County Clerk Trautman to resign.
70-year-old cites health; court will appoint an interim
Harris County Clerk Diane Trautman will resign May 31 due to health concerns, she announced Saturday afternoon.
Trautman, 70, is stepping down just 16 months into her first term. She defeated incumbent clerk Stan Stanart in 2018.
“Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, my age, and underlying health issues, I do not feel I can safely continue to carry out my duties,” Trautman said in a statement. She declined to answer questions.
Commissioners Court will appoint an interim clerk to serve until November, when a new clerk is elected. The Democratic and Republican parties will each put forth a nominee.
Harris County Democratic Party Chair Lillie Schechter thanked Trautman for her work to make voting more accessible to residents, adding her confidence that another Democrat would succeed her.
“From the beginning of her term, Dr. Trautman has been committed to protecting and expanding the fundamental right to vote for all Harris County residents by making it easier for citizens to participate in elections,” Schechter said. “These achievements removed impediments to voting rights and will have an enduring impact in protecting our democracy.”
The Democrat-majority Commissioners Court will probably pick another Democrat for the post, said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston. While the vacancy gives Republicans a chance to take back the clerk’s seat, he said, a GOP candidate would likely be chosen only if they’re willing to concede on certain policies, such as broader voter registration efforts and expanded mail-in voting.
“You’d have to be the right Republican,” Rottinghaus said. “I could imagine a Republican that has a more expansive view of voting could be a dark horse candidate.”
The local GOP on Saturday night also offered its well wishes to Trautman. Genevieve Carter, communications director for the Harris County Republican Party, said she hoped the next clerk would be opposed to wider spread mail-in voting efforts.
“We are devastated to hear that the County Clerk is facing health issues and we wish her the very best,” Carter said. “It would be great if they appointed someone similar to Clerk Trautman who followed the law and refused to send absentee ballots to everyone in Harris County.”
The state law on mail-in voting is ambiguous in places, however. Trautman did persuade Commissioners Court to invest $12 million
to allow the county to provide mail ballots to every voter in the July primary runoff and November general elections. Trautman said her office would allow any resident concerned about contracting coronavirus at a polling place to vote by mail.
During her brief tenure, Trautman’s signature success was the implementation of county voting centers, which for the first time allowed residents to visit any polling place on Election Day. County Judge Lina Hidalgo praised that effort and Trautman’s dedication to the job.
“Dr. Trautman embodies the spirit of the community she has served,” Hidalgo said in a statement. “In her brief time as County Clerk, Dr. Trautman has fought to make it easier for citizens to participate in elections and make their voices heard.”
Both major elections Trautman oversaw had problems. A full tally of votes in this past November’s Houston municipal elections was not available for nearly 12 hours, a headache Trautman blamed on inconsistent guidance from the Texas secretary of state.
Some Democratic voters waited in hourslong lines during the March primary election. A Chronicle analysis found that Trautman had signed off on a plan to place two-thirds of polling sites in Republican-commissioner precincts, despite accurate predictions that Democratic turnout would be far higher.
Trautman began her career in banking and later spent two decades as a Houston ISD teacher and principal. She earned a doctorate in education and taught at Stephen F. Austin State University.
She ran unsuccessfully for Texas House of Representatives District 127 in 2006, as well as Harris County tax assessor-collector in 2008 and 2010. Trautman in 2012 narrowly won an at-large seat on the Harris County Board of Education.