Harris County judge runoff focuses on flooding and jail reforms

Harris County voters will choose between two Republicans promising faster relief from the problems they already feel most: flood water that keeps returning and a jail system still sending more than 1,000 inmates to Beaumont and Louisiana. Orlando Sanchez and Warren Howell advanced to the May 26 runoff after finishing first and second in the six-candidate GOP primary, with Sanchez drawing 26.5% and Howell 20.8%.

Sanchez, a former Harris County treasurer and Houston City Council member, said the county’s flood problem cannot be solved inside county lines because development in Montgomery County, Waller County and other surrounding counties sends more runoff into Harris County. His first-year approach would lean on regional cooperation rather than a single countywide cure, a response to a drainage fight that never stops at the border. The Harris County Flood Control District says a major flood occurs somewhere in the county about every two years, and its history counts 16 major floods between 1836 and 1936.

Howell put a dollar figure on his answer: $6.5 billion. He said Harris County government has “diminished and gone downhill” and argued that his flood plan would be paid for with state reserves, with the state already holding the easements needed to move ahead. That would mark a sharper break from the county’s post-Harvey playbook, where voters approved a $2.5 billion flood bond in 2018, only for the program to face delays, inflation-related cost increases and continued criticism over whether projects are moving fast enough.

Both candidates also said they want to work with the courts, the District Attorney’s Office and the sheriff to improve jail operations and stop sending inmates out of state while they await trial. That promise collides with a system still under strain. On March 20, Harris County commissioners approved a $38 million contract renewal to keep outsourcing more than 1,000 inmates through 2027. County officials said the jail still has not met all requirements of a state remedial order that removed hundreds of beds, although an inspection this month found the jail in compliance with state minimum standards for the first time in longer than a year. Lifting the remedial order would free about 700 additional beds.

The runoff is also a test of whether Republicans can take back the county judge seat from Democrats, who have held it since the 2018 election and now control the office held by Lina Hidalgo. Early voting starts May 18, with Election Day on May 26, and the winner will face the Democratic nominee in November.