Fort Bend County Democrats will have to vote again in May to choose their county judge nominee in a runoff, but one thing is clear: residents from both parties don’t want to return embattled Judge KP George to commissioners court for a third term.
Former Sugar Land City Council member Daniel Wong handily won the GOP nomination, securing 27,495 votes, or 54.06 percent. The runner-up was former attorney and retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel Daryl Aaron, who received 12.75 percent of the vote. George, who was elected twice previously as a Democrat and switched parties last year, got 4,283 votes, or 8.42 percent.
Precinct 4 Commissioner Dexter McCoy will face Sugar Land Municipal Court Associate Judge Rachelle Carter in a May 26 runoff for the Democratic nomination. McCoy secured 29,286 votes, or 40.42 percent. Carter got 13,717 votes, or 18.9 percent.
Fort Bend County Elections Department reported that 142,502 ballots were cast, representing 25.15 percent of registered voters.
The race to replace George, who is expected to continue presiding over commissioners court through the end of the year, is an unusual one. George is under indictment for felony money laundering and misdemeanor identity misrepresentation charges and is expected to go to trial on Tuesday, March 10. If he’s convicted of a felony, he’ll automatically be removed from office and face prison time.
If George is removed from office or resigns, an acting judge, likely one of the four commissioners, could be appointed to serve in the interim.
George has maintained that he’s being targeted in a political vendetta by Fort Bend County District Attorney Brian Middleton, who ran unopposed in Tuesday’s Democratic primary and will face Republican Shawn McDonald in November. George’s attorneys unsuccessfully tried in January to have Middleton removed from prosecuting the cases.
University of Houston political science professor Brandon Rottinghaus told the Houston Press last month he expects Fort Bend County to elect a Democrat to the judge’s office this year.
McCoy is backed by U.S. Congress members Christian Menefee and Lizzie Fletcher, among others, and was the only candidate in the judge’s race who has served as a commissioner. The former Obama staffer has said he wants to create affordability, transportation infrastructure and job opportunities for Fort Bend County residents.
“Affordability is top of mind for everyone in Fort Bend County,” McCoy said in a January interview with the Houston Press. “Property values are rising and we have not yet grown our commercial property tax base to shoulder the burden of funding all of our infrastructure. We have people who are struggling to afford to buy a home in Fort Bend County because it’s so expensive and wages have not kept up with inflation and property costs.”
Carter has touted her 14 years of experience as an attorney and says she wants to prioritize public safety, economic development and fiscal responsibility.
Wong, a business owner and engineer, has said he wants to clear out the “chaos and mismanagement that has plagued Fort Bend County.” The candidate’s priorities include lower property taxes, economic development, flood protection, education, workforce development and public safety.
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 up for grabs in November.
Prestage secured the Democratic nomination on Tuesday with 61.58 percent of the vote. He’ll face Republican Tony Aranda in November. The Precinct 4 seat will go to a GOP runoff between Ken Mathews and Adam Schoof, and a Democratic runoff between Brittanye Morris and April Jones.