Incumbent Kim Ogg trails in Harris County DA race, new poll finds
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DA Kim Ogg with challenger Sean Teare. Photo: Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images
Longtime Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg is lagging behind her challenger Sean Teare by 38 percentage points in the March Democratic primary, per a new University of Houston poll obtained by Axios.
Why it matters: Incumbent Ogg is seeking a third term, but she's at odds with her party, the Texas Tribune reported.
What's happening: The county Democratic Party passed a resolution admonishing Ogg in December, accusing her of abusing her power, siding with Republicans, and failing to deliver on the party's criminal justice reform priorities.
- Several local Democrats have endorsed former prosecutor Teare, Ogg's former employee.
What they found: In the DA race, 59% of likely Democratic primary voters intended to vote for Teare, the poll found, compared with 21% for Ogg and 20% still undecided.
- UH's Hobby School of Public Affairs surveyed 1,400 Harris County likely Democratic primary voters in February. The margin of error was 2.5%.
The intrigue: Among poll respondents, 42% of likely voters said they would never vote for Ogg, while just 4% indicated they would never vote for her challenger.
- 61% of likely voters had an unfavorable opinion of Ogg.
Meanwhile, in two other key local Democratic primaries, incumbents are leading, per the poll:
- 63% of likely voters said they intend to vote for incumbent Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, while 32% are still undecided.
- For county attorney, 41% of likely voters selected incumbent Christian Menefee, but 52% were undecided.
Of note: In the race to determine who will challenge Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, 66% of likely Harris County Democratic primary voters chose U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, followed by Roland Gutierrez (7%) and Mark Gonzalez (2%), with 22% undecided.
Be smart: Early voting opened this week and will run through March 1. Find Harris County sample ballots and voting centers here.
- Election Day is March 5.
Methodology: The UH poll surveyed 1,400 Harris County adult likely Democratic primary voters between Feb 7-15, and has a margin of error of ±2.5 points.