KP George has had a busy week.
On Wednesday, the Fort Bend County judge, a longtime Democrat, announced he’s running for a third term, this time as a Republican. On Friday, his request for a new judge to preside over his felony money laundering and misdemeanor identity misrepresentation cases was denied.
A spokesman for the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office said Administrative Judge Susan Brown heard motions Friday morning to disqualify and recuse the 458th District Court judge in George’s felony cases and also considered the same motions filed in County Court at Law No. 5, where the misdemeanor is being adjudicated. Judge Brown denied all motions. The next felony court date is June 26 and the next misdemeanor date is June 27, the spokesman said.
George’s attorneys argued earlier this month that his fate shouldn’t be decided by a Fort Bend district judge, whose budget George oversees.
George, who was elected in 2018 and 2022 as a Democrat, is charged with two felony counts of laundering between $30,000 and $150,000, which carries a potential sentence of two to 10 years in prison and fines of up to $10,000.
Prosecutors say George committed wire fraud and tampered with a campaign finance report; George’s attorney Jared Woodfill says the county judge gave himself a loan, a common practice among those running for office, and later paid it back.
Woodfill, a former Harris County Republican Party chair, says the accusations against George are politically motivated by Democrats, including District Attorney Brian Middleton, who want George out of office.
A misdemeanor case claiming George misrepresented his identity and made racist social media attacks against himself and his opponent from a fake account is also pending. George’s former chief of staff Taral Patel pleaded guilty in that case and was sentenced to probation in April.
Woodfill has said repeatedly that he expects all charges to be dismissed and that George won’t accept a plea deal, even though prosecutors say they’ve never offered one. With court dates looming, it appears to be an unusual time to announce a bid for re-election and a party switch, but many speculated this would happen when George hired Woodfill. The attorney could not immediately be reached for comment Friday afternoon.
Fort Bend County Commissioners Court is in the contentious process of redistricting, and George’s party switch gives Republicans a 3-2 majority, Houston Public Media reported this week.
Woodfill has accused DA Middleton and other Fort Bend Democrats of wanting George out of office because he has not been voting in lockstep with the Dems on redistricting and the county’s $500 million budget.
In a statement issued Wednesday, George said the Democratic Party has become “one of corruption, radical political ideology and positions that do not reflect my values or those of Fort Bend County residents.”
“I have always believed in faith, family and freedom as the cornerstones of our nation, and know that these are the key principles being advanced by the Republican Party,” he said. In a press conference this week, the judge lauded President Donald Trump and said he would “fight against the radical leftists who seek to tear down the values we hold very close to our heart.”
The 2026 judge’s race may be a crowded one. Democrats, including former Fort Bend County Constable Nabil Shike, District Court Judge Christian Becerra, and political consultant Eddie Sajjad, have filed, and former Sugar Land City Council member Daniel Wong entered the race as a Republican. Former Texas Rep. Jacey Jetton, a Republican, has said he’s considering a bid.
Several community leaders, including Democrat Commissioner Dexter McCoy, have called for George to resign.
Trever Nehls, a Republican who ran against George in the 2022 judge’s race, said late last year that he was targeted in the social media hoax and if George was implicated in it, he should resign immediately. In a statement released this week, Nehls said George’s political party switch is a tactic for avoiding responsibility.
“I was one of the people targeted in that smear campaign,” Nehls said in the statement. “I saw how low he was willing to go. This isn’t a shift in beliefs. It’s a calculated move to escape accountability.”
