Ten candidates are vying for Fort Bend County judge, including incumbent KP George, who is under felony indictment for laundering campaign funds, a scandal one political expert says may be difficult to overcome at the polls.
George was elected twice as a Democrat but is running this time as a Republican. The once-popular judge was a no-show at a recent one-on-one debate with Democrat challenger Dexter McCoy, but otherwise appears confident in his campaign even as he’s set to go on trial March 10 on felony money laundering charges. He’s also got a misdemeanor case involving a social media hoax scheduled for trial in May.
George has denied the allegations and said through his attorneys that he’s being targeted in a political vendetta by Fort Bend County District Attorney Brian Middleton, a Democrat, who is also up for re-election. George’s attorneys unsuccessfully tried last month to have Middleton removed from prosecuting the case.
Middleton’s office says it looks forward to “this defendant having to answer to 12 citizens of Fort Bend County in a courtroom where evidence from the witness stand, and not character assassination and innuendo from the defense, is all that matters.”
Challenging George in the GOP primary are former Sugar Land City Council member Daniel Wong, CPA Kenneth Omoruyi, former attorney and retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel Daryl Aaron, and real estate agent Melissa Wilson.
Democrats in the race include McCoy, who currently serves as Precinct 4 commissioner and was George’s chief of staff back in 2021; Sugar Land Municipal Court Associate Judge Rachelle Carter; District Court Judge Christian Becerra; former Houston City College trustee Cynthia Lenton-Gary; and political consultant Eddie Sajjad.
Early voting in the Republican and Democratic primaries begins Tuesday, February 17, and Election Day is March 3. If no candidates secure more than 50 percent of the vote in each primary, runoff elections will be held in May. The winners of each primary will face off in November.
University of Houston political science professor Brandon Rottinghaus, author of Scandal: Why Politicians Survive Controversy in a Partisan Era, told the Houston Press this week that “KP George is probably not going to win,” but that has more to do with his party switch than the pending legal matters.
“It’s possible to recover from a scandal. It’s much harder to recover from a party switch,” Rottinghaus said. “Voters will forgive a scandal, especially if you stay in the same party, but if you simultaneously switch parties, it’s hard to find your base of support. Polarization is so pitched these days that it’s almost impossible to get support in any capacity from the other party.”
Rottinghaus explained that financial scandals like embezzlement tend to be more impactful than personal scandals like an accusation of an affair. Political scandals, which involve manipulating the system to one’s advantage, tend to have the most impact, he said, and that’s how he’d classify the George matter. “This is the hardest to survive,” he said.
It’s also easier to withstand a scandal in a general election than a primary where there are other viable candidates who are ideologically compatible with a voter’s values, the professor said. Because the Fort Bend County judge’s race is a local election, George’s name ID and personal connections could score him some votes.
“When you’re the elected official in charge, you tend to be able to survive those scandals more than people who are in other institutions or who are staff,” Rottinghaus said. “If you’re the president or the governor, you’re very likely to survive compared to a staff member or an agency head. The system tends to protect its leader. To some degree, I think that’s what’s happening here with KP George.”
However, if Rottinghaus had to place a bet, he said he’d put his money on Fort Bend voters electing a Democrat to the judge’s office this year.
McCoy launched his campaign in December and swiftly raised $1 million and garnered the endorsements of Congress members Christian Menefee and Lizzie Fletcher. Early polling data from McCoy’s camp showed a double-digit lead over the other Democrats, but the candidate acknowledged in a January interview with the Press that he still has a lot of work to do “to convince the undecideds that I’m their person.”
“This is a community that made me and gave me all the opportunities that I’ve enjoyed in life,” said McCoy, who was raised in Richmond and worked in the Obama administration and for Fort Bend ISD. “Sadly, of late, we’ve been too focused on scandal and not focused on how we move our county toward success. We’ve been focused on the problems and issues of politicians and not the issues of the people of this county.”
McCoy said the issues important to Fort Bend residents include affordability, transportation infrastructure and job opportunities. He said he’s the only candidate in the race with experience working as a commissioner and in the judge’s office.
Becerra said in a survey that the county deserves experienced, ethical and steady leadership. The candidate says he’s served the community for 25 years as a prosecutor, attorney and district judge, noting that public safety is a top priority.
“As our county grows, it is critical that development keeps pace with infrastructure, workforce needs, and community services,” he said. “My plan is to support responsible growth and ensure that growth strengthens our communities. I believe in providing transparency in this process and making decisions based on fairness and integrity.”
“The recent overall increase in cost of living, which includes access to affordable quality food and medication, has greatly affected the quality of life for residents here in Fort Bend County,” Becerra continued. “I have seen firsthand how too many families struggle with accessing affordable healthcare. I will make it a priority to expand and improve the Fort Bend County Health System, launch more mental health partnerships, and run countywide programs for basic services.”
On the Republican side, Wong has said he wants to clear out the “chaos and mismanagement that has plagued Fort Bend County,” noting in campaign documents that the local government’s reputation has been tarnished.
Wong, a business owner and engineer, says his campaign prioritizes lower property taxes, economic development, flood protection, education, workforce development and public safety.
George has highlighted his accomplishments on the campaign trail, including no tax rate increases, voting against a county budget that included $39 million in deficit spending, overseeing the construction of a new Emergency Operations Center, and killing Fort Bend County’s DEI program.
The county judge earns an annual salary of about $188,000 and is elected to a four-year term.
The Fort Bend County Commissioners Court currently has a 3-2 Republican majority, with George, Andy Meyers and Vincent Morales claiming the GOP. The two Democratic seats, McCoy’s Precinct 4 and Grady Prestage’s Precinct 2, are on the March ballot.
This article appears in Private: Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2026.