Former Houston City Council member Letitia Plummer has been elected Harris County judge, becoming the first Black person elected to lead the nation’s third-largest county and the first Muslim woman elected county judge in the United States.
Harris County, home to more than 5 million residents, is the third-largest county in the United States. Plummer’s victory marks a historic milestone for both the county and the nation.
Addressing supporters during her victory speech, Plummer reflected on her family’s legacy of public service and the significance of becoming “Judge Plummer.”
“I think Judge Plummer sounds pretty good,” she told the crowd. “Every time I hear that, I hear my grandfather’s voice in my ear, and I just love the feeling of it.”
Plummer defeated Republican challenger Orlando Sanchez, winning nearly 61% of the vote compared with Sanchez’s 39%, according to unofficial results. In her victory speech, Plummer thanked her family, campaign staff, and grassroots supporters, describing the win as an upset fueled by community organizing rather than Democratic establishment support.
“The establishment did not crown us as the preferred Democratic nominee,” Plummer said. “We defied the odds and we did it together.”
She pledged to work with Harris County commissioners to address poverty, education, and economic opportunity while advocating for more state resources for the county.
“We don’t need culture wars,” Plummer said. “We need to declare wars on poverty. We need to declare wars on ignorance. We need to declare wars on injustice.”
Plummer framed her victory as part of a broader Democratic resurgence in Texas and vowed to lead with what she described as a message rooted in “common sense and sanity.”
“Harris County is the third-largest county in the United States,” she said. “Leading it will be challenging, but these are challenging times, and we need a leader that will lead.”
Meanwhile, in neighboring Fort Bend County, Democrat Dexter McCoy declared victory in the county judge’s race, positioning his win as a rejection of what he called divisive politics and political corruption.
“Fort Bend County turned out and is sending a clear message,” McCoy told supporters. “No more.”
McCoy criticized Republican leaders, including President Donald Trump, Gov. Greg Abbott, Attorney General Ken Paxton, and Republican county judge candidate Daniel Wong, accusing them of attempting to maintain political control through redistricting and other political maneuvers.
“What we know is that voters across Fort Bend and across Texas have said that they’ve had enough of the politics of chaos and corruption,” McCoy said.
The victory comes days after Wong’s campaign faced backlash for sharing an AI-generated campaign video that appeared to show Black residents endorsing his candidacy. The video was later removed, and McCoy called for a criminal investigation into the matter, describing it as “absolutely disgusting.”
For Democrats, the victories by Plummer in Harris County and McCoy in Fort Bend County represent significant gains in two of the state’s most influential and rapidly diversifying counties, signaling continued Democratic strength in the Houston region.
As supporters celebrated Wednesday night, Plummer closed her speech with a message of perseverance and hope.
“Tonight, the light is in our hands, Harris County,” she said. “And we will not let it go.”
