When Dexter McCoy called the Houston Press this week for a pre-arranged phone interview about what’s next for the Fort Bend County judge’s office, he was a little frazzled. He’d just gotten off the phone with former presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
McCoy, 34, said he’s encouraged by the support he’s received from Democrats across the country since he defeated Daniel Wong last week and will soon be leading one of the fastest-growing, most diverse counties in the Lone Star State.
Tension has escalated among Fort Bend County’s political parties in recent months, but McCoy says he remains committed to the job he signed up for.
“I want to serve my neighbors,” he said. “As truly demoralizing as these past six months and these past two years have been with all the craziness, I believe firmly that God puts us in these positions for a reason. I’m going to continue to be obedient to that direction. When we sign up to run for office, we accept anything and everything that comes with it.”
McCoy was elected last week with 59 percent of the vote. Over the next four years, McCoy will preside over Fort Bend County Commissioners Court, help set the budget and tax rate, and lead during natural disasters.
He won’t be sworn in until January 1, so what happens when the court meets this Thursday, November 12? Will Wong, who was appointed interim judge in April, show up to preside even though the legality of his appointment has been repeatedly called into question and he lost the general election?
Will McCoy take his seat in the Precinct 4 commissioner’s chair despite having maintained for the past four months that the proceedings are illegal as long as Wong is presiding?
McCoy said Wednesday he absolutely plans to attend this week’s meeting. He’s been advised by attorneys that because a quo warranto proceeding against Wong is pending, he is legally protected “to participate without being deemed party to potentially illegal or reversible actions.”
“We have business to handle,” McCoy said. “The voters sent a very clear message that they are done with the chaos and corruption of Daniel Wong and the Republicans here in Fort Bend. This is exactly when Daniel Wong needs to go back to his job in the private sector.”
But it appears Wong plans to hang onto the judge’s gavel until it is pried out of his hands at the end of the year. He hosted a Veterans Day event this week and continues posting on the Fort Bend County Judge’s social media accounts. He noted in an AI-generated congratulatory message to McCoy, “I remain committed to serving with integrity, respect and gratitude through the remainder of my term.”
McCoy grew up in Fort Bend County and returned to Richmond in 2017 after graduating as student body president of Boston University and working on public education as an appointee in the Obama administration. He worked for Fort Bend ISD and later became chief of staff for former Fort Bend County Judge KP George.
McCoy said it became clear over time that his values didn’t align with George’s. McCoy resigned and was elected as Precinct 4 commissioner in 2023. George switched parties to become a Republican and was convicted of felony money laundering earlier this year after losing the GOP primary to Wong. George is appealing the conviction.
When he filed to run for judge, McCoy figured that critics would bring up his ties to George, and he was right. He was caught off guard, however, when Wong was appointed interim judge, essentially becoming the incumbent in the November 3 midterm without ever having been elected to the office.
Wong swiftly hired MAGA Republican Trever Nehls as his chief of staff and GOP political commentator Bobby Eberle as communications director, reportedly paying them six-figure salaries while other Fort Bend County staffers earn considerably less. He held press conferences but excluded some media from the invite list and made sweeping changes to government operations.
The court case that put Wong in the judge’s seat was dismissed in June, and many believed that Fort Bend County government would go back to a 2-2 Republican-Democrat split, with Grady Prestage, the longest-serving member of the court, presiding over meetings, as has been done in the past when the judge’s seat is vacant.
That didn’t happen. Wong continued to preside over meetings, even though County Attorney Bridgette Smith-Lawson sued him, claiming it was illegal for him to do so.
Wong responded by gutting her office and creating a civil litigation division so attorneys would report to commissioners court rather than to Smith-Lawson. He also eliminated associate judge positions, which drew the ire of both Republicans and Democrats.
Prestage and McCoy boycotted most of the county meetings since June, arguing that the gatherings were illegal and actions taken could later be challenged in court. Prestage was re-elected last week, and Democrat April Jones won her bid to fill the unexpired Precinct 4 commissioner’s term, so the court will have a 3-2 Democratic majority in January.
McCoy said longtime GOP Commissioner Andy Meyers did not reach out to congratulate him on his win, but Fort Bend County’s other Republican commissioner, Vincent Morales Jr., did. The county judge-elect said he plans to work with “anybody who’s willing to deliver good, strong results for our residents [but will] continue to stand up to the folks who put their own personal interests above the interests of our people.”
McCoy said Wednesday that some county business has been a standstill since Wong’s personnel changes were implemented on October 1. “Since all of this craziness with the general counsel division, they are now nearing 800 contracts in backlog,” he said. “They don’t have the lawyers to do the work and it has caused major projects to get delayed. It would be laughable if it weren’t so doggone serious.”
McCoy explained that it’s difficult to shuffle the organizational chart when changes are tied to a budget that was adopted by majority vote. However, funding has already been identified from a contingency fund to reinstate three judges who are set to lose their jobs at the end of the year.
“With the county attorney’s office, the money is still there,” he said. “We still need to bring back the HR director that they inappropriately dismissed because of politics. The harder thing is going to be repairing the harm in the institution that’s been done. We’ve lost some really good people who decided they had enough, and we won’t be able to get some of those folks back.”
“The thing we will not be able to recover from is the $6.6 million hit to our rainy day fund with their stunt to lower the tax rate, which had absolutely no real material impact on an individual taxpayer and only served the purpose of being a talking point for their campaign,” he added. “It sets the ceiling for next year, and as residents are requesting more services from the county and we’re trying to bring more affordable housing and transportation, we are going to be constrained. The fear is us being in the next budget cycle and having to have a serious conversation about laying people off.”
He said he expects that Smith-Lawson will request additional resources to catch up on the contract backlog. “It’s a shame, because it’s going to ultimately cost our taxpayers more,” he said. “Where that money comes from, right now I have no earthly idea.”
McCoy acknowledged that residents are fed up with the chaos; some offered on social media this week to bring cardboard boxes to the courthouse to help Wong clean out his desk. McCoy, however, said he’s focused on governing and getting business done.
“I’m still a county commissioner until December 31,” he said. “I plan to run through the ticker-tape on that. I’ve got to deliver for my residents. We’ve got a new senior center under construction. We’ve got major mobility projects that are about to get started, not to mention everything that we need to do to prepare for this historic legislative session.”
“That’s where I’m focusing my energy, not on whether [Wong] wants to continue to bang a gavel and give out proclamations,” he added.
Although McCoy inherited a lot of challenges, he’s not willing to say he didn’t sign up for it. “I am excited about the job. I am ready for the job, and I believe that, with the complete sea change we’ve seen in our state, there are better, brighter days coming for Fort Bend County,” he said.
