With the recent announcement that Harris County is facing a $270 million budget deficit for the 2026 fiscal year, county leaders have some tough decisions to make when determining budget priorities. With this challenge in mind, the University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs’ latest survey asks Harris County voters about important policy issues facing the nation’s third largest county. What is viewed as the issue of utmost concern for Harris County as a whole? What do Harris County voters think about the quality of life in their own neighborhood? What approach do Harris County voters believe is best to overcome the budget deficit?  And how do they rate the performance of county officials and potential candidates for county judge? 

To address these questions and more, the Hobby School of Public Affairs conducted a survey of Harris County registered voters to assess their opinions about a wide range of local issues and public figures. The survey was fielded between July 9 and July 18, 2025 by contacting Harris County registered voters via SMS text messages through which they were directed to an online survey platform with the option to answer the survey in English or Spanish. Representative of the Harris County population of registered voters, the analysis population of 2,300 has a margin of error of +/- 2.04%.  Representative samples were also compiled for Harris County’s four county commissioner precincts, with analysis populations of 550 for Precincts 2, 3, and 4 (margin of error of +/-4.18%) and of 650 for Precinct 1 (+/- 3.84%).

This study includes four reports. The first report examines Harris County registered voters’ opinions on the direction in which the county is headed, the most important problems facing Harris County, the impact of factors on the quality of life in their neighborhood, the job performance of county election officials and on potential candidates for the position of Harris county judge. A second report gauges the level of enthusiasm among Harris County registered voters for a major theme park and motor raceway being built in Harris County and obtaining a Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and a National Hockey League (NHL) team as well as their level of support for using public funds to renovate NRG Stadium and the Astrodome. A third report assesses Harris County registered voters’ concerns about the potential impact of severe summer weather as well as their evaluation of CenterPoint’s efforts to harden the region’s electrical grid over the past year. An additional report utilizes a unique survey population drawn from the larger survey project to analyze the candidate evaluations and vote intention of Harris County registered voters who are likely to vote in the November 2025 Congressional District 18 Special Election.

Report One. Issues & Politics 

With competing demands on a shrinking budget, this report looks at pressing challenges facing Harris County, along with neighborhood quality of life factors and evaluations of county officials and candidates.

Highlights 

More than half (57%) of Harris County voters think things are going in the wrong direction in the county, while 43% think things are going in the right direction. Although a majority of all demographic groups agree that things are going in the wrong direction, Republicans by far (68%) hold this opinion compared to Democrats (50%).

Crime (20%) continues to be at the top of concerns for Harris County voters, followed by the high cost of living (13%) and high property taxes (13%). When considering demographics, 71% of Republicans identify crime as the top concern, while close to one-third of Democrats (30%) and Independents (35%) rank crime as the most pressing concern.

Respondents ranked crime (45%), roads and streets in bad condition (39%) and flooding (37%) as one of the top three challenges facing Harris County today.

Streets in bad condition (45%) was most frequently cited as the aspect having the most negative impact on the respondents’ own neighborhoods.

When considering approaches to eliminating Harris County’s budget deficit, a plurality (38%) of likely voters preferred mostly cutting programs and services, followed by 30% with a preference for mostly raising taxes and fees. 32% were unsure of how best to handle the county’s budget deficit.

Almost three-quarters (74%) of Republicans viewed cutting programs and services as the key to eliminating the county budget deficit, which is in stark contrast to the proportion of Independents (31%) and Democrats (16%) who agree with this approach.

A plurality of Democrats (46%) favor increasing taxes and fees to overcome the county budget deficit, followed by 33% of Independents. Only 8% of Republicans preferred increasing taxes and fees to eliminate the county budget deficit.

Sheriff Ed Gonzalez has the highest approval rating among Harris County office holders, as 55% of voters approve of the job he is doing while 22% disapprove, for a net approval rating of 33%.

When respondents were asked about approval of their own county commissioner’s performance, 49% approve of Commissioner Adrian Garcia (Precinct 2), while 43% approved of Commissioner Rodney Ellis (Precinct 1). Commissioners Lesley Briones (Precinct 4) and Tom Ramsey (Precinct 3) garnered the approval of 36% and 35%, respectively.

Among announced and potential candidates for county judge, Lina Hidalgo is viewed favorably by 44% of the overall electorate and unfavorably by 43%, compared to 37% and 17% for former Houston mayor Annise Parker, 19% and 17% for Houston City Council Member Letitia Plummer, and 8% and 11% for Piney Point Mayor Aliza Dutt.

Among Harris County Democrats, 66% have a favorable opinion of Hidalgo and 17% an unfavorable opinion, while 46% have a favorable opinion of Parker and 17% an unfavorable opinion. 27% have a favorable opinion of Plummer and 7% an unfavorable opinion.

Over two-thirds (67%) of Harris County likely voters have confidence that elections in Harris County will be conducted fairly and accurately, while more than half of the respondents feel that elections will be conducted fairly and accurately in Texas (59%) and nationwide (55%).

Read Report One to learn more about Harris County voters’ views about the direction of the county, challenges facing the county and their neighborhood, budget solutions and evaluations of public officials and candidates, including differences of opinion when considering gender, race/ethnicity, age, education and partisanship.

Media Release July 23, 2025

Research Team

Co-Investigator Renée Cross, Senior Executive Director & Researcher, Hobby School of Public Affairs

Co-Investigator Mark P. Jones, James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy's Fellow in Political Science, Rice University; Senior Research Fellow, Hobby School of Public Affairs 

Maria P. Perez Argüelles, Research Associate, Hobby School of Public Affairs

Savannah Sipole, Research Associate, Hobby School of Public Affairs

Communications Team

Diana Benitez, Program Director, Web & Graphic Design, Hobby School of Public Affairs

Victoria Cordova, Executive Director of Communications, Hobby School of Public Affairs

Jeannie Kever, Communications Consultant

Celeste Zamora, Communications Manager, Hobby School of Public Affairs