TEXAS — More people live in Harris County than any other county in the state, and Gov. Greg Abbott wants to get more of them to vote for Republicans.
Abbott has donated $25 million from his campaign to do so and organized a door-knocking campaign in each Texas House legislative district in the county.
“Identify voters and then turn those voters out,” Abbott said. “It is the largest ground game ever in the history of Harris County. We know where the Republicans are, where they live, and how they will vote. Our job is to make sure they get to the polls.”
Mark Jones, a Rice University professor of political science, said the governor’s efforts are unlikely to turn Harris County red, but encouraging more Republicans to vote could help the party’s top of the ticket candidate in the U.S. Senate race.
“If he can turn it a very light shade of blue or even purple, that would provide a boost to Republicans statewide and perhaps be the difference between someone like James Talarico winning and someone like Ken Paxton winning,” said Jones.
Harris County Democrats welcome the extra attention from the governor. Fifteen of the 25 Texas House seats in the county are Democrat strongholds. Houston Rep. Christina Morales is leading House Democrats’ campaign efforts.
“I can tell you right now that Harris County voters cannot be bought, and we’re really proud of our candidates who are running to flip seats and those holding on to their seats because they are working hard, and they have the support of the people,” Morales said.
But Republicans on the ground remain confident. The county’s GOP chair said this is the first time Republicans are running in all 25 of the county’s statehouse districts.
“We have people that have been in office, Democrats in the statehouse districts, forever and never had an opponent. So I think for the voters of those districts, it’s important for them to have a choice,” said Cindy Siegel, Harris County Republican Party chair.
Political scientists believe Republicans’ best chance at a win in the county is in the county judge race, where former Houston City Council member Letitia Plummer, a Democrat, faces former Harris County treasurer Orlando Sanchez, a Republican.
“What we’re trying to do with our countywide positions is really message on local issues and returning the county commissioner’s court to really just getting back to what their mission is: health, safety, welfare of the county,” said Siegel.
Democrats could sweep Republicans in the county, but Abbott’s investment could still prove worth it.
“Gov. Abbott still can win by losing if his investment in Harris County boosts Republicans from winning, say, 43-44% of the vote, to, say, winning 46-47% of the vote,” said Jones. “Harris County has more voters than any other county, and that difference of even three or four percent could spell the difference between a victory and defeat for Republican candidates statewide, if those races are decided by the low single digits.”
