Race for Precinct 3 open seat crowded
The first Harris County Precinct 3 commissioner race in three decades without an incumbent has drawn intense interest from the Republican and Democratic parties.
Steve Radack, who has held the seat since 1989, announced at the filing deadline in December he would not seek a ninth term. The departure of the plainspoken conservative from Commissioners Court ensures a new face will represent the west Harris County precinct, which is among the fastgrowing areas in the region.
Three Republicans — former Houston city councilwoman Brenda Stardig, Spring Valley Mayor Tom Ramsey and former West University Place mayor Susan Sample — cast themselves as natural successors to Radack.
Stardig, 58, said she effectively would manage growth in the precinct with a focus on developing communities in its sprawling 464 square miles.
“It’s like Small Town U.S.A., trying to make sure all the elements are there,” said Stardig, who grew up in Spring Branch. “The gathering places, the faith-based organizations, places where people can meet each other and build stronger, safer communities.”
Stardig pointed to her experience as a council member, managing municipal utility districts and working with the Houston Police
Department to target gangs, game rooms and other types of crime.
She said she would be a good steward of taxpayer dollars and ensure funds from the $2.5 billion flood bond are spent in the highest-risk watersheds rather than the equity guidelines adopted by Commissioners Court in August, which prioritize projects that help the greatest number of people.
Growing government
Ramsey, who has served as mayor of the small municipality of Spring Valley Village since 2012, said he wants Commissioners Court to return to the basics of maintaining road, bridge and flood control infrastructure as well as keeping property taxes low and neighborhoods safe.
Ramsey, an engineer by training, was a partner at Klotz Associates, Inc. until 2015. He said he is concerned about the growth of county government — and its associated costs — under County Judge Lina Hidalgo.
Commissioners Court in the past year increased the size of several county departments, including the public defender and fire marshal’s offices, as well as Pollution Control Services. The budget approved on Feb. 11 includes new employees for the health department.
“You’re going down a path you don’t want to go down,” Ramsey said. “You’ve seen that in Houston, where they’ve struggled with their budgets many times, being unable to cover expenses.”
Ramsey, 67, said he opposed the unsuccessful effort by the three Democrats on Commissioners Court last fall to enact a property tax increase to raise revenue ahead of a state-mandated property tax cap. The trio said the influx of cash was necessary to ensure the county could continue to provide services for residents.
In a screening with the Houston Chronicle editorial board, Sample cited her leadership of West University Place during Hurricane Harvey, and said she helped implement drainage improvements in the area. Sample, 63, said she was eager to drop the curtain on the current “Democrat circus” on Commissioners Court.
Ramsey is the choice of Radack and the other Republican Harris County commissioner, Jack Cagle. Stardig has the support of the Houston Association of Realtors, Houston Realty Business Coalition and Houston Police Officers Union.
Ramsey leads his opponents in fundraising, having raised $352,965 since last July. He had $242,243 cash on hand Feb. 3. Stardig raised $67,950 during that period and had $84,332 to spend. Sample raised $41,784 and had $28,934 left.
Despite his endorsement of Ramsey, Radack last year did not make any contributions from his $1.6 million campaign account to the candidate’s campaign through the end of December. He did, however, donate to other Republican candidates and gave $12,250 to the Harris County Republican Party in the final six months of 2019.
Democrats optimistic
Though long a conservative precinct, the Harris County Democratic Party believes recent election results portend a potential victory here.
Radack won eight elections in a row in the traditionally conservative precinct, including a 15-point trouncing of his 2016 opponent at the same time Hillary Clinton won Harris County. Democrats are optimistic, however, because of how well many of their candidates ran in Precinct 3 during the 2018 midterm elections.
Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke won more votes in the precinct than incumbent Ted Cruz in the U.S. Senate race, according to research by Democratic consultant Kier Murray.
Four of the candidates — Michael Moore, Morris Overstreet, Kristi Thibaut and Diana Martinez Alexander — tussled in a candidate forum in Bellaire on Jan. 22. Two other candidates, Erik “Beto” Hassan and Zaher Eisa, also are on the ballot. They did not attend the forum or a candidate screening with the Houston Chronicle editorial board.
Moore, the former chief of staff to former Houston mayor Bill White, has the support of Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia. Moore, 57, pitched himself as the most experienced candidate who is ready to work with fellow Democrats, who took control of the court in 2019, to transform county government. He cited flood control and managing explosive growth as top priorities.
“We’re going to add 2 or 3 million people in the next five decades. We’ve got a $5 billion budget,” Moore said. “I have the experience from helping manage the city of Houston.”
Morris Overstreet, the first African American elected to statewide office in Texas, served as a judge on the Criminal Court of Appeals for eight years in the 1990s. An engaging speaker, Overstreet, 70, drew applause from the forum audience when he said the county’s public defender’s budget should be increased to the sum the district attorney’s office receives.
Kristi Thibaut, 55, cited her experience as a member of the Texas House of Representatives, where in 2008 she won election to one term in District 133, in west Houston’s Energy Corridor.
“I think this race is going to take somebody who is tried and true, who has beaten a Republican in the past, who has fought very hard in this narrow 50-50 district and has actually won,” Thibaut said. “I’m a bulldog and a fighter.”
Martinez Alexander, 46, an educator, cast herself as the activist candidate. Similar to Hidalgo, Martinez Alexander said the election of Donald Trump as president in 2016 encouraged her to run for office. She said she would be an advocate for working people and singled out climate change as an issue she would focus on.
“If we don’t tackle that, then nothing else matters,” Martinez Alexander said.
Moore leads his opponents in fundraising with $213,672 cash on hand as of Feb. 3. Thibaut was the next-closest candidate, with $28,622 available to spend.
Election Day is March 3. Early voting in both primaries begins Tuesday.