Photo: MANDEL NGAN
After months of holding both voters and other candidates in suspense, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo has officially announced that she will not be running for a third term. She's now set to leave office in late 2026, after eight years in office.
This might have been an attempt to shield other Democrats on the Commissioners Court from her growing unpopularity. Gary Polland with the Texas Conservative Review explained, "Maybe Lina will be the stalking horse for loony left ideas to try to give her colleagues an opportunity to look like they're really conservative and holding the line."
Polland then pointed out that it was her fellow Democrats who enabled Lina to push radical policies, including major tax hikes, for years. He says any attempt to appear moderate now is just an effort by them to remain in office.
He did add that he thinks Hidalgo will continue trying to push her agenda for the rest of her term, but she's essentially a lame-duck judge now. He said, "On Commissioners Court, if you can't count to three, you've got nothing, and she can't count to three. She can count to two because Rodney (Ellis) votes for everything she wants."
Polland speculated that Hidalgo, who has said she intends to remain in the public eye, might run for Congress in the future.