The most populous county in Texas will have a new top official for the first time in seven years after a former Houston City Council member who last year introduced a measure to crack down on problem apartments secured nearly 61% of the vote.
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Letitia Plummer, a Democrat who ran a campaign focused on emergency preparedness, affordability, healthcare and public safety, earned more than 816,000 votes to Republican nominee Orlando Sanchez’s nearly 523,000.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, a Democrat who has held the position since 2019, didn’t seek reelection.
Sanchez raised nearly $240K more than Plummer with some support from Houston’s real estate community, the Houston Chronicle reported. Fidelis Realty Partners CEO Alan Hassenflu and David Weekley Homes co-founder Richard “Dick” Weekley each donated more than $100K to the Republican candidate, making them Sanchez’s top donors between Sept. 25 and Oct. 24.
Both candidates had agenda items related to flood prevention and affordability, but Plummer has a history of focusing on housing in a way that can directly impact landlords. The 56-year-old originally proposed Houston’s apartment inspection ordinance, which intended to crack down on apartments with repeated safety violations and health concerns.
Plummer’s campaign website said she proposed the ordinance to “protect tens of thousands of Houstonians from substandard and dangerous housing conditions,” something that has made headlines as Houston-area multifamily landlords have faced a wave of financial distress and foreclosures.
After multiple delays, the Houston City Council approved a pared-down version of the apartment inspection program in May. The ordinance will create a registry of “high-risk” multifamily buildings that get 10 or more health and safety violations within six months.
High-risk complexes will face more inspections and fines of up to $500 to $2K per day for unresolved violations, Houston Public Media reported.
Plummer’s county judge agenda also includes increasing financial support and literacy training for first-time homebuyers and owners, stopping property tax increases by focusing on revenue from appraisal costs, and cutting down on wait times and clearing backlogs for Harris County business permits.
Emergency preparedness has been a focus for commercial real estate players in Harris County since back-to-back storms in 2024 exposed weakness in Houston’s electricity infrastructure, and memories still linger of Hurricane Harvey’s disastrous flooding in 2017.
Other items in Plummer’s agenda include funding an additional reservoir and new flood plains to support the Harris County Flood Control District and supporting CenterPoint Energy’s infrastructure weatherization initiatives.
Plummer, a dentist by trade, will be the first Black woman and first Muslim to be Harris County judge, Chron reported.
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