Mealer endorsement

Regarding “Editorial: We recommend Alexandra Mealer for Harris County Judge,” (Oct. 12): The editorial board explained that it was not endorsing incumbent Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo by claiming she is not listening to constituents, but the board should look in the mirror. Its justification for abandoning Hidalgo shows that the board is not listening to the Latino community, and it’s ignoring its own reporters.

The editorial said Hidalgo is not strong on crime. This feeds into a right-wing myth propagated against Democratic judges as “soft on crime,” which its own reporters have examined and defused in its pages.

The editorial said it would overlook Mealer’s comments on bail reform. They ignore the fact that candidates who express animosity against a major policy important to working-class people, especially African and Latino residents, can say one thing to win votes and then act another way once they have the position they are after.

The board is not learning from what Republican Supreme Court nominees did by lying about overturning Roe v. Wade and then axing the policy when they were in power.

It is sad that the closest the editorial came to mentioning the Latino community is by pitting Latinos against Latinos. Out of the millions of residents in the county, the board cited a Latino who was the victim of a heart-wrenching, terrible crime as evidence not to endorse Hidalgo. This is exploitative and appears to be an attempt to stave off an outcry from Latinos.

Furthermore, the editorial ignored the racist and sexist attacks that Hidalgo has suffered from Republican elected officials and their followers in court, in the media and on the campaign trail. That is a terrible omission that reflects how Latino leaders are treated.

I am a proponent of free speech, so, of course, the board can make its own decisions; however, they should provide a cogent argument that makes sense. Instead, the editorial revealed that it does not hear us or does not care.

Tony Diaz, Houston

I was quite surprised to open my Chronicle today and find that the editorial board was recommending Alex Mealer over incumbent Lina Hidalgo for Harris County judge. Surprised, not disappointed.

I think Hidalgo has been hurt by the fact that after her unexpected win in 2018, the national Democratic Party started promoting her as one of its “rising stars.”

I think she bought into that, and often came off as a strong partisan, while serving in a position that people would rather see as somewhat nonpartisan.

I agree with the Chronicle’s position that Hidalgo has failed to meet the moment on rising crime, but for me her biggest failure was in handling the pandemic in its later stages. Judge Hidalgo locked in on certain metrics early on (new cases, hospitalizations) and refused to revisit those, even after vaccines had become available and the situation was clearly improving.

As a result, Harris County stayed in “Code Red” for a ridiculously long period. Hardheadedness and inflexibility are not great qualities to have in a leader.

I admire and respect many things about Judge Hidalgo. She seems smart, earnest and hard-working. If she is reelected, I hope she’ll be less idealistic and more pragmatic in her second term. However, it just feels like it’s time for a change.

David Bradley, Spring