New research from the Hobby School of Public Affairs shines a light on public opinion of local politics. (Credit Getty Images)
Key takeaways
- A majority of Harris County voters are pessimistic about the county's direction, citing crime, poor infrastructure, flooding and high housing costs as major concerns.
- Partisan and demographic divides shape public opinion on budget solutions and neighborhood quality-of-life issues, highlighting disparities in service perception and delivery.
- While trust in local election fairness remains relatively strong, approval ratings for county officials vary widely, with Sheriff Ed Gonzalez receiving the highest marks and County Judge Lina Hidalgo garnering the lowest.
New research from the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs suggests Harris County voters are pessimistic about the state of their neighborhoods and the county at large, citing concerns about crime, poorly maintained streets, flooding and the high cost of housing.
More than half of registered voters surveyed, 57%, said they think the county is headed in the wrong direction. And 38% favor cutting programs and services to deal with the county’s looming budget shortfall, compared with 30% who prefer to raise taxes and fees. Another 32% aren’t sure about the best solution.
Renée Cross, senior executive director of the Hobby School and one of the principal investigators, noted there are substantial partisan and demographic splits on some of the key questions facing county officials as they begin their annual budget deliberations, with Republican voters often highly dissatisfied with the county’s direction and spending.
“Harris County has a well-deserved reputation as a place where people pull together in times of natural disasters, but we also see that the county isn’t immune to the partisan and demographic divide that has come to characterize so much of national politics,” Cross said.
For example, 68% of Republican voters think the county is headed in the wrong direction, compared to 50% of Democrats and 57% of independents. And while a plurality of all voters agreed cutting services is the best way to address the budget gap, that ranged from 74% of Republicans to 16% of Democrats and 31% of independents.
“Harris County has a well-deserved reputation as a place where people pull together in times of natural disasters, but we also see that the county isn’t immune to the partisan and demographic divide that has come to characterize so much of national politics.”
— Renée Cross, UH Hobby School of Public Affairs
Other stark divides emerged over quality-of-life issues affecting neighborhoods.
Mark P. Jones, political science fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and senior research fellow at the Hobby School, said Black and Latino residents were far more likely than white residents to say issues — ranging from violent crime to the homeless population, illegal dumping and the lack of sidewalks — have negatively affected their neighborhoods, suggesting potential disparities in the way neighborhood services are deployed.
“Overall, we found that crime remains a serious concern, with 20% of all voters listing crime as their top concern and 45% listing it as one of their top three concerns,” Jones said. “The poor condition of county streets and roads and flooding rounded out the top three, at 39% and 37%, respectively.”
Yet there is less agreement on other issues. Among the researchers’ findings:
- 45% of Black voters and 48% of voters ages 18-34 cited the high cost of housing as a major problem, while just 31% of white voters and 26% of voters age 55 and older agreed. 42% of Democrats said the cost of housing is a problem, but that dropped to 27% of Republicans.
- Two-thirds, or 67%, of voters believe the 2026 elections will be conducted fairly in Harris County; that drops to 59% for state elections and 55% for national elections.
- Sheriff Ed Gonzalez is the most popular Harris County office holder, as 55% of voters approve of the job he is doing while 22% disapprove, for a net approval rating of 33%.
- County Judge Lina Hidalgo has a net approval rating of 4%, lowest among countywide office holders.
- Voters in each of the four county commissioner precincts gave their commissioners generally high marks, with Adrian Garcia earning a net approval rating of 26%; Rodney Ellis at 25%; and Lesley Briones and Tom Ramsey at 19% each.
The full report is available on the Hobby School website. The survey of Harris County registered voters was conducted between July 9 and July 18 in English and Spanish.
The countywide 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 (with a margin of error of +/-4.18%) and of 650 for Precinct 1 (with a margin of error of +/- 3.84%).
Future reports in this series will cover weather, sports and entertainment, and the race for Congressional District 18.
Story by Jeannie Kever