Letitia Plummer Wins Harris County Judge Democratic Primary

The Democratic primary runoff in the 18th District, between U.S. Rep. Christian Menefee and U.S. Rep. Al Green, was one of the highest-profile races in the Houston area. Menefee ultimately won the race with 69.4% of the vote.

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Adams said the turnout driven by the race between Menefee and Green likely worked in Plummer's favor.

"I think what we saw in terms of the CD-18 results, I think voters and those that turned out may have been looking for a change," he said. "And I think Letitia Plummer is a kind of newbie — [although] she has been on city council and has conditioned herself as somewhat of a progressive — and I think we may see a tilt in that direction."

Plummer echoed that sentiment on Wednesday while speaking at a news conference in Houston with Menefee and Dexter McCoy, the Democratic nominee for Fort Bend County judge.

“I just honestly believe that people are speaking up and they’re showing up," Plummer said. "They’re tired of old leadership. They’re tired of dated ideas. ... And so they want to give someone else an opportunity that is not a lifelong politician that can come up with new ideas, work with other elected officials, be collaborative and be able to deliver."

Other down-ballot races could have further swayed support in Plummer's direction, Adams said. Specifically, he cited Darrell Jordan Jr.'s overwhelming victory against Jose Alex Maldonado in the Democratic primary runoff for Harris County district clerk and Melanie Miles' defeat of Sharon Burney for Justice of the Peace, Precinct 7, Place 2.

"I think Letitia Plummer, being a Black American, she benefited from those races yesterday," Adams said. "Normally, on the Democrat side in Harris County, and in many parts of the state of Texas, in the urban areas, we see Black women, who have been the backbone of the Democratic vote. They always show up, and I’m sure Letitia Plummer benefited from that as well."

Former Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, a Republican, also said the District 18 race played a role in Plummer's nomination. Emmett discussed the county judge race on Tuesday night during Houston Public Media's live election coverage when early voting results showed Plummer and Parker in a near tie.

"When I read the UH poll in the county judge race about Annise being far ahead, I immediately said, ‘That's wrong,'" Emmett said. "The reason it's wrong is the Democratic primary runoff is heavily skewed to Congressional District 18. That's the big race in the county, and so the turnout was going to be overwhelming in CD-18 ... and that favors Letitia Plummer."

While Emmett said Plummer may have a steeper hill to climb against Sanchez in November, he said Republicans are looking at a rough election across the board later this year.

"This is going to be a really tough year for Republicans in Harris County," he said. "I don't think there's any way to sugarcoat that. Some of us remember 2018 painfully, and this is a lot worse than 2018 was."

In 2018, Democratic Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke came close to defeating Republican incumbent Ted Cruz during the midterm election of President Donald Trump's first term. Despite losing his race, O'Rourke's candidacy is credited with driving turnout among Democrats who were already displeased with Trump's first term.

That turnout helped Democrat Lina Hidalgo beat Emmett in the county judge race.

Adams said this year’s Democratic Senate candidate, James Talarico, could have a similar effect, benefiting down-ballot candidates like Plummer. Talarico, a state representative from Austin, will face Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in November.

"Normally, the incumbent president, they don't fare well [during midterms], but you've got a lot going on now, and I think that's why we saw a very robust turnout in the March 3rd primary," Adams said. "However, the question remains, you have a large staple within the Democratic Party in terms of Texas and also nationally in terms of Black voting. Will they be able to come together and see a groundswell of support for a candidate like James Talarico?"

The Black base of the Texas Democratic Party will be critical in order for both Talarico and Plummer to succeed in their respective races, Adams said, and their success would likely benefit all down-ballot Democrats.

"It doesn't matter whether Obama can go fly in for a cameo in Austin and eat a taco with [Talarico],” Adams said, referring to former President Barack Obama. “You're going to need people on the ground in the state of Texas and the urban area, and also in the suburban county, because the demographics of Texas are changing, if the Democrats are going to unify."

Houston Public Media's Michael Adkison contributed to this report.

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