy, but Edwards said the district is ready for a change after decades of representation by Jackson Lee.
While there was speculation Jackson Lee might retire rather than run for reelection after the mayor’s race, Jackson Lee said she remains committed to fighting for her district in Washington, D.C.
Congressional District 7
U.S. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher easily bested progressive challenger Pervez Agwan, whose campaign was derailed late last year by allegations of sexual misconduct against him and one of his senior staffers.
Fletcher declared victory in a statement shortly after early and absentee returns were released: “This campaign is, and always has been, a coalition of people from across our diverse and dynamic district who want to ensure that our community’s core values – inclusion, innovation, and collaboration – result in progress, equality, and opportunity for all Americans.”
Agwan ran on a platform largely centered around the Israeli invasion of Gaza, arguing Fletcher is too supportive of the Israeli government.
He blamed the allegations against his campaign on the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the lobbying arm of the Israeli government, without providing evidence.
Texas House District 128
GOP state Rep. Briscoe Cain defeated community activist Bianca Gracia by a wide margin in the safely Republican district.
Gracia challenged Cain with the backing of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who Cain voted to impeach last year. Paxton has funded primary challengers to supporters of his impeachment across Texas.
Texas House District 138
Attorney and former Harris County GOP chair Jared Woodfill lost his bid to unseat state Rep. Lacey Hull, who he said is not conservative enough, in the Republican primary.
Throughout the campaign, Hull pointed to her conservative achievements, including votes to ban abortion and a vote to ban transgender student-athletes from competing in women’s sports.
Texas House District 142
State Rep. Harold Dutton Jr. fended off three challengers hoping to unseat him over his legislation that set last year’s controversial state takeover of Houston Independent School District in motion. He faces no Republican candidate for the seat in November.
Texas House District 146
Democratic State Rep. Shawn Thierry is headed to a runoff, trailing labor organizer Lauren Ashley Simmons, who has criticized the incumbent’s vote in favor of a statewide ban on gender-transitioning care for people under 18.
A third candidate, community activist Ashton P. Woods, received a small portion of the early returns, but it may be enough to force the two frontrunners into a runoff. Woods threw his support to Simmons in a late Tuesday tweet.
Local Judicial Races
Six incumbent Harris County state district judges were unseated by Democratic challengers.
State District 127th Judge R.K. Sandill fell to Denise Brown.
District 151 Judge Mike Engelhart lost to Erica Hughes.
Incumbent Robert K. Shaffer was ousted by Takasha Francis for the 152nd District bench.
Challenger Tracy D. Good outpolled incumbent Brittanye Morris in the 333rd District.
Allison Jackson Mathis handily defeated incumbent District 338 Judge Ramona Franklin.
In the 507th District, challenger Lillian Henny Alexander ousted incumbent Julia Maldonado.
14th Court of Appeals Place 3 Justice Jerry Zimmerer was headed to a runoff, well behind challenger Velda Faulkner.
Harris County Attorney
First-term Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee easily bested civil rights attorney Umeka “UA” Lewis in the Democratic primary.
Lewis brought a higher name ID to the race because of a false arrest lawsuit she filed and won against the city in 2019, but fell far behind Menefee in early returns.
Harris County Sheriff
Sheriff Ed Gonzalez easily defeated three Democratic Primary challengers, well above the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff.
On the Republican side, former At-Large Houston City Council Member Mike Knox bested three others for the opportunity to face Gonzalez in the November.
U.S. Senate
U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, won the Democratic Primary for U.S. Senate, setting up a November race against Sen. Ted Cruz. State. Sen. Rolad Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, came in a distant second.
Cruz easily defeated his two primary challengers.
U.S. President
President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump continued their march to their parties’ nominations for the second presidential election cycle in a row.
Both men easily won their primaries in Texas easily, with Trump brushing aside former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and Biden not facing any serious challenger.
This is a breaking story and will be updated throughout the night.
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