County Judge: Ed Emmett

Ed Emmett - Republican Party: ★★★★★

Lina Hidalgo - Democratic Party: ★★1/2

ENDORSEMENTS: The Houston Chronicle editorial board recommends...

ALSO: Why do the candidate endorsements have star ratings?

It is with a twinge of regret that we endorse Ed Emmett for re-election as county judge. We'd rather be endorsing the pragmatic Republican for governor.

A man who began his tenure with the admonishment to "hunker down" during Hurricane Ike has become a steadfast pillar in our state's ongoing political gale. As county judge he serves as chief executive for the four million people in Harris County and oversees road construction, flood control, hospital services and a litany of other county responsibilities. At a time when Republican leaders in Austin seem to thrive on the chaos of partisan pandering at the expense of their basic duties, and Texas Democrats remain unable to mount a viable opposition, Emmett offers an alternative vision of government — one focused on fulfilling the essential responsibilities of his office and meeting the needs of his constituents.

Voters have witnessed that vision executed at Emmett's own political risk. From saving the Astrodome to advocating for state Medicaid expansion, the county judge has routinely bucked his own party for the sake of the public good. He even succeeded in passing, overwhelmingly, a property tax increase to fund a flood infrastructure bond. It's amazing what voters are willing to do when they trust their political leaders.

It's a testament to his own political prowess that Emmett was able to avoid a primary challenger from the right. Consider it a sign of his nonpartisan leadership that he earned the endorsement of longtime Democratic state Rep. Garnet Coleman.

Emmett, too, is reaching across the aisle in the 2018 midterm elections. He told the editorial board that he's voting for Democratic candidate Mike Collier for lieutenant governor.

More than Democrats vs. Republicans, the political spectrum in our state today seems to run from Emmett to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. While Patrick appears motivated only by immediate political instinct, Emmett maintains a steady focus on the future.

That focus has been apparent over his 11 years as county judge. Emmett has led the initiative to craft a sustainable government for the two million residents of unincorporated county. He has fought against top-down property revenue caps that will strangle localities without offering actual relief on tax bills. He was even willing to rethink his ideas about development and sprawl after Hurricane Harvey exposed our regional need for resilience.

We don't agree with Emmett on everything — he and other GOP members of Commissioners Court are wrong to continue funding expensive outside lawyers to defend the county's unconstitutional bail system. But there's no one we'd rather have guiding our regional government.

As for his Democratic challenger, we were thoroughly impressed that Lina Hidalgo was able to hold her own when the two met side-by-side for their endorsement meeting. Hildalgo, 27, was born in Colombia, came to the United States as a teenager and has an impressive resume that includes elite institutions such as Stanford, Harvard and New York University. She has an academic background in criminal justice reform and has worked in Southeast Asia promoting government transparency. Closer to home, she spent time at the Texas Civil Rights Project and served as a Spanish-English medical interpreter at the Texas Medical Center.

Hidalgo offers a vision of a county government more actively involved in public policy debates, such as working to help migrant families at the border. She also resurrected the idea of a county-sponsored pre-K program. Overall, she is committed to caring about the most vulnerable among us. That passion, however, also comes with a disregard for the reality of how political relationships define the boundaries of possible policy. While she lacks the executive and governmental experience voters should demand in a county judge, we hope to see her remain involved in local politics no matter the outcome.